Brothers give twins festival millions

A donation that the Twins Days festival is getting from the estate of two frugal bachelor farmers is enough to make some people do a double-take: as much as $5 million.

John and William Reiff, once recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's most identical twins, left most of their estate to the festival in Twinsburg, about 15 miles southeast of Cleveland. John Reiff died in 2005 and William five years earlier, but only recently have plans to develop part of the twins' suburban Philadelphia farm been worked out.

With the land deal expected to be completed this year, about $4 million to $5 million will go to the festival, according to a lawyer for the Twins Days Festival Committee. The festival committee intends to invest the money to help pay for operating costs.

The Reiffs, who attended their first Twins Days festival in the late 1970s, always dressed alike, talked alike and enjoyed dating other twins. The wiry, bespectacled pair won many "most identical" competitions over the years.