Things to Do, Stories to Find

In between handing out candy tonight, I put together a list of some of the places I still need to research in southern Alberta. These are places where I've heard rumours and stories or have had little pieces of information provided but not much. Or I've just had people say "is it true there's a ghost in such and such?" but they have no details or information. So these are on my to-do list for the next few months.

Please email or contact me if you have anything you wish to add to these places.

Basement of 54 (??)
FLVT (??)
Champion Hotel (??)
old Carol's Care on 8th Street (dishes being broken)
Sandman Inn (crying child reported)
Owl Acoustic Lounge (??)
old Fire Hall No 1 (??)
Cecil Hotel in Fort Macleod (??)
Youth Treatment Centre (??)

Ghosts May not Sleep but Ghost Story Hunting Takes a Break, Sometimes

Someone asked me the other day if I picked up any new stories at all in the last while (maybe because I haven't been posting on the BLOG as regularly as I once did). I could only smile and say "well, only about 10 just this past week." While I haven't had much time of late to share stories, I have certainly had the opportunity to collect them.

One told to me in September was about the old Schweitzer Bakery building on London Road in Lethbridge. Two of the staff were working when one noted that a man walked past here and to the back of the building. She wasn't too worried because she knew another staff was back there and would redirect the man. The other person heard the man, went to speak to him but there was no one there (even though there was no other exit out of the room).

Just this past week I had another story told to me of a place along the Enchant Highway between Enchant and Vauxhall. Years ago, when I was in High School, I had heard some weird whisperings about this place. But this time I was told the complete story.

The house on the property had burned down years ago but there was a garage left. Two men, Bill and Clifford, were working on a car in the garage. They had a light on above the car which suddenly went off. When they went to check, they saw the light had been unplugged from the wall (though there was no one else around). They plugged it back in and returned to work -- only to have the light once again unplugged! After this occurred several times the two men decided that they had to get out of there.

They went outside and saw in the yard a woman completely dressed in white carrying two suitcases. As they watched, she floated upwards and disappeared. Considering that one of the rumours of the property was that the husband had murdered his wife and hidden the body they of course quickly left after that.

I was also told of a Daycare in Lethbridge that I should check into. A hotel. A restaurant. And quite a number of other buildings. The hunt for ghost stories of southern Alberta continues.

Lethbridge YWCA

Well, I've been on a bit of an hiatus from writing the blog. But I've been busy this last summer collecting stories.

Had a fabulous time visiting with several staff from the YWCA collecting stories of their building. They were a little surprised that one of the ghosts said to haunt the place was a man. Imagine my surprise when I researched the history of the property only to find that a man died and had his funeral there! One of the homes knocked down for the YWCA was the home of Dr. Robert McClure, first permanent dentist of Lethbridge. He suffered ill health for several years and passed away there in 1915. Perhaps he's the reason people have reported a strong male presence on the 4th floor?

I also heard of a woman and child who are seen in the building. Toys are found moved when staff return in the morning and it is said that one of the ghosts was even caught on the camera.

Bring on the Medicine Hat Ghost [Stories]

Medicine Hat, I must admit I'm impressed. I have a large number of stories from southwestern Alberta but I haven't looked much further east than Taber. But recently friends from Medicine Hat have suggested I come there and collect some stories from the Hat for the book. So I decided to look on-line to see what sort of stories are being told about Medicine Hat and whether it would be worth the drive.

When I started looking around at sites, I could not believe how many places in Medicine Hat had stories connected with them. I thought there were lots of haunted places associated with Lethbridge, but this completely blew me away. Why do you have so many ghost stories? Any theories?

Reading through some of the places said to be haunted, not at all surprised that there are stories associated with the POW camp, especially considering the murders there. But why the Stampede Grounds? Why Connaught School? What are the stories behind these places?

I'm only going to be in Medicine Hat for one day (hopefully a Saturday in November) so which ones do you consider the very best? Which stories do I absolutely have to track down? Who are the best people in Medicine Hat to talk to?

Any help is appreciated.

Crowsnest Pass

I had an incredible 90 minute phone call today with a woman from the Crowsnest Pass who was able to provide a great many stories of places in the Pass that have strange occurrences associated with them. I knew there had to be stories from the Pass -- any place where the Frank Slide occurred and the worst underground coal mine disaster in Canadian history is sure to be a place of restless spirits.

