Brothers give twins festival millions

The annual Twins Days festival, a three-day event that begins Aug. 3 this year, attracts about 3,000 sets of twins, triplets and quadruplets and features contests such as those for the most alike and least alike twins. Over the years, it also has attracted scientists interested in genetic research.

Between trips to Twinsburg and to other twin events, the Reiffs lived frugally on a 154-acre farm that had been in the family for three generations. It was no model of agriculture. A wood stove heated the house, and a 20-cow herd barely supported the dairy.

Before his death in 2005, John Reiff cut a deal with a development group that planned to use the farm, a rare piece of undeveloped land near Philadelphia, for residential housing.

Neighbors sued, but local officials, the developer and residents have finally agreed on a plan to build six houses and a park on the site, and 40 houses elsewhere.The Reiff brothers, who never married, gave most of their fortune to the Twins Days festival but also left $250,000 to four churches. None of their four living sisters was named in their will.