Participants have seen for themselves some unexplained phenomena
There won't be any fake blood, gory makeup or severed limbs, but the Spirits of La Grange Ghost Tour is sure to spook.
Guests take a 90-minute trip through downtown La Grange that includes two spots where researchers have documented paranormal activity -- Sign of the Times gift shop and the Garden Party, a former restaurant and the current home of Mayor Elsie Carter.
This is the third year for the tours, which began last weekend. Veteran guide Donna Schwedler said she has witnessed some unexplained phenomena.
Last year during a stop at the Christmas in Kentucky gift shop, some ornaments on a Christmas tree danced and twirled.
"They were bouncing back and forth," Schwedler said. "And it wasn't the door opening and closing, or an air current," she said.
At another spot, a door closed and locked the next tour group out. Then there was the time a light came on in an attic.
"This is not just about things that have happened in the past. It's ongoing," Schwedler said.
But she maintains that none of the ghosts or spirits are malicious, explaining that a ghost is someone from a past life with unfinished business, while a spirit has come back simply to watch over things.
Perhaps the most famous spirit in La Grange is Miss Julia, a former governess who cared for five children in the Garden Party home. Miss Julia is said to have died in her upstairs bedroom in the 1940s, and participants are invited into that room as part of the tour.
Brightly colored orbs have been photographed in the room, and the image of an early century dressing gown has been seen in photographs taken there, Schwedler said. Participants are encouraged to bring their own recording equipment to try to capture their own evidence.
Standing in the kitchen at the Garden Party last Friday, Emily Stewart and Kathleen Stovall got all the evidence they needed to believe in Miss Julia.
"My heart was pounding; my legs got very cold," said Stovall, who lives in La Grange. "I know I felt the presence of Miss Julia."
Stewart, also of La Grange, described the experience as giving her the "heebie-jeebies."
But the tours are about more than unexplained happenings and potential ghost sightings. The guides, who are unpaid volunteers, also weave in historical information and details about the people who have lived and worked in downtown La Grange.
Money raised from the tours goes back into the town through fa?ade grants, which help pay for improvements to historic buildings. Last year, the tours raised $7,000 for the grants, which are disbursed through Discover Downtown La Grange. So far, eight owners of historic property have been reimbursed for one-third of the cost of their improvements.
"One of the reasons we do these tours is to make people aware of preservation," Schwedler said.
Keli Quinn, director of Discover Downtown La Grange, said it's expensive to repair historic buildings, even just to repaint or replace a door.
The tours attract a lot of out-of-town visitors, and are an opportunity to improve tourism, she said.
People who are sensitive to paranormal activity likely will get the sense of another presence while on the tour, she said.
"It's kind of creepy, but a lot of fun," she said.
Reporter Melissa Gagliardi can be reached at (502) 582-4117.
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