Fans of Mark Frost and David Lynch’s Twin Peaks are some of the most dedicated and passion individuals in the world. From the earliest days of the series, they rallied to save the show and would later be instrumental in the release of deleted scenes from Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. It’s no surprise then that fans supported a Kickstarter campaign to recreate a red neon “RR” sign for Twede’s Cafe in North Bend, Washington. This article is one of several recapping the effort to fulfill a neon dream.
THE “RR” SIGN
On February 21, 1989, cameras rolled at Twede’s Cafe (then known as the Mar-T Cafe) in North Bend, Washington. This was the first day of production on “Northwest Passage” which would eventually be renamed to Twin Peaks. Some of the first scenes took place at the Double R Diner which crew members attached a red neon “RR” sign to the existing roadside sign outside the cafe.
For the first two seasons, the sign would appear and disappear outside the diner depending upon which footage was used. Principle photography captured in February 1989 included the RR sign. When a second unit returned later in 1989, the sign did not travel with them so it’s missing from that footage.
This original sign was manufactured by Western Neon, a shop in Kirkland, Washington that Michael Blazek opened around 1984. His brother Jay assumed ownership around 1990. They would famously remake the “R” neon sign for Rainier Beer found near downtown Seattle.
On Saturday, October 17, 2015, Brother Jerry Horne from Twin Peaks Archive would find the original neon sign on Vashon Island in Washington State during an estate sale for Patricia Norris. She was the production and costume designer for several of Lynch’s films from Blue Velvet (1986) through The Straight Story (1999). Norris had passed on February 20, 2015 at age 83 and this estate sale contained a treasure trove of Twin Peaks props.
The sign from the first two seasons would briefly return for both Lynch’s 1992 feature film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (best seen in The Missing Pieces).
A simplified sign was created for Twin Peaks‘ subsequent third season on Showtime. When that season’s production wrapped in Washington state in September 2015, the sign was removed at Twede’s Cafe and quickly became the “stuff dreams were made of.”
DREAMING OF AN IDEA
The idea of recreating the neon sign began with a conversation between Dugpa and Jason Mattson in early 2023. Jason has an incredible skill for recreating props from Twin Peaks. He shared some of his stories during the Real Twin Peaks Day 2023 event.
In January 2023, he presented Rachel Bennett and Max Spears, owners of Twede’s Cafe since early 2020, with replicas of the Gruen clock and a bear trivet that’s seen in the first two seasons of the show. Previously, he had gifted Twede’s a replica of the Today’s StockPot Soup specials sign.
Dugpa saw Jason’s post about the newest replica props and thought, “Wow, the new owners of Twede’s Cafe are awesome. I wonder if we could find a way to gift them the Neon RR sign”
They enlisted the help of Jared Lyon and Amanda Hicks, long-time Twin Peaks fans who ran the fan festival in Snoqualmie Valley in the 2000s.
With a Neon Dream team formed, they approached Rachel and Max. They loved the idea of bringing back the sign but costs were extremely prohibitive. But what if they turned to the “whole damn town” of Twin Peaks fans to help raise money needed? Enter Kickstarter.
THE KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN BEGINS
On April 10, 2023, Rachel from Twede’s Cafe launched the Kickstarter campaign with a goal of raising $15,000 by June 1. The campaign would “return the neon RR sign to its rightful place as it was while filming Twin Peaks.” There would also be a movie night, lighting celebration and more.
Two days later, the campaign was fully funded. By the end in June 2023, there were 224 backers who pledged $29,218 to help bring the project to life.
While most of the backers were from the United States, the effort to return the sign was truly global in nature with fans chipping in from around the world.
A portion of the proceeds from this campaign would be donated to Reclaim (formerly Snoqualmie Valley Shelter Services).
THE CAMPAIGN STORY
“As you may know, Twede’s Café appeared in the original series of Twin Peaks, the follow-up feature film, and the 2017 revival series. Fans have often asked us about the neon Double R, and we have always dreamed of bringing the Double R to our beautiful sign. That’s why we are raising funds to recreate a neon Double R sign to be combined with our current sign.
Having a neon sign built is far from trivial or cheap, and the sign is double sided, so essentially we have to build the RR design twice! Thankfully, we’ve partnered with some of the most obsessive well-known fans to recreate the sign, and pre-production work is already underway. We’ve selected our neon partner, who we’ve worked with in the past, and have already had talks with them. Also, our county permit application and site inspection are both in process. Working from detailed photos of the original Double R sign, a design document and blueprint have already been created and are ready to be built once funding is acquired.
By donating to this project, you’ll help us fulfill a dream of so many fans to see that Double R sign up in its proper place, and help make the Twin Peaks universe a reality. We have a whole celebration planned for the first official lighting, including a movie night at the North Bend Theatre with never-before-seen content, prize drawings, and even an exclusive afterparty for our biggest supporters.”
A teaser video was also included on the campaign page.
“For the 2017 series, David Lynch and his team restored the entire inside of our diner to its appearance in the original series, but other than some branded wording on the outside of the building, no permanent exterior changes were made. A sign they created was placed up for a single day of shooting, but we would like to create a permanent, neon RR sign to help restore our exterior to its appearance in the original series as closely as possible.”
STRETCH GOALS
With the campaign being fully funded in two days, the Neon Dream team and Rachel and Max added some stretch goals. These new goals would help expand the in-person event and make it “an even better experience for those making the trek to North Bend.” The goals were also made to benefit those unable to attend to attend.
ACHIEVED! $20,000 – Second T-shirt Design: As a bonus for reaching $20,000 for the campaign, we’d like to make a second T-shirt design, and donors will be able to select between one of the two designs for their shirt reward.
