Supernatural popularity of Friday night strolls by haunted sites prompts added Saturday tour
SARATOGA SPRINGS -- City residents and visitors will get added opportunities to learn about the city's supernatural and paranormal lore this month.
The Friday night Ghost Walks hosted by the Saratoga County Arts Council have been so popular that its organizers have added another tour on Saturday night. Arts Council Executive Director Dee Sarno said the tour had 69 people last week, 30 more than the week before.
Participants on the 90-minute tour learn the stories and lore of many of the city's ghost stories. Skidmore College students playing with Ouija boards, the tragic lives of the Trask family and ghostly appearances at 1 Phila St. are all discussed by tour guide Michael Noonan, a local photographer from Ballston Spa.
Noonan has experience with the paranormal in Spa City. He says he had several encounters in his darkroom at 1 Phila St., currently Reruns Antique Store, with a ghost couple he believes are David and Anna Holland, a couple who died in a fire in the Arcade Building.
Noonan recalls the first time he met the ghostly couple in his darkroom. "As I turned around, 6, maybe 8 feet away from me is a man in 19th-century clothing," said Noonan. "I literally jumped back about a foot and yelled at the figure. His expression didn't change and faded in front of me."
The tours are held in partnership with Haunted History Ghost Walks, a group that organizes haunted walks predominantly in western New York. The company's founder, Mason Winfield, wrote and researched the information covered in the 1-mile tour.
Sarno said the Arts Council added another tour guide with the addition of the new night. "It's a great family activity," said Sarno. "It's twofold; it's fun and it's got the added feature of details of the history of Saratoga."
A shorter version of the tour will be given during the city's Fall Festival, being held Oct. 28 and 29.
Deming can be reached at 581-8438 or by e-mail at cdeming@timesunion.com.
Ghostly tour
What: Ghost Walks
When: 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Where: Starts at The Arts Center, 320 Broadway, Saratoga Springs
Cost: $10, adults; $7, children Info: Call ahead to reserve spots in the tour, http://www.saratoga-arts.org
http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story. ... =10/5/2006
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