South Coast Business Awards for Douglas County Parks, Umpqua River Lighthouse Museum, and Salmon Harbor

ROSEBURG, Ore. — In the 2023–24 Toast of the South Coast competition, three locations in Douglas County won business awards. In the categories of art galleries and campgrounds, the locations took home one gold and two silver medals.

In the Campground category, Salmon Harbor Division won the golden award for the Winchester Bay RV Resort. The Douglas County Parks Department won the silver award for Umpqua Dunes RV Park in the Campground category. Additionally, the County’s Umpqua River Lighthouse Coastal History Museum, Gift Shop, and Visitors Center won a silver award in the Art Gallery category.

Bicoastal Media hosts the contest, and its goal is to present the best services the southern Oregon coast has to offer.

Chris Boice, Commissioner and Board Chair, said the following, “We wish to thank everyone for their votes. Your positive responses encourage us to continue to improve our products to provide better services and experiences. We understand how important it is to provide our visitors and guests with a wide range of pleasant amenities. Furthermore, it would be inexcusable of me if I did not mention and praise our heads of departments and employees. They work incredibly hard, take their jobs seriously, and do excellent work.”

Salmon Harbor is a division of Douglas County, where the Winchester Bay RV Resort is located. This resort has recently installed an upgraded Wi-Fi system and has 172 full hook-up RV sites.

The latest addition to the Douglas County Parks Department is the Umpqua Dunes RV Park. This park gives direct sand access to the Oregon Dunes Recreation Area. The park is packed with amenities such as 62 full hook-up campsites, an upgraded Wi-Fi connection, three group campsites, clear gas and propane, a repair shop, a laundromat, a retail store, and five cabins sleeping 4–8 people.

The basement of the original Coast Guard barracks houses the Local Artisan Gallery. The gallery showcases a diverse range of handcrafted items created by local artisans in southern Oregon. It is part of the Umpqua River Lighthouse Coastal History Museum, Gift Shop, and Visitors Center. It is located next to the historic Umpqua River Lighthouse, which is on the bluffs above Winchester Bay.

The Toast of the South Coast’s process of selecting the award winners included a nomination period where community members could nominate places, businesses, and people in various categories on the South Coast. The awards focused on the best companies, groups, businesses, items, locations, and services. Once the nominations have been finalized, the community can then cast their votes online for individual businesses in each category. Winners in the competition were given a medallion and a certificate, which represented their award.

In the 2023–24 Bicoastal Media Toast of the South Coast contest, 261 companies were nominated in 167 categories. Bicoastal Media owns and operates radio stations in 13 different markets in Washington, Oregon, and Northern California. The public online voting period for the 2023–24 online contest took place from September 6–20, 2023, while the business nomination period ran from August 2–30, 2023. On January 9, 2024, the winners of each category were announced.