ACHIEVED! $23,000 – Official Poster: If we can make it to $23,000, we will hire an awesome artist to create an official poster for the event!
ACHIEVED! $25,000 – Live Music Performances: There’s always music in the air, but we’d like to have it at our event too! Reaching $25,000 means we will be able to afford live music at the event.
ACHIEVED! $28,000 – Cast Appearance: We’d like to get a cast member at this event. Breaking the $28,000 goal means we can pay for travel and expenses to make this happen.
$30,000 – Third T-Shirt Design: If our funding reaches $30,000, we’re going to make a third T-shirt design. As with the previous similar stretch goal, donors will be able to select between our available T-shirt designs, but one of the three designs now.
$33,000 – Cast Appearance 2: Breaking the $33,000 goal means we can get an additional cast member to the event, paying for their travel and expenses.
Below is a list of available rewards from the campaign.
These are the individual awards that included additional details about each level.
TIMELINE OF EVENTS
- January 25, 2023 – Jason Mattson shares photos of a Gruen clock and bear trivet he recreated and presented to Rachel and Max at Twede’s Cafe. After seeing a post about it on Facebook, Dugpa wondered how a replica of the neon RR sign could be gifted to the cafe.
- February-March 2023 – Conversations continue and formation of A Neon Dream Team.
- April 10, 2023 – The campaign launched with a goal of raising $15,000 by June 1, 2023.
- April 13, 2023 – Campaign reached its goal in a little over 24 hours.
- May 2, 2023 – Creating newly designed pin and sticker specific to the campaign. New tiers introduced including the t-shirt only option and three additional options – Twede’s Cafe merchandise, dinner for two at Twede’s Cafe, and a replica prop package. Also added four add-ons for those who already donated to the campaign – t-shirt, RR mug, coffee, and full set of four existing enamel pins. Finally, added five stretch goals from $20,000 to $33,000.
- May 31, 2023 – Noble Neon chosen to build sign from blueprints created by Jason Mattson referencing high definition photos of original sign. Introduced first of three t-shirt designs also created by Jason. Announced event will have never before seen content provided by John Mitchell and Travis Blue. Jared Lyon will introduce a documentary, “From Thompsons to Twede’s – A Timeless Diner” on August 28. Request from fans to send photos from visits to Twede’s Cafe to be used at event. Sean Longmore also announced as artist who would create posters for the event.
- June 1, 2023 – Kickstarter campaign officially ended at 3:38 p.m. PDT.
- June 8, 2023 – Applied for a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) as Twede’s is a historical landmark. Required pre-meeting with King County Historic Preservation Committee to review project.
- June 10, 2023 – Jared Lyon launched Facebook group for From Thompson’s to Twede’s: The History of North Bend, WA’s Mar-T Cafe.
- June 22, 2023 – Final review of neon sign by Design Review Committee (DRC). During closing comments, one member said, “Twin Peaks is part of North Bend’s history and as such the idea to install a permanent neon RR sign is a fantastic idea and a great way to honor North Bend’s history.” The vote was unanimous and the application was approved.
- July 12, 2023 – Received approval for permit to install sign from City of North Bend. Shared three t-shirt designed created by Jason Mattson. Announced Wisteria Lodge would be playing at “A Neon Dream” VIP Party at Twede’s Cafe after lighting celebration. Helena Janecic was selected as the poster artist, not Sean Longmore. Digital goodies (digital downloads) were released.
- July 17, 2023 – The option to add your name to the commemorate plaque was discontinued.
- August 17, 2023 – Shared first look at sign from Noble Neon. Shared final look at two posters created for the event by Helena Janecic. Announced “Julee Cruise – A Recorded Night in the Woods” would be shown at the movie event on August 28. This was a 2002 recording of Julee performing a the Twin Peaks Fan Festival with sound remastered by Twin Peaks Sounds (Matthew Haywood). Also announced an expanded documentary about Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me would be shown. Kaustic Plastik is donating Agent Cooper Collectible figure for door prize drawing. The event would also be streamed live via Welcome to Twin Peaks Facebook page. Josh Eisenstadt and Steven Miller would offer film location tours on August 28-29 at 10:00 a.m. each day.
- August 22, 2023 – Neon RR sign installed at Twede’s Cafe.
- August 27, 2023 – Early pick up of swag bag for attendees from 4:00-6:00 p.m. at Twede’s Cafe.
- August 28, 2023 – A Neon Dream event held at North Bend Theatre and Twede’s Cafe. Check-in at theatre began at 4:15 p.m. From 5:00-9:00 p.m., programming at North Bend Theatre. The lighting celebration was 9:15-9:45 p.m. followed by the VIP Party inside Twede’s Cafe from 10:00-Midnight.
KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN UPDATES
There were nine updates shared between April – August 2023 about the campaign.
INSTAGRAM POSTS FROM TWEDE’S CAFE
Twede’s Cafe shared several posts via their Instagram account about the campaign between April through August.
POSTER DESIGNS
Helena Janecic created these posters for the A Neon Dream event. They were sold for $40 each at the event and are currently available on her Etsy store.
T-SHIRT DESIGNS
Jason Mattson designed these three graphics for the t-shirts offered at the event.
Stay tuned for additional details and recaps about this incredibly unique fan experience in North Bend, Washington.
Like last year, post-TP day weekend I’m reading your blog because I already am missing TP.
Didn’t realize that Mattson fellow designed the blogs logo. Or that he was so involved w/ the RR sign event; I knew he was involved, I even knew before the Kickstarter was announced because he let it slip out when I visited The Chair on Black Lodge Day 2023 (hardest secret to keep) but from then until the RR event he completely downplayed his involvement…. That pine weasel!! He’s just too modest about his art.