An estimated 85 people from around the region gathered at the Perham Area Public library on March 6 to hear about haunted locations in Minnesota including two in New York Mills.
The unexpected crowd was so large the presentation by author Chad Lewis had to be moved from the meeting room into the main library. Librarian Susan Heusser-Ladwig joked, The next time we have a paranormal researcher come to Perham, well have to get the High School auditorium!
Lewis co-authored The Minnesota Road Guide to Haunted Locations with Terry Fisk. He presented a slide show and talked of reports of hauntings at several of the locations in the book.
Lewis, a paranormal investigator with a Master of Science degree in Applied Psychology, has been researching for 10 years and says he has actually been to every site in the road guide books. Unfortunately, he has yet to have a paranormal experience. He quotes partner Fisk, If youre afraid of ghosts then hang out with ghost researchers because they never see them.
People connected with the New York Mills sites written about in the Road Guide are a bit skeptical about claims of hauntings in their buildings.
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Lina Belar, Executive Director of the New York Mills Regional Cultural Center, says, No grocer ever hanged himself in the basement here.
Shes not sure who the staff people are who Lewis and Fisk credit with haunting reports, but Belar says no current staff have had any paranormal contacts. The building was never a grocery store; it was once a dry goods establishment owned by Olaf Perry, who did not hang himself. The book does not mention the former funeral parlor located there. Belar suggests people wanting the real history of the building contact the History Museum of East Otter Tail County in Perham.
Jann Lee who owns the Whistle Stop Inn Bed & Breakfast with husband Roger was surprised to hear from people who read about them in the Road Guide. She had talked to the authors but expected them to let her know if the Inn would be included. Jann would very much like to have a ghost visit her. She remembers watching The Ghost and Mrs. Muir and wanting a similar companion. Unfortunately she says, We have stayed in every room; we personally have never seen anything. She does mention strange sounds but adds every old place has something.
Its an old house; we have sounds, but no sightings. As to the couple who heard strange noises when no one else was staying in the house? Roger and Jann had been in the house retrieving items from the attic.
Lewis says he believes its important to tell the ghost stories. Most people dont share their paranormal experiences because they think people wont believe them. And the buildings associated with hauntings are being torn down and the stories lost with them.
Just where do the ghosts go when the buildings are torn down?
