Buckeye State Paranormal and Haunting Investigators

Our meeting yesterday July 22nd we have Gene Lafferty of Buckeye State Paranormal and Haunting Investigators join us as our speaker. First I want to thank Gene for making the 2 hour drive from Bellefountaine. He spoke about a recent trip to the Mansfield Prison and other investigations he has been on. The sound bites and photos he showed and and personal stories were interesting. BSPHI is the first and only paranormal group that has been accepted as a member of the Ohio Association of Historical Societies and Museums. (OAHSM)

What I found the most interesting is the detail and historical information that goes into each investigation. The organization also donates money to the Children's Miracle Network or to the Historical location they investigate and never turns down an investigation if kids are involved. They cover the entire state of Ohio and do several investigations a month.

Once the first question was asked many of our members opened up about personal experiences. Watch out for Edna! And if you see Chris Palmer running from the golf course you know why!The presentation and topic was a nice break from the norm and seemed to be enjoyed by all in attendance.

Gene also handed out a list of possible places near us! In case you missed it here is the list:

Sandusky Area Alleged Haunts

Cedar Point: a young woman walking past CJ's Provisions in the Frontier Trail. Anyone working in that stand has reportedly felt someone there or has apparently seen someone walking by the doors when they are closed before the season begins. Legend has it that a young woman walks up and down frontier trail looking for her boyfriend / husband in that area. Strange things have happened in CJ's. If you leave a sponge on the sink in the fudge area and leave to go and do something, like take your break or go outside to get something and you come back and your sponge is gone. No one else has taken it or even seen where it went to. Then when you go back, sometimes the sponge reappears in the same place that you last left and there are only 2 of you in the stand.

Hotel Breakers: There are two known reoccurring instances of haunting in Hotel Breakers. Hotel Breakers has now four sections all of which were built at different places in time, the oldest and still central being of the hotel is "The Rotunda" which is named so for its circular five floored circular structure of which live it's majority of rooms. "The Lobby" is a two story structure in which contains offices and old meeting rooms on the first floor; second floor has rooms that were once guest rooms, now employee dwellings. This is that which we are most interested in for in one of the two second floor hallways is room #169. The very room in which during the early 1900's when the park was still just a beach resort, a guest by the name of Mary hung herself in dismay (supposed to that of a lover), hung herself in her room. Since then, Employee and guest alike have had odd occurrences, disturbances, violent unseen actions, noises, problems with electronics occur. The third oldest portion of the hotel "Breakers East" Which in itself wasn't built until the mid 90's and is portioned into three and four floors. The occurrences in this section were sightings of "Faceless apparitions" in a small combination of number. All other sightings and instances are not known as re-occurring and random. The whole park is rumored to be haunted, and also rumored to have been built on a native burial ground.

River Well House: In the 1800's, the McGreen was given money as a gift. They argued among each other what they should do with it. They left the money in their wagon until the morning so they would have time to decide. When the family awoke, the money was gone. Mr. McGreen was so mad that he killed everyone and hung himself in the well. Strange things happened in the house for almost 200 years later. Doors would open by themselves. Pets refuse to go into the dining room nor would plants ever live in it. Small fires would start in the fireplace on their own. Door handles would be witnessed as wiggled when no one was on the other side. Shadows are seen and images are seen outside a huge picture window that looks over a river. The well is still there and nothing will grow with in a 10 feet radius of it. In 1979, the house mysteriously burned down without any indication of a cause.

Sleep Inn: When employees walk the halls of the third floor at night, there is an uncanny feeling that they are not alone. The television in 317 will turn on and flip channels all by itself. A laundry attendant was trapped in 315 (the locks are on the inside, and the door opens to the inside, but the door would not open from the inside.) Housekeepers cleaning room 324 have seen the curtains in 312 fluttering/opening, but when the room was checked, the AC unit was off and the room was vacant. Doors slamming and footsteps can be heard when employees are up there alone, but when they call out or go to see who's there, the halls are empty.

