POSTPONED: Glass Floats Returns to Oregon Coast This Month with Extra Big Drop

Published 10/05/2016 at 6:51 PM PDT
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Lincoln City, Oregon) – UPDATE: due to extreme weather conditions this has been postponed until Oct. 22. What is undoubtedly the Oregon coast's most anticipated seasonal kickoff happens in the Lincoln City area with the return of the Finders Keepers Glass Floats promotion, which brings thousands of people to town to scour its beaches for treasures.

This is the 18th year of the festival of float finds, starting October 15 and running through Memorial Day of 2017.

Each year adds one more float to be dropped on the beaches. The season that ended earlier this year had 2,016 floats, while this year's promotion boasts 2,017 of the glittery treasures. This year, however, there's a surprise about those numbers.

Each is officially numbered and then carefully hidden along the seven and a half miles of pristine Lincoln City beaches – from Roads End on the north side of town to Siletz Bay on the south end. They are found above the high tide line and below the beach embankment, and they are always placed there during daylight hours.

If you find it, you get to keep it. In fact the Lincoln City Visitors Bureau (LCVB) wants you to take it.

As if these daily float drops weren't enough, there will be special glass art drops throughout the next several months, which will actually boost the total count for this season to over 3,000. These special drops will include a combination of unnumbered glass floats, antique Japanese glass floats, sand dollars, crabs, starfish, and holiday-themed floats. For a schedule of upcoming drops visit www.oregoncoast.org/finders-keepers.

Opening weekend is October 15 and 16, and the LCVB will be plopping down an extra 100 glass floats for the season's kickoff. On top of this, a jumbo float will be hidden with a prize package attached. Find the jumbo float, and take home a weekend getaway courtesy of Lincoln City. The weekend getaway includes lodging, restaurant certificates, and a certificate to blow your own glass float.

Each of the official handcrafted Finders Keepers glass floats will be signed and numbered, and when they are found they become collector’s items. When you register your glass treasure you will receive a certificate of authenticity and a biography of the artist who created the float.

To register your float, call 800-452-2151, visit www.oregoncoast.org, or text FLOATS to 24587. You can also bring your discovered treasure to the Visitor Information Center at 540 NE Hwy 101 in Lincoln City. If you have limited mobility or are unable to walk on the beach due to disability, stop by and fill out an entry form for a chance to win a glass float.

Share your glass treasure discoveries on Lincoln City's social media channels. Post a photo on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LincolnCityOregon, on Instagram or Twitter @LincolnCityOR.

The little treasures are created by glass studios from all around the Pacific Northwest, including William Murphy of Oregon Coast Glassworks.

"Lincoln City does such a great job with this program," Murphy said. "It brings so many people to the coast just to find a glass float. I am honored to be a part of it."

Finders Keepers started in 1999 by a local glass artist who thought special art floats would be an interesting way to begin the new millennium. Lincoln City officials agreed to sponsor the project, starting it that winter of 1999-2000. Now, each new year brings more visitors from around the country to look for these intensely colored wonders.

Part of the inspiration behind the glass floats comes from a long history of Oregon coast visitors finding glass floats from Japan, which were used for floating their fishing nets. Hundreds used to wash up on these shores from the '20s through to about the '80s. The dark green, smoky spheres were often small, about two inches or a little bit more. But many were as large as two feet in diameter.

Visitors and residents alike would collect them and then polish them. It was common to see many homes on the coast decorated with a large number of them. These days, however, fishing vessels around the world use buoyant plastic, making the original floats a much rarer find – although it is still possible.

Lincoln City has brought this back, however, with numerous special extra benefits and aspects. For more information contact the Lincoln City Visitor & Convention Bureau at 800-452-2151 or visit www.oregoncoast.org .... Lincoln City Hotels/Lodgings for this event - Where to eat - Map and Virtual Tour. ... More on Lincoln City below:

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