S. Oregon Coast Spring: Bandon Messages in a Bottle; Events in Port Orford, Cape Blanco

Published 02/24/25 at 5:45 a.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Bandon, Oregon) – March looks like it will roar like a lion on the south Oregon coast, with two fun history events popping up on March 1 in Bandon and Port Orford. Yet there's more to this area, which includes the return of the Messages In A Bottle on the beaches of Bandon and stuff opening up at Cape Blanco.

Coming up in Bandon on March 1 is the “History Minutes Live: With Music" event at the Bandon History Museum. It begins at 1 p.m., where staff storyteller Jim Proehl relays brief, random, and sometimes kind of quirky stories, with Bob Shaffar and friends providing live music. It only goes for about an hour, so make sure to get there early. The unique south Oregon coast event is free, however.

Bandon History Museum - 270 Fillmore Bandon.

Also in town, the Messages in a Bottle drops continue in March. Bandon beaches are still getting sprinkled with artisan-made bottles – each with a message inside. All the bottles are individually created by local artist Kim Bell, and the messages inside have one thing or another to do with Bandon.

It's a bit like the glass floats events in Lincoln City but much more layered. You get to keep these lovely keepsakes. However, these are only dropped on beaches Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Bring them into the Bandon Visitor Center and you get $20 worth of rewards from local businesses. This includes a set of mini-lights you can put inside your bottle.

https://bandon.com/message-in-a-bottle-bandon/

Cape Blanco Heritage Society in Port Orford comes alive with a variety of events throughout the year, starting on March 1 and 2. At the Port Orford Lifeboat Station they'll be hosting “Winter Waters Weekend,” a way for history buffs to experience the only Forge River-type station left on the West Coast. They're open 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on both days – and the family-friendly event is free.

It isn't normally open for the season until May 1.

At Cape Blanco – the farthest west you can go on the Oregon coast – there is the famed lighthouse, which the group also looks after. They're getting closer to announcing their full roster of events for 2025, but at the moment everything is still TBA.

Except for one date.

CBHS executive director Rebecca Malamud-Evans said the station museum turns 25 this year.

“It first opened as a museum on June 3 2000 (State Parks Day) and we'll be celebrating all season,” she said.

On April 1, Cape Blanco's Greeting Center Gift Shop and Interpretive Center opens up and fundraising is ongoing there to save the lighthouse. They did raise over $27,000 in 2024 but a lot more is needed.

“We have been working to bring much needed repairs/reroute on the lighthouse gate road,” Malamud-Evans said. “We also continue to raise funds for the Cape Blanco Lighthouse at saveourlighthouse.net.”

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Andre' GW Hagestedt is editor, owner and primary photographer / videographer of Oregon Coast Beach Connection, an online publication that sees over 1 million pageviews per month. He is also author of several books about the coast.

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