Celebrities travel to Wilmington for annual meet-and-greet charity event

Celebrities visit Wilmington to meet fans at an annual event The cast from a popular tv show that was filmed in Wilmington 20 years ago came back to meet their fans. (wect)

By Emma Dollenmayer and Lauren Schuster

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - For years, cast members of shows filmed in Wilmington have been returning to the Cape Fear to meet fans and to take a walk down memory lane.

But due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, this year, fans questioned if actors would show up and show out.

Sure enough, they did, but with no affiliation to any specific show.

Celebrities like Chad Michael Murray, Bethany Joy Lenz, James Lafferty, and others attended the first-ever “Holiday in Wilmington” event on Friday, Nov. 3, where fans got to sit down and enjoy a Thanksgiving meal with their favorite celebrities.

Meet-and-greet events are put on annually by the Friends With Benefit charity, but the dinner is new.

The charity also hosted a cocktail party, photo opportunities and a book signing.

“I’m just excited to get a really intimate experience with the guests, and being able to get to know them in a way off the internet and off what you see on TV, and to just really be with people who enjoy their work,” said Andy Pham, a fan who flew in from Boston.

Tyler Hilton and Joy Lenz will be having a concert with special guest Echostone, on Saturday, Nov. 11, at TRIC in downtown Wilmington.

There will also be two other photo and and autograph sessions with different celebrities on Saturday, Nov. 11, and Sunday, Nov. 12, at Laney High School.

Tickets to all of these events are available here.

80 percent of all proceeds will go to St. Jude’s Hospital.

Copyright 2023 WECT. All rights reserved.

Emma Dollenmayer

Emma Dollenmayer

Emma joined the WECT team in May of 2023 as a multimedia journalist/reporter. She grew up in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio. She graduated from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University in May 2023 with a Bachelor of Science in Journalism and a minor in marketing. While in school, Emma interned with KNBC in Los Angeles.

Lauren Schuster

Lauren Schuster

Lauren joined WECT in September of 2022 as a multimedia journalist/reporter. Lauren grew up in a suburb of Chicago and graduated from Western Michigan in 2022 with a degree in broadcast journalism. While attending school, she interned at WOOD-TV 8 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She also worked as a lifestyle reporter for Rose Tv in Rosemont, Illinois.