A two-and-a-half hour drive from Orem, Utah to Preston, Idaho didn’t deter Jessica Huffaker and Leea Bryant, who posed for pictures in front of the countryside home made famous as the title character’s residence in “Napoleon Dynamite.”
“It feels like really Americana out here, especially with the corn fields,” Bryant said. “It seems like people here have a lot of community-based relationships.”The friends were two of many who were visiting Preston for the first time last weekend, lured to town by Napoleon Fest, a two-day celebration of the 2004 cult-classic film that, in many ways, put Preston on the map.
Huffaker, sporting a “Vote for Pedro” T-shirt, said she’s lost count of how many time she’s seen the movie.
“It is my favorite movie of all time,” she said. “It’s just so funny, so clever, so ridiculous.”
Bryant and Huffaker went on their way to make chapstick, create boondoggle keychains and get their Preston High School ID badges before heading to the school to see the movie on the big screen for the first time.
The Preston Area Chamber of Commerce and numerous volunteers have spent all year preparing for the event. Local businesses put on a variety of events following themes from the movie, including Groll Family Fitness, which hosted a football-throwing contest based on the unfulfilled dreams of Uncle Rico.
Owner Chris Groll said his family business was still fairly new in town when the movie was being filmed, and they have participated in similar festivals before.
“About six months ago they came to us and said ‘we’re gonna do a 20 year anniversary,’” Groll said. “We thought ‘hey, we’ve done that before. Sure, we’ll do it.’”
At the center of the action on State Street, boutique clothing and accessories store Magnolia Road capitalized on the talents of movie character Deb, hosting a boondoggle-weaving workshop and studio “glamour shot” photo sessions.
“All the kids are really enjoying it, and adults alike,” owner Amber Whittaker said. “I just think it’s been a really excellent thing for Preston. We’ve had people from all over.”
While they might not have all been there to buy her wares, Whittaker said the exposure for the store she took over in April has been “fantastic.
“A lot of people are scheduled to do multiple things all day, so they just move from one place to the next,” she said. “A lot of them may not be shopping, but that’s okay because they get the chance to see inside the store if they’ve never been before.”
Nearby at Olive + Jo gift boutique, which served as the headquarters for the event, people came to get printed schedules and other information, and to buy the ubiquitous “Vote for Pedro” T-shirts.
Visitors were encouraged to stick pins in a map on the wall indicating where they had come from. Pins were stuck in states all over the country and beyond, with some as far away as Iceland, Colombia and New Zealand.
Down the road, people flocked to Polar Bear Eats and stood in line for a chance to meet Shondrella Avery, known to Napoleon Dynamite fans as “LaFawnduh.” Avery spent most of Saturday at the restaurant, greeting fans with the same sparkling smile and bubbly personality that made her character a fan favorite.
As it did in the movie, Preston High featured prominently in the festivities. Fans roamed the halls, snapping pictures in front of the blue, orange and red lockers. The auditorium hosted a screening of the film, as well as an awards ceremony for the liger-drawing contest, football toss and other events of the weekend. In front of the school, the local chapter of Future Farmers of America offered a milk tasting.
Other events over the two-day festival included a tater-tot eating contest, a school-bus tour of filming locations for the movie, a thrift-store prom, a “moon boot masterclass,” tetherball tournament, movie trivia contest, a presentation by the “Happy Hands Club,” martial arts lessons with “Rex Kwon Do,” and bowling at Pop ’N Pins Lanes.
Whether a 25-year anniversary celebration will happen remains to be seen, but die-hard fans like Huffaker weren’t waiting to find out.
“On our way up here we were like ‘When is this ever gonna happen again?’” she said.
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