HAGERSVILLE—Local twins Beverly Petheram and Brenda Gallant (Nixon) and Dale Vecero and Dianne Strohm (Emslie) recently journeyed together from Hagersville to Twinsburg, Ohio to attend the Twins Days Festival, known as the largest gathering of twins in the world.
Held from August 2-4 this year, the festival draws twins and other multiples from around the word for a weekend full of fun activities, bonding, and more.
The town of Twinsburg dates back to 1818, when a pair of identical twins, Moses and Aaron Wilcox, purchased 4,000 acres of land and began selling small parcels. The festival began in 1976 as part of America’s bicentennial celebration. That first year, 38 sets of twins attended. This year, over 2,200 sets of twins joined in the celebration, which is recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the largest of its type in the world.
“We do pretty much everything together,” said Dale on the special bond she shares with her twin Dianne, who was born six minutes earlier than her. “We’re each other’s best friend for life. You’re together for longer than people are married. It’s a relationship that will be until the day you die.”
“Growing up we had our own language. Our mom didn’t know what we were talking about,” added Beverly, who is a whopping 25 minutes younger than her sister.
Brenda added, “It’s a closeness that most people will never understand. You have such a special bond that even if you’re not together there are times that you feel each other.”
Dianne laughed while recalling how their family couldn’t tell them apart in the crib: “We still have our baby bracelets that were given to us when we were born so they could tell us apart.”
Brenda and Beverly’s family is no stranger to twins: “We’re the third set of twins on our father’s side, and there’s seven sets of twins and a set of triplets on our mother’s side,” said Brenda.
It was Dale and Dianne who talked Beverly and Brenda into attending the festival this year, having attended for their first time the year prior.
We had known about the festival for years, but because of obligations … we were never able to go. We decided last year after our big birthday that we better go while we still can walk and talk,” said Dianne. “We stepped out of our car, and I got goosepimples. We were on our own planet; it was like all these sets of twins dressed alike…. It was overwhelming.”
“They were so welcoming, so glad to see us, and so glad to share their own stories,” said Dale, adding, with a sigh of relief, “Nobody asked us all weekend if we were twins!”
Dianne said they immediately invited the Nixon twins to this year’s event on returning last year: “They came on board, and it was a wonderful experience.”
Like the Emslies, the Nixon twins had known about the festival for years, but the timing was never right.
Beverly expressed her amazement upon arriving “in twin world.”
“The whole town is just full of twins,” added Brenda. “They’re filling up the hotels in the neighbouring towns and everybody loves it.”
This year’s event theme, titled ‘Twindy 500: Off Two The Races’, tasked participants with coming up with matching racing-themed outfits. The Nixon twins sported matching Canadian cycling outfits, while the Emslies wore matching ‘Pit Crew’ shirts.
During the annual twin parade at the festival, both sets of twins were able to march side by side with a banner, something Dianne called her favourite moment of the weekend.
“We were so thrilled to have that experience, it was an honour,” said Dale, who noted that the twins carried Canadian flags with them while marching, prompting cheers from the crowd, bouts of the national anthem being sung at them, and the odd ‘where’s your Tim Hortons’ shouted from the crowd as they passed by.
“It was incredible how receptive this town and citizens were,” recalled Brenda.
Following that excitement, the festival featured endless options for activities, from golf, tennis, bingo, look-a-like, and talent contests, an illumination ceremony dedicated to celebrating twins whose sibling has passed, a 5km twin walk, and an interdenominational church service.
“The youngest people at this event were 16-week-old sets of twins and the oldest were 93 years old,” said Beverly. “To be able to do this all together was extra special. When you do it with another set of twins that are similar to you it makes it more fun. You feed off each other’s energy and you’re just overflowing with excitement. It takes you days to get off that high.”
The twins will most definitely be back for next year’s 50th anniversary of the festival, and they’re hoping to entice other sets of twins and multiples within the Haldimand community to join them.
“It’s an experience of a lifetime,” said Brenda. “Next year is the time to go because it’s the 50th year of the festival, which will be bigger and better than ever.”
To learn more about the Twins Days Festival, including information about attending next year, visit twinsdays.org.
