Recordpub.com - Ghost walk in Kent

By Matt Fredmonsky

Record-Courier staff writer

Mysterious noises, ghostly images and unexplained occurrences are among the many stories that will be told Friday throughout downtown Kent during the Main Street Kent Ghost Walk.

The event, crafted in conjunction with the Kent Historical Society, begins at The Kent Stage with stories of the theater's other-worldly caretaker and projection room apparitions. The hour-long, guided walking tours will traverse some of the downtown area's haunted historical locations.

Richele Charlton, assistant director at The Kent Stage, said people who are curious about the city's supernatural beings will depart the stage every 20 minutes in groups.

"So when people buy their tickets, if they buy a ticket for 5:30 p.m., then that's the time they're going to be leaving," Charlton said. "They actually need to arrive a few minutes early to be in that group."

The first walk begins at 5:30 p.m. and the last walk starts at 9:10 p.m. The event will be held rain or shine.

Storytellers will be posted at locations including the Masonic Temple and the Pufferbelly restaurant. Among the speakers are Bob Burford and Jeff St. Clair of WKSU-FM (89.7), local poet Merle Mollenkopf and former historical society executive director Guy Pernetti.

Charlton said Main Street Kent volunteers who will be leading the tour will tell abbreviated ghost tales during walks in between locations.

"So they'll be doing a little storytelling themselves," she said.

Material for the stories came after the historical society and Main Street Kent requested community members submit local ghost stories. This year, the society will publish the first volume of "Haunting Tales from the Tree City." This year's compilation focuses on tales of haunted Kent in the downtown area and the residential historic district on and around West Main Street.

Sandy Halem, chairwoman of the board of the historical society, said the 24 stories published this year are organized primarily by street location.

"Then people can get the sense that if you drive up the street, there was a ghost here," Halem said. "The (stories) at The Kent Stage are very interesting because there were these tunnels under the building, and the family that lived on the spot beforehand seemed to be kind of good source material for being ghosts."

A tour will be provided by the Go2Go Taxi service at 6:30 p.m. for people who are unable to walk from each location. Each tour will begin at the theater, travel west on Main Street to the Masonic Temple and along Franklin Avenue. The walks are expected to last one and a half hours.

Volume one of the tales will be available for $5 at the historical society's downtown museum on South Water Street. Additional stories came into the society after its press date and will be included next year, Halem said.

"I think 24 stories is pretty good for the first year," she said.