Johnson's Island: In the frigid waters of Lake Erie lies a 300 acre dot of land called Johnson's Island. Designed as a prison camp for Confederate soldiers during the Civil War, the place was especially brutal in the winter months to men who hailed from a much more temperate climate. The compound here was designed to hold 1000 men... but actually confined up to 15,000 at one time. Here, these prisoners lived and died in barracks with only single pine walls to hold back the chilling winds. There was no escape from this place and during its years of operation only twelve men ever made it to freedom and their fate is unknown. They vanished across the winter ice towards the Ohio shoreline and were never seen again. Today, the island is a lonely place with worn stones marking the graves of the soldiers who died in captivity here. It is here, and among the trees, that apparitions of Confederates have been seen for many years. Strangely, their voices have been heard also. Many years ago, Italian workers who were hired to dig at the stone quarry, began singing a song that many of them had never heard before. In fact, according to the superintendent, many of the men did not even speak English.It was not a song that reminded them of home... but it may have reminded previous occupants of the island. The song was "Dixie". Johnson's Island is located on Lake Erie, about three miles north of Sandusky, Ohio and a half-mile south of the Marblehead Peninsula.

Green Hills Golf Course: The haunting here has to do with the railroad tracks which run beside Green Hills. In the 1960s, according to legend, a car full of teenagers stalled at the crossing and was destroyed by a train, killing all four passengers. If you make a trip to the crossing alone at midnight, and stop your car similarly on the tracks, you will be able to see the twisted metal of their car scattered along the rail bed--and four severed heads.

Tindle Bridge: Tindle Bridge in Fremont is haunted by the ghost of a murder victim from the 1950s. She roams the area under the bridge, sobbing and asking for help. Another murder victim was found in the field across from the bridge several years ago.

Gibsonburg High School: Mysterious occurrences abound at Gibsonburg's high school. Janitors who chain doors return to find their chains dangling with the locks unhasped. Footstep sounds echo through the gym when no one is there, and the lights go on and off of their own accord.Green Springs Elementary School: The spirits in the elementary school are leftovers from the high school which once occupied this spot. It burned down sometime in the late 1800s with a handful of kids still inside. Now their spirits open and close doors and pester people, but seem to be confined to the second floor.

The Headless Motorcyclist: One of the most talked-about ghost stories is the Elmore Ghost Rider, whose story is related in an old issue of the Journal of the Ohio Folklore Society. Apparently once a year (or maybe more often) a headless motorcyclist repeats his final trip across a bridge near the town of Elmore. His origin story, although almost certainly legend, goes like this: when the guy got back from World War One, he discovered that his girlfriend had shacked up with another man. In a rage he hopped on his motorcycle and drove off down the winding road. Maybe it was raining. Maybe he killed them first. It all depends on who you ask. But ultimately he wrecked and died, either on the bridge or shortly thereafter. Today it's said that if you stand on the bridge at the right time the motorcycle will really mess you up. If you stand to the side it'll pass you by. Police used to park at this bridge on certain nights making sure no one would stop and get out investigating, because it had gotten to be such a nuisance. As of late no one seems to know exactly which bridge it is--something the local police are probably happy about. But according reports, the bridge is located just across the county line in Sandusky County, near the town of Lindsey, at the place where Fought Road crosses Mud Creek.

Please visit their website: http://www.bsphi.com/

4 New Members!!!!

At our weekly meeting on July 15th our club with the help of distinguished member Pat Scheid inducted 4 new members into our club. I personally want to thank you...Joe Clime, Jane Windisch, Beth McGookey, & Ken Schmiesing, for taking the leap into this organization and getting more involved in our community. We are a better club having you as members with your input, energy and leadership. As our club continues to grow I hope we can add to the many projects we have going to make them even more effective and relevant. I hope each of our members is our asking others to come to our meetings see what we are about and taking the time be actively involved to grow our club.

Ford Gum & Machine Co.

