It can be better to be lucky

Published 8:37 am Friday, September 18, 2009

Cities and towns do all sorts of things to attract business and industry, and — to repeat the motto of every municipality in the past five years — to be the kind of place where you want to “live, work and play.”

Cities come up with mission statements, “re-branding efforts” and slogans. (There must be some grumpy city somewhere that champions itself as the place where you want to “exist, be unemployed and die.”)

As fortune would have it, a city’s slogan, or even its past, doesn’t direct its fate. Was it because Redmond is the “Bicycle Capital of the Northwest” that Bill Gates located his little company there? (Adding to its civic slogan repertoire, Redmond also has a logo “Paint the Town Redmond,” with a red stripe underlining it, apparently trying to reach those who would rather drink a Fat Tire than ride them.)

Not only is Castle Rock “a wonderful place to live, work and play,” where the “past, present and future come together,” it is also the “Gateway to Mount St. Helens,” which of course became a huge tourist draw since the 1980 volcanic eruption.

And now, out of nowhere (OK, Arizona), a mystical force is transforming the city of Forks (formerly “The Logging Capital of the World”) into Vampire Central. For those who don’t know (like, right, as if) “Twilight” is a book (now a series, and movie) that’s all the rage with young readers, especially girls. Its popularity has led a growing number of fans — from across the country and Europe — to trek to the rainy, small town on the edge of the Olympic Peninsula.

Author Stephenie Meyer, who lives in vampire-free Phoenix, Ariz., said she was looking for a rainy, out of the way place, surrounded by forest, in which to set her story. So she Googled. “And there, right where I wanted it to be, was a tiny town called ‘Forks.’ It couldn’t have been more perfect if I had named it myself.” (Hey, that’s almost a slogan.)

What she couldn’t know was that her book(s) would become a phenomenon, and that the tiny town with a perfect name (Forks for vampires?), which has been struggling economically since the 1980s, would be the beneficiary of a teen vampire romance. And while some residents say it’s weird, or annoying, to be innundated with young vampire fans who may sometimes confuse fact and fiction, no one can argue against tourists and money.

Indeed. So now when Meyer, or anyone, Googles “Forks,” the first result is “Forks Chamber of Commerce ~ Home ~ Home of Twilight.”