Glass is in session
Finders Keepers celebrates 25 years
Antique Japanese glass floats on the beach
If your social media feed has featured a higher-than-average number of smiling people holding freshly found glass floats from Lincoln City beaches lately, there’s a good reason.
Lincoln City kicked off the 25th year of its popular Finders Keepers program by placing an extra 100 glass floats on the sands last weekend and will continue to drop bonus treasures throughout a packed silver anniversary year.
The program was inspired by the green and blue glass floats that used to wash up regularly on Oregon’s shores, having broken loose from Japanese fishing nets. Ranging from a few inches to two feet across, these floats were the ultimate find for any dedicated beachcomber. Today, fishing vessels around the world use buoyant plastic, making glass floats a rare find — except in Lincoln City.
Each year, visitors continue to come from around the country to search for their own brightly colored, signed and numbered glass float. Anyone who finds a float can take it to the Visitors’ Center at 801 SW Hwy. 101 to receive a certificate of authenticity and a biography of the artist who created the treasure.
Fittingly enough for a program that has inspired so many thousands of people to scour the sands, Finders Keepers was born out of an idea that came to Waldport artist Bryan Duncan during a beachcombing trip in 1997.
Duncan said he had been trying to think of a suitable art project to mark the year 2000, when he and his wife hit the beach in search of treasures.
“As we were walking, she said ‘no-one seems to find glass floats on the beach anymore,’” Duncan said. “And I thought it would be kind of great to do 2,000 floats on the beach for the year 2000.”
Lincoln City pounced on the idea, with its Visitor & Convention Bureau joining local businesses in pledging support. The Oregon Coast Council for the Arts and the Central Oregon Coast Association also helped get the project up and running.
Initially confined to the off-season to boost visitor numbers during the rainy months, Finders Keepers has since expanded into a year-round operation.
Floats are placed on the beach during daylight hours only and can be found above the high tide line and below the beach embankment.
Floats are out there every day rain or shine. On rare occasions when weather and ocean conditions create unsafe situations, official notice of any cancellations will be made on the Explore Lincoln City social media channels and website.
Happy hunting!
Bonus Drop Dates
February 11-18, Antique Week: 100 Japanese antique floats
February 12-14, Valentine’s Day: 50 Red, pink and white floats
March 18-April 16, Spring break: 200 floats
April 21-23, Earth Day: 50 Earth Day floats
May 12-14, Mother’s Day: 50 floats
May 27-29, Memorial Day: 50 Red, white and blue floats
June 17-18, Father’s Day: 50 floats
June 23-24, Chinook Winds Casino Resort anniversary: 28 floats
June 24-25, Summer Kite Festival: 10 floats
Sept 2-4, College Ball: 20 green and yellow and 20 orange and black floats
September TBD, Celebration of Honor: 50 Red, white and blue floats
September 23-24, Fall Kite Festival: 10 floats
October 28-31, Halloween: 50 glow-in-the-dark floats
November 23-26, Thanksgiving: 50 floats
December 16-17, Basketball: 50 red and black floats
November and December dates are subject to change due to King Tides
Can’t find a float no matter how hard you look? Worry not: the city holds special drawings every month for glass floats through its Trash for Treasures program. Collect a bag of beach trash between Roads End and Siletz Bay, take a picture of the full bag and upload the photo along within your name, email and mailing address at www.oregoncoast.org/glass-floats. Or bring the photo to the Lincoln City Welcome Center, located on the fourth floor at 801 SW Hwy. 101 and open from 8 am to 5 pm on weekdays.
People with physical disabilities who are not able to beachcomb are also eligible to enter a monthly float drawing by visiting the Welcome Center.