LIVING HISTORY MOVIES: A CONVERSATION WITH DON McMICHAEL AND WAYNE GAGE
Below are three episodes of “Living History Movies” featuring a conversation with Don McMichael and Wayne Gage, the last surviving officers of the Port Orford Lifeboat Station when it was still in service. This project began in 2022 while Lifeboat No. 36498 was being restored at the station. The work in progress on the project provided the perfect backdrop for the two men’s stories of life atop Coast Guard Hill.
Episode One — Click to play.
The compound back in those days consisted of a house for the officer in charge, the barracks building (where the museum is now located), an office building, a water tower, a garage, storage buildings, pump house, a lookout tower and the old boathouse (that no longer exists) that held two lifeboats (#36495 & #36498). Both men served at the Port Orford Station before it was decommissioned and took the lifeboat out of Nellie’s Cove on its last trip out.
Episode Two — Click to play.
They relate many stories in the movies about the capabilities of the lifeboats and of the men who piloted them. The tales are interesting and amusing and it is wonderful to finally have these stories recorded for posterity. In one anecdote in particular they wonder what happened to much of the gear used in training such as a beach cart that as Don remembers “was completely intact with all of the equipment on it and it could have gone into a museum, but in those days museums weren’t quite interested in the changing that the Coast Guard was doing.”
Episode Three — Click to play.
Wayne and Don have always been great supporters and contributors to the museum since its inception. Fortunately, through considerable effort on behalf of the Point Orford Heritage Society, Lifeboat #36498 was indeed returned to the museum in 2000 and thanks to restoration efforts by the Cape Blanco Heritage Society in 2004 and again in 2022, it is one of the best preserved 36' lifeboats of its kind. An enclosure was added by Oregon State Parks to protect the vessel from the extreme seasonal marine climate. Work to preserve this irreplaceable piece of history continues and you can learn more about what needs to be done and how to help on our website.
These movies were created to support the Lifeboat #36498 Restoration Project.
You can donate here.