Just a quick update regarding the gumball machines our club has stationed in our the community. We currently have 76 machines. Since we started the program (If any club members know the date? A long long time ago in a galaxy....) we have earned $45,255.38 for the community. I have requested more information to see if we can add to the collection. At the beginning of our year we started with 86 machines. The economy is mostly to blame for the loss in machines as business's have closed or relocated. There are several locations that may be interested in adding a machine.

Student Leaders

Since it has been nearly if not exactly two weeks since I have had the opportunity to post here, there will be several updates today. The first of which involves getting younger people involved not only with Kiwanis but community service in general. Our club now has if somewhat limited a myspace page and also a facebook page. While setting up the facebook page I came across a college student who has been involved with our Adventures in Friendship program and has posted a facebook page for the program. After getting in contact with him he asked to come to one of our meetings to discuss a new program called student leaders. Although our club has yet to fully participate in the program I hope we can support it in some way. Here is a general review of the program.

Student Leaders

A Youth Led Progressive Action Team

STATEMENT OF NEED

Area schools do not connect with one another unless it’s on a playing field. Competition is the primary form of exchange, not collaboration. Even Academic Challenge, built upon learning achievement, is competition-based.

Every student class within the regional school system has officers to provide leadership. However, these officers function primarily within their own classes and are sometimes not directed as much as they should be. There is no network of existing student officers to provide them with leadership skills, interaction with other leaders, or visionary rewards.

Throughout the region, students are attending college and ultimately establishing lives outside the region. There is little loyalty or sense of responsibility.

VISION

Student Leaders will lead to a better regional community by enhancing individual student growth, connecting student leaders with community leaders, and developing new programs to meet the leadership and services needs within our communities.

PROGRAM

Student Leaders will be an electronic and physical network of student officers from Perkins, Huron, Sandusky, SCCS, EHOVE, Margaretta, Clyde, Oak Harbor, Port Clinton, Edison, Bellevue, and BGSU Firelands. It will connect student leaders with existing community leaders, such as those holding leadership positions in regional or community organizations or graduates of leadership programs.

KEY ACTIVITIES

Develop electronic network of student leaders elected in officer positions within their classes

Meetings among student officers

Presentations from community leaders/visionaries

Facilitated roundtable discussions centered around topics such as service
opportunities,regional education needs, and program ideas

BENEFITS

Increased community service through greater awareness of opportunities and collaboration of efforts

Enhanced communication skills and confidence among students through more frequent and quality interactions with adult leaders, leading to increased credibility of students.

Increased loyalty to the community by forging and fostering networks among students and adult leaders, resulting in increased commitment by these students in the future to live, work and play in the region

Enhanced programs to fulfill needs at area schools as a result of student leaders sharing challenges and solutions among one another

Enhanced spirit of community by linking normally competitive educational systems with common goals.

I want to thank each and every student that has taken the initiative to start this program and I hope it will be successful.

Adventures in friendship update

This picture was taken at Cedar Point. The two Cedar Point Employees are Lirong Hu who is one of Mary & Joe Baughman's international friends, and Joe Lin, who is the 2008 friend of Karen & Mark Langan. Thank you American sponsors for making this program work!

New members and Officers

We will be inducting 4 new members into our club next Tuesday. I hope all of you can be there to support them and encourage them to become active members. We also have found our VP and Jen Keefer has agreed to the very important position. I hope others will follow Jody and Jen to make the next few years beneficial and successful to our community and also support them as you have supported me throughout this year.

Ohio Kiwanis District Foundation

John Millar, President of the Ohio Kiwanis District Foundation was our speaker today. www.odkf.com He gave us a recap of the different programs available to us for possible donors of to Kiwanis. Since Kiwanis is a 501(c)(4) it is not tax deductible. The foundation is a 501 (c)(3) which is. There are several options of donating to the foundation the Ambassadors program allows for donations as small as $50 a year. The Club advised program allows the money to stay within our community as our club would dictate how the money is used. Our board should be recieving more information concerning the programs to see if it is something our club can take advantage of.

