That forecast was a little off. Wade said two years turned into 25, and people still come from all over the world.
Wakita museum to celebrate 25th anniversary of movie ‘Twister’
Mike Seals - May 11, 2021 12:47 am
by Michael Armstrong
WAKITA, Okla. (KOCO) — The iconic movie “Twister” hit theaters on May 10, 1996. Twenty-five years later, the Twister Movie Museum in Wakita is ready to celebrate the anniversary.
“They told us we’d have visitors for a couple of years,” said Linda Wade, a Wakita resident and the museum’s director.
“This is a real Dorothy, the one that was used in all the demolition scenes,” Wade said. “There are some pretty ones out there, but mine is the one with character.”
Bill Paxton, who died in 2017, is remembered fondly at the museum.
“He was one of our favorite stars,” Wade said. “He played football the whole time he was in Wakita and actually donated the football to the museum a few years after the movie.”
Paxton also generously donated a “Twister” pinball machine to the museum before he died.
“And if you’re really good, you can get a tornado, and it has like three balls that are flung around like debris. So, you’re playing three balls at a time,” Wade said.
The museum is hosting a party this Saturday.
“I have cows, and our event this coming May 15 will be a party until cows come home. So, I have a lot of cows,” Wade said.
Things have changed over the past 25 years.
Aunt Meg’s house in the movie is an empty lot in Wakita, but the Beacon Drive-In Theater in Guthrie is still showing movies today. The bridge at Kaw Lake where cows flew is still there, as well.
