EAST LIVERPOOL - A group dedicated to the paranormal and interested in a unique look at Columbiana County's rich history will take to Thompson Park this Saturday for an event dubbed "Columbiana County Legends." The Ghosting 12 Paranormal group is spearheading the effort along with the East Liverpool Jaycees. The event is free, but some donations jars will be set up to benefit Thompson Park. Kimberly Mitchell is the founder of Ghosting 12 Paranormal. "Back in 2008 we started doing tours right here in the park," Mitchell recalled. "Once a month, we would go around the circle in the park and take photographs or make audio recordings - especially when there was a full moon." The goal was to capture an apparition on camera or record an electronic voice phenomena, or EVP on tape. The group expanded from those first meetings and now the 15 or so members travel all over the county giving tours and introducing new people to the paranormal world. They still meet up at Thompson Park as well. As for Saturday's event, it all begins at 7 p.m., and the tour will follow the back nine holes of the disc golf course. The guests will first get a little history about 19 famous, or infamous, characters out of Columbiana County history including Pretty Boy Floyd, Goldie Bell Taylor, Esther Hale, Sadie Barker, Gretchen Gill and even Bigfoot. Depending on the turnout, groups of about six will then head down to the ghost tour path and watch the stories come to life. About 30 volunteers dressed in various costumes will reenact some of the events. "We want people to know that Columbiana County has some of the best history and some of the best paranormal sites around," Mitchell said. "But the group meets for more than just the paranormal. Thompson Park, for instance, has some of the best scenery around, and it's a way to get in some good exercise." Donations for the park will be accepted Saturday, but the event itself is free. Soda and water will be on sale. Mitchell said the event will close at around 9 p.m. The ghost tour would not be possible without the help of the local Jaycees, Mitchell said. "They really helped us out tremendously, and we appreciate it," she said. Brian Vaughn, a member of the East Liverpool Jaycees, said the group knows a thing or two about putting on a scary show. The Jaycees ran the haunted house for years, and Saturday's event was a good opportunity to revisit. "We helped supply some manpower and some equipment like a fog machine," Vaughn said. "We also had a lot of costumes." Vaughn said Saturday's event will be a precursor to a haunted trail the Jaycees will sponsor at Thompson Park in October. Vaughn said since Ghosting 12 Paranormal has never put on such a large presentation, the Jaycees were able to help out. "We want people to know the club is out here and active," Vaughn said. "The chapter is very approachable by any organization that may need help with projects such as this." More information about Ghosting 12 Paranormal s available at the groups' www.ghosting12paranormal.com Web site.   Article Photos   Fact Box Columbiana County Legends During Saturday evening's Ghost Walk Tour sponsred by Ghosting 12 Paranormal and the East Liverpool Jaycees, the Columbiana County Legends feature will include: Bowman's Cemetery Witch - Dressed in black, her hair pulled into a bun, and an angry look on her face, this woman has been seen in the woods surrounding Bowman's Cemetery. A witch was found murdering children in the very spot of the cemetery. She was dragged into the woods and hanged. No one knows where she is buried, though some say in those very woods where she was hanged. Little David from Sprucevale and Katie from No. 1 Pavilion - David is the little boy who haunted the old house at Gretchen's was only eight years old when he was caught stealing tools from the town blacksmith. Times were hard, and so was his punishment. He was hanged near the house. For years, he haunted the house itself, often being seen from one of the second floor windows. Even though the house is now gone, it is rumored that his ghost is still there. Katie is the spirit of a young girl that haunts No. 1 Pavilion at Thompson. She is mischievous and playful. There is no way to be sure where she came from or from what time period. She is able to move a child's ball and make knocking noises, when she wants to. Goldie Bell Taylor - Goldie was four years old when she died. A lovely statue of her marks her grave. She holds a bouquet of flowers if you visit her. Take the flowers and new ones will appear by the next day. No one has been able to catch anyone replacing them. They seem