CHESTERTON | Robyn Bodine, of Illinois, and Barb Huddleson, of Ohio, came with about 30 other members of their Everything Oz Club to attend the Wizard of Oz Festival.

On Friday at the Munchkinland Market Days at the Yellow Brick Road Gift Shop & Oz Fantasy Museum in Chesterton, they said the event was just like a family reunion.

"We've been meeting since 2002, and we know each other online, but we come here to see people face to face, and it's great because you already know them," said Huddleson, who started the online group, which attended from as far as Alaska and England.

Oz historian and author John Friske, who has been attending the festival since 1989, also said the event was a meeting of friends.

"You come back year after year, and it's a family reunion, not only for those who come here to work, but those who are fans and the new ones just become part of the family. You can remember their faces and the excitement and anticipation," Friske said.

Friday afternoon's event at the museum may have been a bit rainy, but that didn't stop car loads of people from coming to see Karl Slover, the trumpeter Munchkin in the original movie, and Caren Marsh-Doll, Judy Garland's stand-in in the movie.

"Everyone always asks me what it was like to work with Judy Garland, so I decided to put it down in black and white and wrote a book," said Marsh-Doll, who travels from her home in Palm Springs, Fla., to attend the festival each year.

Her book, "Hollywood's Babe," is published by Bear Manor Media and is available at the festival or through amazon.com. It details not only her work with Garland, but the lengthy career in the movie and entertainment industry.

Georgia resident Slover has been coming to sign autographs for fans for the past 17 years, and he says he loves seeing fans and friends.

"People are always nice, and I enjoy being here with all of the wonderful people in the neighborhood," Slover said.

The "Wizard of Oz" movie celebrates its 70th anniversary next year, and Friske, who has produced numerous books, documentaries and DVDs on the subject, says the lure of the musical is so strong that generation after generation keeps coming back.

"It doesn't quit. I don't know anyone who will be going through a Zac Efron festival 70 years from now like this. You hear all ages singing these songs from decades ago," he said.