Kiwanis International Convention Part 4

In case you missed today's meeting here is a recap of my trip to the International Convention. We decided to drive I-75 on the way down and I-77 on the way back.

Here are several observations made of states we drove through:

In Kentucky: My son was looking for Blue Grass the whole time through

Tennessee is the home of next years convention in Nashville.

Georgia: General Shermans march through is still evident as the ENTIRE state is under construction

South Carolina: The home of Hootie and the Blowfish

North Carolina: The Blue Ridge Parkway is amazing!

Virgina: Very Scenic

West Virginia: The very first time I have ever won on that darn claw coin operated game only to have my son ask for a different stuffed animal.

Ohio: Motel six sign in Amish Country stating they will leave the lights on?

Florida: Hot and Humid

Recap of Events:

The hotel we stayed at was the Orlando Peabody. What a great hotel. Transportation was a little tricky but the rooms and staff other than the transportation company were friendly and very helpful. Everyday the hotel had a march of the ducks through the lobby to and from the duck fountain.

The hotel was a very short walk to the convention center where all of the Kiwanis events were located.

After registering for the convention and receiving my name badge with two ribbons one for being a delegate and one for my first trip to a convention my son asked me if I won a race to get those ribbons.

The opening ceremony featured Craig Karges who did several tricks and shows on mind reading. It was very funny and entertaining. During the House of Delegates meeting Kiwanis and the Boys and Girls Club signed a partnership. More details will follow as I get them. Our club has already contacted our local Boys and Girls club and we hope to be able to have a joint service project soon.

The delegates also passed several amendments to the bylaws (which can be found on the international website (http://www.kiwanis.org/) and elected the VP for international Sylvester Neal from the Pacific Northwest district. Walter Sellers a former Past International President from Xenia Ohio passed away a month ago and was honored.

Our very own Ohio member Alan Penn will be running for VP next year so we hope to get as many Ohioans to make the trip to next years convention in Nashville.

The convention schedule coming up is as follows: 2009 Nashville, 2010 Las Vegas, and 2011 Geneva........Switzerland.

The classes, meetings, elections and opening and closing ceremonies were fantastic and have given me a new sense of pride and purpose of what our clubs can do individually and together.

After the meetings I was able to make it to the lands of Disney. (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom.) Of all the parks Epcot and Animal Kingdom were my favorites. I have never been to Disney before and I probably didn't give my son a very good role model since I was taken by the ankles shook and strong armed by a cartoon mouse named Mick. My pockets may take some time to mend. Although I'm beginning to think it was worth every penny. :)

I want to thank the club for giving me this opportunity.

Kiwanis International Convention Part 3

More details of the trip to the convention: My wife and son joined me on the trip. We drove the 20 hours there and back. After the meetings and other Kiwanis functions I met both of them at the various Disney parks and hotel pool. The hotel we stayed at along with the other Ohioans was the Orlando Peabody. The hotel interestingly enough has live ducks that sit at the duck fountain during the day and everyday at 5 pm they take the walk down the red carpet to the elevator to go back to there room until the morning when the march back to the duck fountain. Below are several of my favorite pictures.

Kiwanis International Convention Part 2

I will have more updates and a review of the convention after Tuesdays meeting. (I don't want to spoil the information I have to give to the members before that.

I just got my pictures back and unfortunately there was a problem with my disposable camera I used inside the convention and the lighting was not good enough. So I need to rely on photographers much more reliable and professional then me and use photos from International website. (http://www.kiwanis.org/) The photos are similar to the ones I attempted to take the only difference being is you can actually see them. :)

Kiwanis International Convention in Orlando Part 1

Just back (Tues 7-1) from the International Convention in Orlando. A lot of news to post and to go over. Here is the first post with some photos directly from the International website, until I get my own stuff in order.

Also visit this link for some videos of the convention.

http://www.kiwanisone.org/MemberResources/Convention/Convention08/video.html

More to follow