Dance and Eat at Port Orford Coast Guard Day, Maybe Help Save a South Oregon Coast Lighthouse

Published 7/22/24 at 12:05 a.m.
By Andre' GW Hagestedt, Oregon Coast Beach Connection

(Port Orford, Oregon) – If you've ever wondered how you might be able to someday have a ton of fun at a south Oregon coast beach landmark and help to save a lighthouse at the same time, that opp is coming up. August 4 brings the 20th Annual Picnic in Port Orford Heads State Park, which features live music and an occasion to wander some of the south coast's coolest historic landmarks. (Port Orford Heads Lifeboat Museum, courtesy photo)

It takes place from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Bring chairs, blankets and a picnic lunch to celebrate US Coast Guard Day as well as Lighthouse Day. While the event is free, it helps raise awareness of the plight of the nearby Cape Blanco Lighthouse and how it is badly in need of funds for repair. It needs to be rescued.

This year, the band Timberwolf takes the stage, a rig that has been a favorite here for years. The music happens at the Port Orford Heads Lifeboat Station Museum.

You'll also be able to celebrate Lighthouse Day, which technically doesn't happen this year until August 7, but US Coast Guard Day and its party at Port Orford were a perfect match for this year's event.

Put together by the Cape Blanco Heritage Society (CBHS) and sponsored by Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, the two put a spotlight on the history of the US Coast Guard in the area. CBHS said it always celebrates the origin of the Revenue Cutter Service on the first Sunday in August.

Detail from the event poster, this image of Lifeboat #36498 was created by Don McMichael, one of the last surviving officers of the Port Orford Lifeboat Station when it was still in service

It was on August 4 of 1790 when the service was born, later seeing considerable action during the Civil War and helping to establish the state of Alaska.

“This branch of service was active in environmental protection dating back to the 1822 Timber Act that tasked them with protecting government timber from poachers,” CHBS said. “In 1915 the Revenue Cutter Service and Lifesaving Service were merged into the U.S. Coast Guard as we know it today.”

Courtesy CBHS

The event gives you the opportunities to visit the CBHS' museum at Port Orford Heads, where you can learn more about the Coast Guard's distinct place in this area's history, as well as amble down incredible viewpoints along the locale's hiking trails.

Turn West on 9th Street in Port Orford, near Milepost 301, and then follow the road up the hill to where the road ends.

Yet there's a very serious aspect to all this fun and music-meets-scenic frivolity. The CBHS also runs the Cape Blanco Lighthouse, which has a significant plight going on. The tower has been closed since 2020 because it is in dire need of repairs, according to CBHS executive director Rebecca Malamud-Evans. There's much more going on, however. Thus, the event and its Lighthouse Day hope to raise awareness of how badly the lighthouse and its grounds need funds for all sorts of issues.

It's a program known as Save Our Lighthouse. S. Oregon Coast's Cape Blanco Light Fundraising for 'Dire' Need of Repairs

“The lighthouse is still in limbo at the moment. I am working to possibly get the workroom open to public tours this summer,” Malamud-Evans said. “That is up to the US Coast Guard who currently owns the lighthouse. Oregon State Parks is very supportive having just installed an anemometer to help with our efforts to keep visitors informed of the wind conditions before they head up the lighthouse gate road. We made our US Coast Guard Day event in recognition of America’s Lighthouses to support Cape Blanco. We have a very nice art exhibit happening in our Greeting Center Gift Shop to support the lighthouse and make visitors aware of our lighthouse keeping legacy - one of the most impressive anywhere.”

Also see Accessibility Oregon Coast: More in Lincoln City, Gold Beach, Seaside, Rockaway Beach, Others - Mobi-mats, sidewalks, wheelchairs, more.

Meanwhile, Malamud-Evans said she has some hope for possible funding coming from Oregon officials and State Parks. Some money has been doled out to other lighthouses.

“We just need someone to take that first step to make great things possible at Cape Blanco,” she said.

For more information, call 541-332-0521 or visit capeblancoheritagesociety.com.

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Photo CBHS

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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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