to just appear. Throw the flowers down on the ground and stomp on them and the statue is said to cry. Esther Hale - Daughter of a Quaker Preacher, Esther Hale lived in Sprucevale (now Gretchen's Lock). She fell in love with a young man who promised to marry her.. They set the date of Aug. 12 to be their wedding day. But on that day, Esther - dressed in a beautiful white gown wandered the streets looking for her lost love. After a few months, she ceased to come to town at all. Finally, some people from town went to her home to check on her. Her front door banged open and closed in the wind. When they entered, they found her sitting at her table, which was still covered with the now rotten wedding feast. She had starved herself to death. Now, every year on Aug. 12, she appears on the bridge looking for her lost love. But beware, if she touches you while on the bridge, you will grow old and wither and die, while she becomes young and beautiful again. Bigfoot - Ohio actually ranks third or fourth in the country for Bigfoot sightings, right behind the Pacific Northwest. There have been at least 10 sightings in Columbiana County since 1971. Most of these are in the Beaver Creek area. Collectively, between Columbiana, Stark and Mahoning counties, there have been more than 25 sightings. Julia Walls (The Barrel Lady) - Murdered in 1940, her body was stuffed into a barrel and she was found on the corner of Jennings And St. Clair avenues in East Liverpool. Her murderer was never found. The Captain and the Lady - Down in the Grimm's Bridge area, there are three canals that belong to the Sandy and Beaver Canal system. There were many people who lived around them. There is the story of a young girl who fell in love with a canal boat captain. They would meet secretly up in the woods above where the Grimm's Bridge is now. He would always be seen walking in the woods, carrying a lantern and being accompanied by two large Russian Wolf hounds. One night, the young girl's father caught them together. A terrible fight occurred and the father killed the Captain and threw him in the creek. In shock and misery at her lover's death at the hands of her father, she threw herself into the creek during a terrible storm and drowned. Now, you can see them walking in the woods, announced by the captain's lantern light bobbing through the woods. General John Hunt Morgan - During the Civil War, Morgan and his men, Confederate Soldiers, were known as Morgan's Raiders. Coming up from Kentucky, he crossed into the state of Ohio and made his way clear to Columbiana County, where he was finally captured near West Point. This band of soldiers have the distinction of making it the furthest north during the Civil War by the south. General Morgan was taken to Wellsville and stayed as a prisoner of war in the Whitacre House. There, he was treated so kindly, he gifted his war sword to the owner. This sword can now be seen at the River Museum in Wellsville. Morgan was sent to Columbus to the Ohio Penitentiary. He later escaped and returned to Kentucky, where he was shot and killed trying to escape Union Soldiers. His ghost has been seen walking the streets of Wellsville, perhaps looking for his battle sword. Gretchen Gill - Gretchen's father, Edward Gill, was the engineer for the Sandy and Beaver canals that were built from 1828-1848. At some point during this time, his 12-year-old daughter, Gretchen, came down with malaria and died. Swearing to return her to her native county of Ireland, he had her body entombed in Lock No. 40 until such time that he was finished with the canals and could return home. The story goes that he did in fact retrieve her body and set sail for Ireland. Sadly, the ship went down in a storm taking all hands with it. Gretchen returned to Sprucevale and the lock she had been entombed in and haunts the area to this day. Some believe her body still remains somewhere in the lock. Unidentified Carnival Girl - An unknown girl who worked at a traveling carnival was murdered in 1942. She was found wrapped in a sheet and strangled. She was never identified and her murderer never found. She was buried at Spring Grove Cemetery. Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd - Known as Public Enemy No. 1, Floyd was shot and killed on Sprucevale Road, just above Gretchen's Lock in 1934. Some called him a hero and believe he was actually murdered. To this day, he haunts the area where he lost his life. Other ghosts making an appearance will include: Jake the Night Watchman, Lucy Cobb, Willis Payne, Sadie Barker, Christina Sloan, the Blue Lady of Thompson Park and Billy Amos.

