By John Horton
Plain Dealer Reporter
Aurora -- Will paranormal investigators continue to haunt a local historical house? If some city officials have their way, there's not a ghost of a chance.
City Council's Landmark Commission has deemed it "inappropriate" to use the century-old Harmon Home for a community-sponsored "Ghosthunting 101" class or similar courses. The panel recommended last week that such classes not be allowed at the Page Road site.
The commission looked into the issue following a Plain Dealer story in March on the popular ghost-hunting class offered through Aurora's Community Education program.
The decision upset Sherri Brake-Recco, a paranormal investigator from Stark County who teaches the course. She objected to ghost-related classes being singled out by the commission, saying the insinuation was that participants bordered on being "crazy."
The city also canceled a program titled "Gravestones, Lanterns and Legends" that Brake-Recco held in Aurora Cemetery upon Mayor Lynn McGill's request. He called the course improper given the sacred nature of a cemetery.
Brake-Recco equated the actions to "a witchhunt."
"I'm kind of insulted," she said.
The city began offering a ghost-hunting class in the fall of 2005. Since then, Brake-Recco has taught nearly 200 people how to use gadgets such as electromagnetic frequency meters, thermal scanners and divining rods to search out any spirits in our midst.
The city-owned Harmon House offered an ideal training ground given chilling reports of unexplained footsteps, mysterious voices, glowing windows and slamming doors.
After the March story, a woman identifying herself as a member of the Harmon family e-mailed the paper to say she was saddened to see the building reduced to a "haunted house." She wrote that the house -- and the people who called it home -- were being disrespected.
An e-mail sent to the woman on Friday was not returned.
Parks and Recreation Director Jim Kraus said he never considered using the farmhouse out of line.
Kraus said he found it worrisome that discomfort over an unusual program topic or "the fear of the unknown" could lead to the course's cancellation.
The Parks and Recreation Board is scheduled to discuss the issue Thursday.
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