And it didn't disappoint. Sitting here in a well lit room in Lethbridge simply being told the stories, I had goosebumps and the hair rising on the back of my neck!

Bellevue Mine does tours around Halloween each year and the person I spoke with assists with those. She said that, waiting in the dark mine for tours, she has heard the chirping of canaries. There are certainly no canaries in the mine today but in years past they would have been taken down as an early warning sign for carbon monoxide poisoning. Do ghost birds continue to keep the mine safe?

On another evening, again sitting in there in the full, overwhelming darkness of the mine, she heard the entrance door open and heard the quiet mumbling of voices. She expected any minute to see the lanterns as the tour approached. But none appeared. But the voices stayed. And then she realized. It was a school group they were expecting and rather than hearing the bright, light voices of children, the voices she heard were the low rumbling of adult men. For minutes she could hear the voices but no one approached her and there was no sign of the tour. Then, she heard again the door opening and wondered what had happened that the tour was leaving. Almost immediately she heard children's voices and soon saw lights appearing -- the tour had just arrived!

Between tours she and others were in the hut warming up and she asked why the tour had started and then went out and re-started. Everyone turned and looked at her like she was crazy and she was promptly told that had happened. And even though there were others in the mine she was the only one who heard the door open and the men's voices. And they realized what time it was -- back in the days when the mine had been operational it would be have been lunch time and the men were coming into the mine and back to work!

These are certainly not the only stories she told me. I'm still processing the one of the haunted house where they claim to have caught on tape the voice of a teenage boy mimicing howls to the family dog as he teased and hassled the dog. The same teenage boy appeared as a full apparition in a mirror and liked to play with the lights. But that one will have to wait for another time...

My Friend's Grandmother Was a Psychic

This one isn't a ghost story, but I found it so interesting when she told it to me, that I had to share it. But I can only share it with the extreme understanding that my friend (and her grandmother) remain anonymous.

I was telling this friend about how I'm trying to collect ghost stories from southern Alberta and she said that she didn't have any experiences with ghosts but that her grandmother had predicted a fire and a murder. Needless to say, she had me hooked and I wanted to know more.

When her grandmother was a child, she mentioned to her mother (friend's great-grandmother) that the school was on fire. Her mother hushed her saying that it wasn't true and it wasn't funny. The daughter looked at her mother and asked what time it was. The Mom said around noon. The daughter said something to the effect of, well, at 1 o'clock the school will be on fire. The great grandmother told her to stop joking and sent her off to school. When the young girl arrived at the school, the fire bells were ringing and the school was on fire. The time was exactly 1 o'clock.

Many years later, now an adult and married, she had a premonition/dream about this young woman that she knew who was calling for help. When she woke up, she was horrified to read the paper and found out this girl was missing. She told her husband that they should go to Park Lake, because the woman needed help. Or at least to tell the police that they should go to Park Lake. Her husband told her not to do anything because they would think she was nuts. So she reluctantly left it alone. A few days later the police found the young woman's murdered body at Park Lake.

Ghost Stories -- many leads to track down

Just the past weekend I heard 6 more ghost stories from across southern Alberta -- one in Picture Butte, one near Taber, two around Vauxhall, one in Brooks, and one in Rolling Hills. Added to the one I heard last month from the Enchant/Lomond area, this makes for a lot of fun research in the next while. Now I have to follow up with these people and get them to email me the details.

One site is a hospital. No surprise there -- people report the elevator working when there was no one around, hearing a walker move up and down the hallway after everyone had gone to bed, strange footsteps. There's always a lot of strange occurrences reported in hospitals.

But what rather surprised me is that two of the ghost stories (one in Rolling Hills and one in Vauxhall) were about garages. In the Rolling Hills case, it appears that the owner of the garage (who died on the property) was not willing to leave and he remained to protect the garage. Strange occurrences happened such as a fire that started and stopped repeatedly and with no explanation. People hearing someone walking through the snow but with no one ever appearing and no footprints in the snow. The other garage, from Vauxhall, is supposed to have a woman ghost. Haven't heard yet any explanation for why she's supposed to be there.

