Syfy cable TV network and Jarrett Creative Group, the production company behind Celebrity Ghost Stories, seeks eyewitnesses for a new reality show called School Spirits. High school and college age students as well as alumni who have come face-to-face with paranormal activity on their school campuses are urged to come forward. If you have experienced ghosts, hauntings, or other unexplained phenomena in your classroom, dorm, locker room, etc., you could see your story recreated on television. Students current and past, parents, and faculty are encouraged to contact Sean De Simone Casting to share their stories.

If you or someone you know has a story to tell, and are at least 16 years old, e-mail schoolspirits2011@gmail.com with your contact info and a brief summary of your experiences.

In anticipation of the big game, one wonders if there are any Green Bay Packers’ ghost stories. Although there have been rumors, vague claims the ghost of legendary coach Vince Lombardi lingers over Lambeau, there not much tangible documentation to be found except the following story from the February 1st, 1997 edition of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

But don’t get your hopes up; it’s a ghost story that wasn’t. A peculiar photo appeared in the January 28th, 1997 issue depicting the Packer’s triumphant homecoming. According to the February 1st article, in the photo many fans spotted what they thought was the apparition of Lombardi “come down from his heavenly perch to witness the return of the Super Bowl championship to Green Bay.”

Unfortunately, it was not the specter of the fabled Packer legend, but only a semi-retired data processor clothed in Lombardi-esque garb, the characteristic camel hair coat and fur hat. Or so they say.

The enigmatic photo itself is nowhere to be found. The issue in which it appeared is noticeably absent from online archives. A conspiracy to hide the truth? Well, probably not. However, I do prefer to think that Lombardi is watching over us and will spirit us, and his chosen team, to victory once again. For more on Vince Lombardi’s ghost, read p. 237 in Weird Wisconsin by Linda S. Godfrey, Mark Moran, Richard D. Hendricks, Mark Sceurman.

In a recent episode of Biography’s Celebrity Ghost Stories, Joey Lawrence reported a harrowing, paranormal experience he shared with his wife and child at a hotel in Milwaukee while he was on tour with Dancing with the Stars. Although the name of the hotel goes unmentioned in the episode, certain visual cues and a program listing on Biography’s website reveals the hotel to be the Pfister.

Lawrence reported that he and his wife were awakened repeatedly by lights and sound effects from several of their baby’s toys, which inexplicably switched on in the middle of the night. Later on, Lawrence was awakened by the glare from the bathroom light, which also flipped on mysteriously. When he got up to turn it off, he saw the baby’s toys switch on again as if triggered by a ghostly hand. These events led to a sleepless night for Lawrence, who remained awake to watch over his wife and child.

When morning finally came, Lawrence packed up his family and quickly ushered them out of the room. As he prepared to leave, Lawrence made a snide remark directed at the ghost and witnessed the metal air-conditioner covers fly off in response. He fled and sought an explanation from the hotel’s desk manager.

According to Lawrence, the desk manager blamed the disturbance on the ghost of pregnant bride, murdered on her wedding night. The specter supposedly haunts families with children who stay at the hotel because she envies the family life she never had. “The guy who built the hotel forced his son into an arranged marriage” and the reluctant groom killed his bride by hurling her down an elevator shaft, said Lawrence.

I love ghost stories more than most; however, history does not support this fanciful tale. Lawrence’s paranormal experience may be genuine, but if the hotel where it occurred is indeed the Pfister, the explanation for it is not.

The Pfister Hotel was first envisioned by Guido Pfister, but he died in 1889 before its completion. His son Charles Pfister took over the project and opened the hotel in 1893. Charles Pfister never married or had any children. Although many deaths have occurred at the Pfister Hotel, as in any historic building, no bride was ever murdered there. Although articles about brides who died on their wedding nights abound in historical newspapers across the U.S., I have yet to find one that occurred in Milwaukee. The story of a forced marriage which ended in murder at the Pfister Hotel is complete bunk.

The moral of the story? Enjoy reports of paranormal activity, but forgo your own conclusions until you have credible research to back them up.

Villa Terrace from Lake Michigan Side

Ghostly footsteps walking the halls, doors that lock mysteriously, and lights that turn themselves on and off are all common occurrences in a stately manor overlooking the glistening waters of Lake Michigan. According to some, this Italian Renaissance-style villa is home to the apparition of a little girl in blue. Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum, located on 2220 N. Terrace Avenue, was built in 1923 for Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd R. Smith. Mr. Smith was the grandson of the founder of the A.O. Smith Corporation. It was deeded to Milwaukee County in 1966. In the years since, the staff at the Villa has reported lots of strange activity.

