The West Overton Museums will not be outdone this Halloween season. It plans to take people out of this world with a series of ghostly events.
West Overton is anticipating a good turnout for its Other Worldly Weekends, set for 9:30 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and Oct. 27 and 28 on the museums grounds near Scottdale.
"We ran this project last year, and it was well attended and much enjoyed," said Donna Cartia, education director at the museums.
The programs include a tour of the West Overton grounds, stopping at points where ghostly figures appear in costume. Each figure describes some incident from his particular pas -- perhaps a strange death, an execution, a mysterious disappearance or just an unusual life.
"Not only are the stories related well by the actors, the period costumes are quite realistic and well done. We have partnered with two organizations to help us out in that vein," Cartia said.
"Brian Cochran, who operates the Vintage Costume Shop in Dawson ... does an excellent job providing us with both the costumes and some of the actors to fill them. His shop is quite a gem for our rural area," she said. "He also builds our catacombs in the large barn on the museum property.
"Our other partner is the Ligonier Valley Writers' Association," Cartia added. "The association runs a horror story fiction contest annually, and the winners get to occupy specific sites in our maze, where they read excerpts from their award-winning entries. Other association members play roles of the ghostly figures, and they memorize their parts just as an actor would."
Former director Grant Gerlich first conceived of this ghostly historical event on the museum grounds. Cartia, a graduate of Seton Hill College and a former staff member at the Fort Necessity and Bushy Run historical sites, has had experience in linking museums and the public. Nancy Ponko, a museum board member, has taken over the task of bringing the Other Worldly Weekends to life.
"We feel this is a great opportunity for the public to see what we are all about and to bring history to them on a less academic front," Cartia said. "Our tour begins with some hot cider and cookies at the summer kitchen and then progresses around the grounds, eventually leading to the catacombs set up in the big barn. The encounters with the role-playing characters take place in the maze, and the tour finishes up in the basement of the distillery."
Admission is $10 for adults (ages 12 and older), $5 for children ages 7-11; children younger than 6 are admitted free.
Other events planned by the museum staff include a murder mystery dinner party the first weekend of December, and a possible restoration of whiskey production in the distillery sometime in the future. For more information, call 724-887-7910.
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