At least, that's the opinion of a panel of paranormal investigators who led more than a dozen people Sunday afternoon on a Haunted Lisbon Ghostwalk.

Kimberly Mitchell, lead investigator for Ghosting 12 Paranormal, a dedicated group of eight paranormal investigators from around the county, guided the group to several historical homes and buildings around the village, some of them with fantastical, phantasmal stories of the dead roaming inside them.

"Ghost hunting is not like what you see on television. I've never been scratched. I've never been pushed ... The ghosts are here to talk to you," Mitchell told the group, whose fee to participate on the tour went toward funding 501c(3) nonprofit certification for the Columbiana County Families of Homicide Victims.

Religion and science both play a role in the job of a ghost hunter. Sometimes, she explained, ghosts exist in this world because of fear that something they did while they were alive will cause them to go to Hell when they cross over.

The group does not practice witchcraft, but it does have reference materials to the occult to aid in investigations. She noted Gretchen's Lock contains a large stone she was able to identify as a rune for blessing crops in the area.

The term "ghost" can mean the spirit of a deceased person, but it also covers some non-human entities, such as demons.

"Thankfully, I haven't ever run into anything like that and I hope I never do," she said of demons, although she is confused why people treat demons as though they have more power than God. She has heard stories of ghosts throwing knives that land by people's feet or stick in the wall next to them, but she argued that if a ghost is powerful enough to throw a knife, it could land the knife in someone's chest and kill him or her.

Science comes into play in the tools ghost hunters use to detect spirits.  One device, a K2 meter, detects electromagnetic fields, which Mitchell said are a sign that ghosts are nearby. However, the meters can be thrown off by open electrical wires or lots of appliances plugged into one socket. A compass with a magnetic point can be used for the same purpose, as the presence of a ghost will cause the magnetic needle to spin. They also employ cameras for capturing physical distortions and digital recorders with their own background noise. Ghosts don't have vocal chords, she explained, so they use other things to give them a voice. She had heard ghosts use a fan, a barking dog or the rumbling of a passing car to make their words audible, she said.

But she isn't scared, even when a recording clearly tells her "get out now," because that's exactly what neighbors would say if she walked into their home uninvited.

Much of the tour centered on the Underground Railroad. While many historians deny the slavery-resistance group had any activity in Lisbon, Mitchell argued the group was secretive and would have covered its tracks well to avoid detection, which explains why its presence is Lisbon is yet to be confirmed. One home was once owned by Erastus Eells, founder of possibly the first funeral home in the state. Eells made coffins in a barn on the property and sent some of the coffins to Canada, and Mitchell said some residents believe he smuggled living slaves out of the country in the coffins to free them.

That same house is, or was, home to a spirit some former residents had named George. She said George was a mean spirit who once tried to push a woman off a ladder while she was working on the house, but the current residents have noted no paranormal activity since they moved in.

At the site of the car wash on North Market Street, there once stood a house that reportedly was haunted by the ghost of a boy who died of a disease. She said people could hear him stomping up the steps and down the hallway, then slamming a door.

Her research showed no sign of who the boy might be, but if people really heard those noises, she said it may be a residual haunting, which is not an actual spirit but a playback of events that happened in the past being heard or seen in the present.

Mitchell explained ghosts use people's dreams as a way to communicate with them, and they are a common medium ghosts use to say goodbye. A point Mitchell wanted to stress is that many ghosts just want to pass on a message, and it pleases her to allow them to do it.

"It's really heartwarming and it leaves you with goose bumps and a new idea of where you might be when you pass on as well," she explained.

Anyone seeking more information on the ghost hunting group can follow their blog at www.evpisproof.blogspot.com.

Ghost walk benefits families haunted by loss of loved ones

LISBON - Lisbon is haunted.

At least, that's the opinion of a panel of paranormal investigators who led more than a dozen people Sunday afternoon on a Haunted Lisbon Ghostwalk.

Kimberly Mitchell, lead investigator for Ghosting 12 Paranormal, a dedicated group of eight paranormal investigators from around the county, guided the group to several historical homes and buildings around the village, some of them with fantastical, phantasmal stories of the dead roaming inside them.

"Ghost hunting is not like what you see on television. I've never been scratched. I've never been pushed ... The ghosts are here to talk to you," Mitchell told the group, whose fee to participate on the tour went toward funding 501c(3) nonprofit certification for the Columbiana County Families of Homicide Victims.

Religion and science both play a role in the job of a ghost hunter.  Sometimes, she explained, ghosts exist in this world because of fear that something they did while they were alive will cause them to go to Hell when they cross over.

The group does not practice witchcraft, but it does have reference materials to the occult to aid in investigations. She noted Gretchen's Lock contains a large stone she was able to identify as a rune for blessing crops in the area.

The term "ghost" can mean the spirit of a deceased person, but it also covers some non-human entities, such as demons.

"Thankfully, I haven't ever run into anything like that and I hope I never do," she said of demons, although she is confused why people treat demons as though they have more power than God. She has heard stories of ghosts throwing knives that land by people's feet or stick in the wall next to them, but she argued that if a ghost is powerful enough to throw a knife, it could land the knife in someone's chest and kill him or her.