The upstairs hallway where Little Girl Blue has been seen.

Later in the evening an older woman, who was one of the party guests, reported to the staff member that she was concerned about a little girl who was left alone upstairs. He dutifully went upstairs to investigate, but found no one. An hour or so later, when another party guest inquired about a little girl in a blue dress he had seen running down the hall downstairs, the staff member thought maybe someone was trying to play a trick on him. This was a cocktail party after all. It would be very unlikely that any children were present and the Villa employee had seen no children at all that night. Yet that was all about to change.

He entered the kitchen and glanced out the window, which looks on part of the downstairs hallway. Just then he saw a little girl in a light blue dress dash down the corridor, her long blond locks trailing behind her. He raced out of the kitchen to confront her in hallway. He was startled to find nothing there, but a mass of cold air in an area that was usually exceptionally hot. The realization that he may just have seen a ghost chilled him to the bone.

Ironwork from the permanent Cyril Colnik exhibit.

Alex and the Ghost Hunters

For seven seasons, SciFi Channel (a.k.a. SyFy) has been home to Ghost Hunters – one of the first and, arguably, best of the paranormal reality shows. The program is hosted by Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson who are working plumbers when they aren’t shooting the show. As unreal as that sounds, it’s true and it’s integral to what makes the show so appealing.

Jason and Grant are regular guys who each had a paranormal experience that changed their lives. They met and discovered their shared interest in the paranormal, leading them to form TAPS (The Atlantic Paranormal Society). TAPS’ mission is to help people discover whether their home or business is really haunted or if their experiences can be explained by something natural – like leaky pipes or a bad HVAC system. Interestingly, Jason and Grant are “skeptical believers.” They do believe in ghosts (they do!) but they go into any investigation with a very critical eye. At least 70% of “hauntings” can be explained by something totally mundane, much to the chagrin of the haunted home owners. It’s also important to note that TAPS doesn’t charge any money to investigate – ever. This point, in particular, lends them a huge amount of credibility.

The show is a success due in large part to Jason and Grant’s authenticity. These guys are exactly who they seem to be – they play practical jokes on each other, they love their families, and they’re in awe that someone is paying them to do what they love.

I’ve had the pleasure of hearing them speak, along with members of their team, on a number of occasions. They are completely accessible and truly appreciative of their fans, making their talks much more intimate than most celebrities. They’re also known to say, over and over, that they know that fame is fleeting and that someday they’ll be plumbers again full time.

On Saturday, October 16, 2010, Jason and Grant played to a nearly sold out Pabst Theater in Milwaukee for two shows. Having seen them previously, I expected a similar setup – a moderated panel in which we’d hear some stories and then a lengthy Q&A. What we got was an hour of banter, stories, and – I’m not kidding – a PowerPoint presentation. Now, before you groan, I’m telling you that, if one must use PowerPoint, this is the way to do it. The guys used the slides to support their shtick – pulling up bullet points at exactly the right time to accentuate a point – often to gales of laughter from the audience.

The atmospheric and, some say, haunted Pabst Theater was the setting for this unique event.

They began with a short history of themselves and TAPS which, given the audience, was probably unnecessary. I’m pretty sure that everyone in the room was a fan. Then they covered the various types of hauntings such as “residual,” “intelligent,” “poltergeist,” etc. After we learned about the types of phenomena, we were treated to a number of case studies, wherein the guys told us what the homeowner claimed to experience, what TAPS experienced, and the investigative conclusions. These were, undoubtedly, the best slides of the night. The conclusions were often funny but sometimes very sad and disturbing – especially when the haunting involved children. One interesting point they made was in the case study where the homeowner had recently been diagnosed with schizophrenia and was being heavily medicated because she heard voices. TAPS discovered that the voices the woman was hearing were saying the same things as the voices they were capturing on EVP (disembodied voices imprinted on audio recording devices.) Their conclusion was that the woman wasn’t schizophrenic at all; she was simply becoming sensitive to the spirits around her.

After the case studies, the presentation turned to outtakes and footage from the show. The focus was video evidence – ghostly images, furniture moving by itself, etc. – most of which never made it to air. Problems with the projection system made this the least satisfying portion of the program but they were very apologetic and even asked if anyone in the audience had a solution for fixing the problem. Amazingly, in a room full of geeks, none of us had enough AV experience to help out.

Jason and Grant answer questions from the audience.

