INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — Let’s talk about PEZ!
The tiny, tasty tablets have been around since 1927, but it's the endless array of signature dispensers that define this candy experience.
If you're like most people, you're fondly-familiar with PEZ, but likely haven't thought about it for a while. But the folks gathering at the Holiday Inn in Independence this week aren't like most people. They're bona fide Pez-Heads, and they have a unique way of showing off their goods at the annual PEZamania Convention.
"We have people staying in their hotel room and they turn their hotel room where they're sleeping every night into a store, and they set up all their PEZs for sale in the hotel room and you just room hop," co-host Landon Proctor explained. "We call it room hopping, and you hop from room to room to room shopping."
And here, it's really not just about the collectibles, Proctor says; it's about camaraderie.
"Everyone has their own reason for collecting, but I think the thing that really unites us all is that we become such close friends and such close family that we come back every year for the people," he said. "We come back to connect with each other, and this, essentially, is our family reunion."
My sister joined a book club as an excuse to hang out with her friends and drink wine. She likes the books, but it's more about the hang. Similar vibe here.
I'm not saying these folks don't genuinely love PEZ. They clearly do — a lot. But at its core, with this group, it's probably less about the PEZ and more about the people.
PEZamania is FREE and open to the public on July 20, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. You can find more information here.