Science comes into play in the tools ghost hunters use to detect spirits.  One device, a K2 meter, detects electromagnetic fields, which Mitchell said are a sign that ghosts are nearby. However, the meters can be thrown off by open electrical wires or lots of appliances plugged into one socket.  A compass with a magnetic point can be used for the same purpose, as the presence of a ghost will cause the magnetic needle to spin. They also employ cameras for capturing physical distortions and digital recorders with their own background noise. Ghosts don't have vocal chords, she explained, so they use other things to give them a voice. She had heard ghosts use a fan, a barking dog or the rumbling of a passing car to make their words audible, she said.

But she isn't scared, even when a recording clearly tells her "get out now," because that's exactly what neighbors would say if she walked into their home uninvited.

Much of the tour centered on the Underground Railroad. While many historians deny the slavery-resistance group had any activity in Lisbon, Mitchell argued the group was secretive and would have covered its tracks well to avoid detection, which explains why its presence is Lisbon is yet to be confirmed.

One home was once owned by Erastus Eells, founder of possibly the first funeral home in the state. Eells made coffins in a barn on the property and sent some of the coffins to Canada, and Mitchell said some residents believe he smuggled living slaves out of the country in the coffins to free them.  That same house is, or was, home to a spirit some former residents had named George. She said George was a mean spirit who once tried to push a woman off a ladder while she was working on the house, but the current residents have noted no paranormal activity since they moved in.

At the site of the car wash on North Market Street, there once stood a house that reportedly was haunted by the ghost of a boy who died of a disease. She said people could hear him stomping up the steps and down the hallway, then slamming a door.

Her research showed no sign of who the boy might be, but if people really heard those noises, she said it may be a residual haunting, which is not an actual spirit but a playback of events that happened in the past being heard or seen in the present.

Bad Frogs on South Market Street, once the site of the Ivystone Lounge, houses the ghost of a lady in white, believed to be the wife of an old bartender.  As the story goes, Mitchell said, the wife caught her husband in a compromising position with a barmaid, and he died a few days later, possibly having been poisoned by his wife. Shortly thereafter, the wife committed suicide.

Witnesses have seen the ghost glide down the stairs, look at everyone and go back up, but sometimes she mingles with people around the tavern, saying nothing. People don't tend to realize she is a ghost until after she is gone, and though her clothing and appearance are signs she does not belong, Mitchell said ghosts also affect the other senses, such as touch and smell, in mysterious ways.

"You don't just see a ghost," she explained. "You experience a ghost."

Possibly the most unsettling stop for members of the tour group was the old German cemetery. Established in 1815 for residents with German heritage, the cemetery eventually fell to ruin for lack of caretaking and became an eyesore. Village groups planted a row of trees to hide it from the public eye, and the families of some of the deceased dug up their bodies and moved them to the Lisbon Cemetery.  But what Mitchell found most upsetting is what happened to the tombstones. A man received permission to build a storage shed over the graveyard, and while she was investigating the property, she found what appeared to be a flower garden.  Hidden under a layer of dirt, she said she found several weathered headstones that had been moved and laid flat as a memorial. She personally unearthed many of them in respect to the dead. She noted three of the men buried there were soldiers and one fought in the Revolutionary War.

One of the sweeter stories Mitchell told on the ghost walk was about a home owned by Chris and Debbie Shivers, which once was haunted by the spirit of a 12-year-old girl named Cathy.  Cathy showed favoritism to the children of the family who lived there after she died, although she did pull pranks like hiding their homework. When the parents explained to school officials that the homework was late because of a ghost in the house, the school gave the children leniency and allowed them to turn in the homework late.  Cathy also followed the family on vacation, and while they were touring another house, she apparently took a green crayon from the library and scribbled all over one wall and the clothing dryer.  "They embraced her so much that they even bought her Christmas presents," Mitchell explained.  Eventually, the father of the family died, and one of his children had a dream that he and Cathy crossed over to the other side together. That was the last anyone had heard from Cathy.

Mitchell explained ghosts use people's dreams as a way to communicate with them, and they are a common medium ghosts use to say goodbye. A point Mitchell wanted to stress is that many ghosts just want to pass on a message, and it pleases her to allow them to do it.

"It's really heartwarming and it leaves you with goose bumps and a new idea of where you might be when you pass on as well," she explained.

Anyone seeking more information on the ghost hunting group can follow their blog at www.evpisproof.blogspot.com.

mschomer@mojonews.com