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This is a tiny little free subscription ezine for friends of The Grove - it is by request only. In other words, we NEVER arbitrarily add email addresses. We also NEVER sell or share email addresses with anyone else, for any reason at any time. We hate SPAM as much as you do!
Hi everyone! It's certainly been an interesting August here in Jefferson. First of all, the weather gave us a break from the typical August heat, so we had a week or so of nice, cool weather. It didn't last forever, but it was certainly a welcome change. We're planning candlelight tours of The Grove in October, so when we found out that we were going to have the electric service to the house upgraded, we knew it would be the perfect time for a trial run. That's right, we had our first candlelight tour this month, and I really enjoyed it. The only problem with trying to keep the house quiet and still is that there was no air flowing either, and even on one of August's coolest days things got a little warm. We had fun, though, and are going to do a couple of more candlelight tours before October - we need to work some more on candle placement. At one time in the tour, a young man started to say something and I assumed that he was going to ask a question. We'd been discussing the Lady in White, and people are always fascinated with her. Instead, though, this guy hesitantly said, "Mister, you're about to catch your pants on fire!" Sure enough, I had been unconsciously edging over toward a tall candle holder that was sitting on the floor. THAT would have certainly made for a memorable tour! If you happen to have a General Motors Corporation vehicle, you may receive GMC Magazine several times a year. If you do, or know someone who does, be sure to look for The Grove in the Fall Issue! I wrote an article for them entitled "Specterville, USA" which is a whirlwind tour of a few haunted places around America... of course, I had to include The Grove. There's also a new ritual before the tours at the house - before coming in, everyone in the group has to pull on blue surgical booties over their shoes. The foot-traffic was starting to wear the floors and rugs, so it was a necessary step. So far, no one seems to mind... I hope that continues! One more thing - we have applied to have The Grove listed on the National Register of Historic Places, but we won't hear back for a while. Please think good thoughts for us - along with all of the wonderful ghost stories from this place, there is a fantastic chapter of history associated with the property. We sent a narrative history of the place to the state committee, and they felt like it was a good candidate; we passed the first hurdle. We've now filed the official paperwork, and we'll see what happens. We really want the recognition for the house. A hundred years from now The Grove will be in the hands of other caretakers, and if it is listed on the Register hopefully they'll give it some thought before they add on a garage or a dining nook!
If you've been following the GroveZine, you know that Licea's Mexican Restaurant, one of our regular places to eat in town, has changed locations. It is now located on Polk Street in the building that use to house the Indian Motorcycle Shop. Before that, though, the place was a restaurant, so the building is laid out well. We've been there several times already, and the food is as delicious as ever. In a surprise move, Diamond Bessie's Restaurant closed and rented the front part of their building out to a new place: the Big Fish Cafe. The sign advertises seafood and catfish, but since we just discovered it we haven't had a chance to check it out yet. Stay tuned! On a related note, the back part of Diamond Bessie's with the stage has been reportedly rented out to a Branson-style show. It's going to be a show for the entire family, so it may be something to check out on your next visit. The Taste of Jefferson is coming up, which is one of my FAVORITE events of the year. On October 17th, you buy one ticket, and get to sample foods from all of Jefferson's restaurants. This is truly an amazing event - you get one taste here, another sample there, and before you know it, you're delightfully stuffed and couldn't begin to eat one more bite. It's a wonderful sampling of food that I HIGHLY recommend. Another event coming up in Jefferson is the Bigfoot Conference. They have a lineup of speakers including scientists and scholars. The conference has outgrown the Methodist Church Fellowship Hall, and so they are now holding sessions out at the High School commons area. Check it out October 22 & 23.
This is an interesting part of the newsletter. Just as I decide to put in something from a year or so ago, something even more fascinating happens! Very few supernatural things have ever happened in our bathroom, which used to be the back porch of the house. It is the place where a tragedy occurred: the son of Charlie and Daphne Young hung himself there. Still, it is a relatively calm place. Last weekend, Tami was brushing her teeth in the bathroom when I walked in. "Why do you keep looking in here?" she asked with a mouth full of Crest. I'd been back in the kitchen, and had no idea what she was talking about. When I inquired what she meant, she said that she'd caught glimpses of someone peeking around the door at her, then pulling back as she looked up. Tami assumed that I was just checking to see if she was through so that I could shave and brush my teeth - but I hadn't been in that part of the house. When I did take over the bathroom, I was shaving when I heard her call my name from somewhere else in the house. I finished, then walked back into the den. She was sitting on the couch grading papers from school, and hadn't said anything. The television wasn't even on. Why was something happening there in the bathroom on September 4th? We don't know, but just dismissed it as some of the strange things that happen at The Grove. Speaking of which, during a tour this past month we had a young girl who had a very strange feeling in the stairwell. She sat down in the chair there, and said that she felt something brushing up against her, as if it was walking through the door from the side gallery. From there we went into the parlor, and she immediately went to the northwest corner - we hadn't said anything about it, but this is one of the most active places in the house. She stood there and felt something grab her arm, to the point that it was cutting the circulation off. We watched through a video camera, and shadows were coming up on either side of her. It was quite an interesting tour! A friend of ours was up for a visit one weekend this month, and as many times as she's been to The Grove, she still claims that she doesn't believe in ghosts. Tami had showered, and spread her towel out over the bathroom sink. She went back in a few minutes later, and it was down on the floor. She picked it up, spread it back over the sink, but soon found it on the floor again. The sink is level, and the towel shouldn't have fallen off of it, especially spread out like it was. At the moment there is no central air or window unit in the bathroom, so the air flow was minimal. She was puzzled by the movement of the towel, so on the third try she spread it out over the sink where it couldn't slip off, then closed the door to cut off any air flow at all. She then told our friend what was going on. A few minutes later they opened the bathroom door, and the towel was on the floor once again. Our friend stepped into the bathroom, and squarely into one of the energy fields that we often feel around the house. She jumped back, startled, and is now a little more open to the idea of the spirits of The Grove. Well, that's it for now. We're already collecting things for next month's ezine, so please stay tuned!
Well, that's this month's edition of the GroveZine. We're very happy to get to share some of the current goings-on around the house. For some reason, supernatural activity during the tours has picked up - hopefully we'll have a few more tales for you by the time the next month rolls around. See you then! www.thegrove-jefferson.com To repeat our words from the beginning, this is a free subscription ezine for friends of The Grove - in other words, we NEVER arbitrarily add email addresses. We also NEVER sell or share email addresses with anyone else. To subscribe, send an email to mitchel@whitington.com with the following words in the subject line: Subscribe Grove To unsubscribe, send an email to mitchel@whitington.com with the following words in the subject line: Unsubscribe Grove |
