If you think Twilight is over you had better hold onto your Team Edward hat. Forks Chamber of Commerce Director Lissy Andros shared her annual State of the Chamber message on Wednesday via a Zoom meeting and told those attending that even in COVID times the Forks Visitor Information Center (VIC), managed by the chamber, saw its third-highest ever visitor count in 2021.
“In 2021 our staff welcomed 45,645 people to the visitor center. We had the third busiest year in our history. January of 2022 has surpassed January of 2021 by almost 60 percent,” Andros said, adding, “These numbers are exciting and terrifying.”
Andros said not everyone visiting the area is a Twilight fan but many are and many are repeat visitors.
“We work as the Tourism Marketing Entity for the City of Forks to make Forks an appealing destination for visitors and a better community for residents and our members,” Andros added.
The Forks Chamber of Commerce has 257 members, “Our annual budget is $639,358 for 2022, and are budgeted for a $5k surplus. We are funded through dues, grants, lodging taxes from the City of Forks, Jefferson County, OPVB, and Clallam County, public support, and funds raised from Forever Twilight in Forks Collection & Festival. We are also funded through merchandise sales which offsets the costs of the Visitor Center being open seven days a week.”
In comparison in 2015, the Chamber’s budget was $202,086.
“Last year the VIC sent out 563 visitor information packets via mail with our new coupon program,” Andros shared. The new $5 fee for packets and the VIC redeemable $5 coupon, was implemented after a TikTok video featuring the Twilight Map, one of the items in the packets, went viral and the Chamber received over 1,000 requests for packets in one day.
Some of the projects the Chamber received grants for in 2021 included a new roof for the Visitor Center (Clallam Co LTAC), a new website (Clallam Co LTAC), Light Pole Banners (OPVB), Special Guest funding for FTF (Port of Port Angeles), Marketing (Port of Seattle and OPVB). “We were able to utilize funds received from First Federal in 2020 for tents during 2021’s FTF Festival,” Andros said.
“Our big focus this year is launching our new website. This consists of providing content, photos, and videos to the website designer – InsideOut Solutions,” Andros said.
“We have created a new tourism logo for the website. More than anything – rain is the star of the show in Forks. We wanted our logo to include that element, in graphics and text. We also wanted to have a rugged, frontier feel to our new logo.”
Andros said that the biggest expense on the budget is staffing. “Currently, our staff includes three staff members, Gay Bunnell, Kari Larson (my assistant), and Wendy Sumner, working 28-35 hours per week depending on the time of year. We will be hiring additional staff as needed. Susie Michels is our IT Manager,” she stated.
“Richard Halverson and Randy Mesenbrink remain as our volunteer Log Tour drivers,” Andros told the group. Chamber Logging and Mill Tours run weekly through the summer months and offer visitors to the area a look into the real story of the timber industry.
Let’s talk Twilight!
This year the Forever Twilight in Forks Festival will be held Sept. 8-11.
Attention Twihards! Make all your Twilight Renaissance dreams come true at the biggest Twilight celebration in the world, Forever Twilight in Forks Festival!
Join us in Forks, Washington to eat, sleep, and breathe Twilight for four days!
Andros shared that the continued popularity of Twilight is referred to as the Twilight Renaissance, and due to TikTok, Instagram, the latest novel “Midnight Sun” it’s hotter than ever.
“Fans can’t get enough of the FTF Collection and Festival!”
The Forever Twilight in Forks Collection continues to add new exhibits and welcome new and returning customers. The Collection has welcomed 15,805 people to downtown Forks in 2021 and over 41,000 people since opening in May of 2017.
Andros shared, “The FTF Festival which started as we know it in 2015 and occurs in September, brings fans from all over the world, and most of the fans stay a minimum of four days, and some stay as many as 10 days.”
“In the past, we have sold between 190-440 tickets to the events. In 2021, we held a very successful in-person event that had zero COVID cases reported afterward,” Andros said.
“With COVID concerns we’re being conservative in our ticket sales for 2022. For 2022 we put 350 VIT (Very Important Twilighters) Tickets in the online store at $450 each and they sold out in the first weekend of sales. We also had 50 party tickets for Friday at $125 and 50 for Saturday at $150 which sold out in the first week,” Andros said.
There are also free events for fans during the Festival. Andros said, “We have also added new events including our “Forever Twilight in Forks Festival Grand Bazaar” on Friday, Sept. 9 at the Ki’tla Center. We will be encouraging Forks vendors to attend and are offering free spaces to our Quileute and Hoh neighbors, and to Forks non-profits.”
Another new event this year is the “Sunday Supper” which will consist of Hoh River king salmon caught and prepared by Michael Sampson. Ticket sales to the supper are going well, having just announced it last week.
“We appreciate all the support from our volunteers that help plan the FTF Festival, the City of Forks and our FTF Sponsors, which make this event possible.”
“Our goals for this year are to continue supporting businesses – established and new, marketing the Forks area during the “value” season, to have a wonderful Logging and Mill Tour season, supporting events in the area, and most of all – being an advocate for Forks.”
She also sits on several boards including the Olympic Peninsula Tourism Commission, Clallam County LTAC, Association of Visitor Centers of Washington (AVICW), and Forks Old Fashioned 4th of July Committee. Clallam County Commissioner Bill Peach and Andros sit on the Clallam EDC Lifeboat Grant Committee.
The Chamber also partners with West End Business & Professional Association and assist with the Forks Old Fashioned 4th of July, Rainfest, Hickory Shirt Days, and more. We are excited to welcome in-person events back in 2022, including the Quillayute Valley Scholarship Auction, the 1st Annual Forks Sasquatch Days, West End Thunder, Forks Old Fashioned 4th of July, Forever Twilight in Forks Festival, Hickory Shirt Days, Rain of Terror Haunted Hangar, and West End Wonderland Christmas events.
The 2022 volunteer Forks Chamber Board consists of:
Sharon Millett, President
Diana Reaume, VP
Linda Keen, Treasurer
Melene Bourm, Secretary
At Large members
County Commissioner Bill Peach, Judge Bruce Hanify, Bruce Paul, Trent Thurman, Christi Baron, Past President
City of Forks representative – Mayor Tim Fletcher
Quileute Tribe Representative – Renee Rux, Quileute Oceanside Resort Manager
