FORKS — “What Obsession?”
That was the message printed on luggage tags sold in Tillicum Park by TwilightMom member Lucy Crow, one of several vendors offering Twilight memorabilia to the nearly 1,000 fans of the series of novels about teen love and vampires who converged on the small town Saturday.
Most of fans celebrating Stephenie Meyer Day — and fictional character Isabella Swan’s 20th birthday — had the same refrain: “I just love all of the characters.”
From a group of about 200 fans who are members of the site TwilightMOMS.com to the hundreds of teens, tweens and adults from throughout the United States and Canada all had one goal — to be closer to the supposed real-life haunts of their beloved fictional characters.
Stephenie Meyer Day, named after the author of the four-novel series, kicked off with breakfast at the Congregational Church, just across from Forks High School — where mortal Isabella Swan met her vampire boyfriend, Edward Cullen — and ended with a bonfire in LaPush.
“To those of you who have found your Edward, and to those of you who are still looking, I wish you a very happy day,” said Mayor Nedra Reed, after formally declaring the the third annual Stephenie Meyer Day, and the second annual celebration.
Said Marcia Bingham, executive director of the Forks Chamber of Commerce, the primary organizers: “We had at least 900 to 1,000 people here today. It has been unbelievable.
“I am so proud that the Chamber of Commerce could be the instigator for this day.”
The books, which have been on the USA Today best-seller list since early 2007, detail Bella’s move from Phoenix to rainy Forks, to live with her police chief father — Charlie Swan — and her subsequent love affair with the mysterious vampire, Edward.
