By DIANE GASPER-O'BRIEN

dobrien@dailynews.net

Jean and Jane Chase sometimes have a tough time explaining to new acquaintances the uniqueness of being a twin.

How do you make people understand in a short time that you have -- and always will have -- the same last name?

That your sibling can finish a sentence almost before you even think it.

Explaining characteristics common to twins is a lifelong task for the those who attended this weekend's 30th annual convention of the Kansas State Twins Association at the Ramada Inn in Hays.

About 85 people registered for the convention, whether it was sets of twins or single ones whose twin had died or was not able to make the convention this year.

They look forward to it all year, getting to exchange stories to which only a twin can relate.

While they try to explain to people, often to no avail, there are some traits known only to twins, they also want to be their own person.

Theresia and Allie McCollum, fraternal twins from Greenwood in southeast Kansas, were so committed to not being compared they went to different high schools their junior and senior years.

While their voices sound exactly the same, Theresia has brown eyes and brown hair, while Allie has green eyes and blond hair.

Attending different high schools brought them closer together, the McCollums said.

Now 21-year-old college juniors, they are roommates at Kansas State University in Manhattan, where Allie is majoring in bakery science and management and Theresia in pre-chiropractic, nutrition and kinesiology.

Despite busy college lives, the McCollums said they have missed only one twins convention since their first one in 1996.

"That's because it was the same weekend as junior prom; we didn't want to miss that," Allie said of the 2005 conference.

The McCollums said they used to think it was "dorky" when their mom dressed them alike.

But now they enjoy it, especially at the twins conference.

Saturday, they even had their boyfriends, who accompanied the McCollums to the conference, dress alike.

"They're going to wear (look-a-like) shirts," Theresia said.

"They're good sports," Allie added.

* * *

While it's usually easier to tell fraternal twins apart, identical twins can have most people wondering if they're seeing double.

Two of those were the state association's officers, 9-year-old Keagon and Keaton Williamson from Minneapolis, Kan.

Although Keagon is about an inch taller than his brother, the boys' mother, Rebecca Williamson, said teachers use a different method to distinguish the brothers.

"Keagon's eyebrows turn up," she said, showing interested onlookers as she turned his head. "And Keaton's are straighter."

So how do you remember which one has the different eyebrows?

"Keaton's are the straight ones, for the letter T," their mother said in reference to the only initial separating her sons' names from being identical as well.

Three sets of twins from Minneapolis attended the convention, and ironically, one set is in the same grade as the Williamson brothers.

Like the Williamsons, fraternal twins Dalton and Alexis Wilson, 9, are third-graders at Minneapolis Grade School.

The Wilsons came to Hays with their parents, Dan and Tabitha Wilson, and their younger siblings -- 5-year-old fraternal twins Dakota and Lacie.

Dan Wilson said he and his wife plan to bring their children to the convention for years to come because of the family-oriented atmosphere.

Ditto for Janet Kuhn, grandmother of 3-year-old identical twin boys Justice and Jerome Autry from Walker, the youngest twins at this year's convention.

At their first convention, the Autry twins beat out the Williamson boys for first place in the 10-and-under division of the "male alike" contest.

Kuhn was familiar with the twins convention.

As sales director for Holiday Inn -- now the Ramada -- in the mid-1990s, she successfully bid for the 1995 convention.

Now convention marketing manager for the Hays Convention and Visitors Bureau, Kuhn also was involved with the convention.

"I decided with it being right here in my backyard, I'd take the boys to it," said Kuhn, who is raising her grandsons with her husband, Ed. "And I can tell you that unless I'm hosting a convention in my community that I have to be at, I'll be attending the twins convention from now on."

"These folks have open arms," she added, "and treat everyone who walks into the conference like family."

The convention is scheduled to be in McPherson the next two years. Anyone wishing to find out more about the twins association can call Ruby Jantzen, the KSTA co-president, at (620) 345-2914 or (620) 747-0716.

"But I'm bidding for 2012," Kuhn said. "I want it back here."

The oldest twins at the convention were 88-year-old Virginia Mitchell from McPherson and Vivian Osborn from Hill City, who often meet at some point in between.

"This time we just met in Hays," Osborn said with a smile.

"We've shared everything, all our lives," Mitchell said.

"We both lost our husbands in 2005," she added. "So we even shared that."

* * *

The Chases live in Colorado but have made the trip to Kansas for the twins convention since the late 1990s.

While all twins have tales and experiences aplenty, this group has a unique story all its own.

Not only do the Chase twins have the exact same letters in their name, just transposed differently, they also have had the same last name their entire 75-plus years.

After growing up Jean and Jane Sweet in Crete, Neb., they married identical twin brothers Herbert and Delbert Chase from nearby Friend in 1954.

And they all moved in together.

It seemed the logical thing to do for the Chase brothers, one of two sets of twins in their family, who had been living with twins all their lives.

Jean and Jane are mirror identical twins. Jean is left-handed, and Jane right-handed.

And they make a lot of decisions together, including financial ones.

All four names have been attached to bank accounts, house loans, car registrations, etc., from the beginning.

That number was reduced to three when Delbert died in a car accident back in 1977.

The loss was doubled about a year later when Jane's and Delbert's 21-year-old son, Maurice, died in an industrial accident at work.

Jean and Herbert also had only one child, a daughter, Emma Jean Wilson, who lives with her husband and family in Wyoming.

"We had a boy and a girl," Jean said of each couple's one-child family. "It was perfect."

"Our kids would tell their teachers they had two moms and two dads," Jane said.

"Biologically, they are both our children," Jean added.

While their children were growing up, Jane was the stay-at-home mom, while Jean worked out of the home.

They still look alike, and think alike.

They even have some of the same ailments; both are diabetics.

But, they insist, they are different, too.

"She's a little more lacy than I am," Jane said, explaining the process of choosing their clothing. "So if we get lace one time, the next time we get one without (lace)."

In their leisure time, Jean likes to crochet, and Jane works on geneology.

"She is really involved with (geneology)," Jean said. "But not me. She won't let me near the computer."

They also have learned to adjust through the years.

When Jane injured the heel on her right foot several years ago, she required several surgeries.

"She'd always been the leader," Jean said. "I had to be more of the boss then. I turned into an extrovert."