Jim Thompson, the creator of the Magic Adventures miniature golf and arcade located at 120 Sol Duc Way, had his shop broken into on Wednesday evening, Aug 15. The burglary was discovered the morning of Aug. 16. 

One or more burglars climbed in through the shop’s bathroom window and left through front door, he said.

The loss is setting back his start-up of the business, which opened earlier this year.

To make up for the loss, Thompson is scheduling a series of air hockey and video game arcade games tournaments.

He said the Forks Police Department were immediately on the scene once he contacted them on Aug. 16., and took photographs of the break-in scene.

The night of Aug. 16, after Thompson had beefed up his security, a second break-in was tried, he said. Again the Forks Police Department responded in a timely manner.

The arcade owner spent 17 years in law enforcement, serving with the San Bernadino Sheriff’s Department in Southern California. Among his duties were mine shaft, mountain and desert rescues in a county that covers 21,000 square miles, or about one-eighth the land mass of California. 

Thompson said items stolen included over 250 game tokens, $100 in costume jewelry and rings, flashlights, candy bars plus cash stashed away in a location away from the cash register. He said game tokens were found on the ground in Tillicum Park, and he heard a teenager was giving them away near the Forks Skateboard Park prior to the discovery of those on the ground. 

He suspects a teenager pulled the burglary, based on what was stolen during the burglary, he said. Most teenagers he’s met in Forks are respectable, Thompson said, however a handful are not. He noticed they run around town in packs.

He said police have had no leads in their investigation. 

Air hockey tournaments are being held on Tuesday and Thursday, with sign-up beginning at 3:00 p.m. and competition beginning at 4:30 p.m. with cash prizes to raise funds to cover burglary losses, Thompson said. 

Thompson is best known in Forks for the incredibly detailed Halloween fun house he set up at the Forks Elks Lodge, and for his work creating the Twilight installation at the former Dazzled by Twilight store on the corner of Division Street and Forks Ave.

Detailed miniature golf course, Thompson applied his talent as a prop-maker, a skill he’s employed for Disney and the Southern California movie industry. Among the highlights of the golf course are King Arthur’s Court, black-light outer space “Area 101” hole in a separate room. A costume  Thompson made for a scene in the film “Hook” a vignette of a logging camp circa 1890s. 

Golf course and arcade meander through rooms of the vintage building located on the corner of Sol Duc Way and Wood Ave.

Magic Adventures is open from noon to 9 p.m. Monday-Saturday, and noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday.