By Hope Cronkright

Like Elvis, Edward and Bella from Twilight now have impersonators. Instead of singing on stage in front of an audience, these impersonators are a girl and her beloved goat from a 4-H fair project.

Kelly McCauley, as Bella, and her Alpine Bore goat, now named Edward, made their debut the beginning of August at the Kent County Youth Fair.

Kelly explained how the idea of “Edward” got started. Kelly needed to think of a costume for her and her goat to wear in the goat costume class. She said, “My aunt is obsessed with Twilight and she told me, ‘you should be a vampire.’” Sporting a tux and a dress complete with the cast, Edward and Bella were easily identified by 4H fairgoers.

Edward and Bella received three awards—1st in Breed and Market, and 3rd in showmanship. Edward was a market goat purchased in a livestock auction by the Cedar Springs Family Fare. The store then donated the goat back after the auction, and Kelly takes care of it at their Green Acres Farm (yes, named after the old TV show) in Cedar Springs.

“We work hard all year for fair,” remarked Kelly. “You learn responsibility [by] taking care of the animals.” Kelly became a 4-H explorer at the young age of five and plans to continue 4-H until the age of 19.

Lori Ostrom, Kelly’s mother said, “It’s fun to see kids enjoy their animal. And learning by doing as a 4-H member puts my kids in a spot where I know where my kids are, they are safe, and staying out of trouble.”

Edward the goat has created such a sensation that he now he has 50 fans on Facebook after only three weeks. One fan wrote, “Robert Pattinson has nothing on you.”

If you’d like to see Edward and Bella, they will be visiting a petting zoo in Sparta on September 26 at the Harvest on the Ridge Festival.