Had a couple of ghost stories associated with houses. And one building that's now a day care. That should be an interesting one to track down.

So many great stories to follow up on. And, as always, if you have a great story to pass along, don't hesitate to contact me.

Mommy, can I please go play?

This story was told to me 3rd hand and I hope to follow it back to its source and find the rest of the details.

A little boy was down in Indian Battle Park (the park down by the river in Lethbridge) with his family. He asked to be allowed to go and play with the other kids he saw playing in the park. But his Mom wouldn't let him. Because, while the son could see the kids, his Mom couldn't! Are there ghost kids playing down by the river?

This is the 1st time I've heard a story of ghost kids in Indian Battle Park (though there are lots of reports of other types of ghosts). Very curious to follow up more on this.

A Sister of Mercy

I spent some time tonight speaking with someone who used to work at St. Michael's Hospital. We talked about the ghost that was said to be present there. According to the stories a nun, commonly just called "Sister," was said to have roamed the halls of St. Michael's. She took care of people -- would sit by them and comfort them. She would make staff aware when medication was out of date. She would draw the attention of staff to problems and concerns.

The person with whom I spoke to tonight never saw anything herself but said she worked with several nurses who firmly believed in Sister's presence. And has promised to give me a contact number for one of them. I'll let you know if I hear anything new.

I have often wondered if Sister stayed with the property through the expansion. Of all the ghost stories in Lethbridge she's one that I always found most comforting. Someone who was so devoted to ensuring that people were taken care of when they were most vulnerable. I hope she's still there protecting those who need her.

If you work at St. Michael's (or used to work at St. Michael's) and have stories to tell, I would love to hear them.

Ghost Along the Coulees

I was told this evening of a few ghost stories in the river valley along the west side of the Oldman River just near the High Level Bridge here in Lethbridge. I know a lot of runners love to go along that area but, because of all of my research, I can only think of all of the people who have died in that area. Either from coulees collapsing or falls in the river or related to the bridge.

Tonight I was told a ghost story by someone who runs in that area and she said that a phantom runner has joined her along that spot. Has anyone else experienced anything in that area? Certainly ghost stories related to the river valley shouldn't come as a surprise.

Oh, the things I've heard

I haven't posted for the last while as I've been busy delivering ghost stories at various places and life itself has just kept me busy.

One of my favourite times of year is when I get to go and talk ghost stories to groups from around the area. Because not only do I get to share ghost stories, but I get to hear a lot of ghost stories I hadn't heard of before as well as new stories for older haunted places.

I really have to do more now regarding the old Hamilton Junior High (which of course was once LCI but is now Allan Watson and the school board office). Every time I hear a new ghost story from that place it just gets creepier and creepier. While in a lot of places the ghosts are more about sounds and smells, at this place several people have reported full apparitions. And not just for a few seconds but have interacted with the apparition for minutes at a time. And the really neat thing is that it ranges from young kids to adults and everyone in between.

If you went to school there or have taught there or just know of strange occurrences, please don't hesitate to pass them along.

Nicholas Sheran Ghost?

I hadn't thought of this ghost story for a very long time until someone asked me about it today. We were talking today about the death of Nicholas Sheran, who drowned in the Oldman River in 1882. His body was never recovered. Someone asked if there was a ghost story with him. The story I've heard is that there are reports of a grey ghost, dripping wet, seen walking through Indian Battle Park. I can only assume that the ghost is meant to be Nicholas Sheran (especially the dripping wet).

I don't have many details about this story. Has anyone seen it? Is it only at a certain time of the month such as a full moon? Or is it one for foggy days?

Why does Lethbridge have so many ghost stories?

What is it about Lethbridge? I can think of at least 17 places that have ghost stories attached to them. Hmmm. Maybe it's the wind.

One place I recently heard of related to a ghost story was the old Isolation Hospital on 7th Avenue South. Someone reported seeing a woman dressed as a nurse and said she could feel herself back in time. Anyone else have any stories about that place?

I've also heard rumours of ghost stories for the college. But only that they think it's haunted. I've never had a really good story for that place. So if you have a good college story, don't hesitate to share.