Feature Article November 6, 2002
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The Haunted WalkLast week, with Halloween approaching, a group of 50 or so brave adults and youngsters gathered in the parking lot of the Sharbot Lake Country Inn on a dark late October Tuesday evening, to hear stories of the haunted history of Sharbot Lake.
The black-hooded ghoulish host, who bore some resemblance to Land O Lakes PS teacher Alan MacDonald, began by describing the ghosts of disease victims that haunt the Country Inn, which had been the doctors house in the past. He also talked about thieves who were known to steal children, and throughout the ensuing walk, wandering vagabonds made several attempts on stragglers among the group, but there were no reports of lost children on this particular night.
The party walked to the beach, and then to Harveys ValuMart, which apparently used to be a morgue, on the way to the site of the old train station. Among the stories was one about two children who were lost on the frozen ice, only to appear years later to a woodcutting party in mid-summer bringing freezing cold weather with them.
There was also a story of a murdered old man of Irish descent returning to the village as a ghost, looking for his stolen fancy linens and accosting people, and the tale of a train crew dynamited to death constructing dead mans curve on the K&P line, who returned to train future construction crews on the safe handling of dynamite. The dark, dank, chilly atmosphere added to the spookiness of the stories, and the appearance of several ghostly figures played their part as well.
The Haunted Walk was a free presentation by participants of the Seeking Alternatives program, who wanted to thank the village for hosting the program, and conceived of the walk. In September, they put out a call for stories, and the event took place on Tuesdays throughout October. Attendance increased each week, culminating in the final pre-Halloween walk last week.