Finally, the program ended with 40 minutes of Q&A. In order to move things along, Jay and Grant answered FAQ beforehand, getting most of the most obvious questions out of the way immediately. After that, they sat down and patiently answered questions about everything from how they handle working two jobs (the show and plumbing) to some uber-fan’s dissection of the minutest detail of some show from season two. You could tell they were running long – it was probably supposed to be 30 minutes – but they stuck with it in order to take questions from a number of children who had been waiting in line. So sweet!

All in all, it was a really great night. Lots of laughing. Lots of banter with the audience. And an actual PowerPoint slide that didn’t put us to sleep. Even I, a seasoned Ghost Hunters fan, learned new stuff and saw my plucky heroes in a new light.

This tour is called the Lecture Series and runs from October 15 through the 22. TAPS has other appearances around the country throughout the year and their schedule can be found at http://the-atlantic-paranormal-society.com.

A Note from Allison Jornlin of Milwaukee Ghosts: This great recap was generously provided by guest blogger @alexinmadison from www.mightydistractible.blogspot.com. Thank you Alex for your thoughtful and thorough review of the event!

Had your fill of haunted houses? Ready for the real deal? If it’s weird and it’s happening in Southeastern Wisconsin, you will find it on our updated calendar of paranormal events for Fall 2010! Conferences, investigations, tours, presentations and all manner of events relevant to ghost hunting, UFOs, magic, or cyptozoology are included for your edification in this calendar brought to you by http://www.milwaukeeghosts.com. Enjoy!

PLEASE NOTE: Inclusion of events on the calendar is not an endorsement by Milwaukee Ghosts. We are including every local event we know about to offer our readers the full range of options (even if we don’t agree with the ideas or views expressed at the event). We always welcome our readers to use critical thinking skills and make up their own minds. Did we miss something? Have an event to add? Please email us at info@milwaukeeghosts.com.

The play will be performed at the Best Place Tavern in the Pabst Brewery complex at 9th and Juneau, which recently opened as a bar. The room itself dates back to the 1850’s and thus provides a perfect setting for the tale. The play was originally commissioned by Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin, with support from the Wisconsin Humanities Council and the Milwaukee Irish Fest Foundation. Morgan will direct, and the cast will feature Kishline, Georgina McKee, Jonathon Wainwright, Pete Woods and Sherrick Robinson. The play runs September 8, 9, 10, and 11th at 8 p.m. No reservations are required. Suggested donation is $10.

The Lady Elgin was a grand side-wheel steamer that sank on a stormy night off the coast of Illinois, September 8, 1860. Returning late from Chicago to Milwaukee and overloaded with more than 600 passengers, the Lady Elgin was accidentally rammed by the lumber schooner Augusta as she sped southwards under full sail. Only moderately damaged, the Augusta limped on to Chicago. But the Lady Elgin foundered some 10 miles from shore. Despite the resourcefulness of her crew and rescue attempts from citizens along the Illinois coast, hundreds drowned in the fierce undertow just 50 yards from shore. There were at least 300 deaths, but since the passenger manifest was incomplete, the full number of victims was never known. The tragedy claimed the greatest number of lives in the history of the Great Lakes.

The Lady Elgin tragedy is among Wisconsin’s most famous disasters. It is also a complex and fascinating story, complete with political wrangling over state’s rights and slavery, ethnic pride, the dramatic collision and gallant rescue attempts, public outpourings of grief and rage, and a highly publicized trial. The trip to Chicago, on the eve of Lincoln’s election, was predicated by the furor over slavery. At stake was Wisconsin’s possible abolitionist secession from the United States. Also at stake was the survival and integrity of the Union Guard, a local militia that was the pride and joy of Milwaukee’s Irish community. Because so many of the Lady Elgin’s passengers were civic leaders from the Irish Third Ward, the tragedy devastated the Irish community, and many believe it forever altered Milwaukee’s cultural identity. The Lady Elgin story is an essential piece of Wisconsin’s history – a fascinating drama framed by race, politics and social issues that still resonate today.

Oct. 26, 1984
Only Ghosts Stumble Off of Saloon’s Bar Stool (Germantown Ghost Story)

Oct 21, 1985
Ghosts Had a Favorite Haunt (famous “Summerwind” in Vilas County)

Oct 24, 1985
When She Turned Around the Pale Figure Had Vanished (St. John’s Military Academy in Delafield)

Oct 25, 1985
It Looked Like an Ordinary Ranch House (Wausau Ghost Story)

Oct 26, 1985
It Was Midnight and Max Kubis Couldn’t Sleep (Milwaukee Ghost Story)

Oct 28, 1985
Plover Restaurant Serves Up Mysteries (Plover Ghost Story)