"The Paranormal is entirely NORMAL. Furthermore, I believe the Supernatural is both SUPER and NATURAL. Paranormal and Supernatural experiences happen to ordinary folk like you and I, every day. Ain't it cool?" - JoLynne Valerie

     Wow, we actually had two days where the temp hovered in the 80s recently... it was wonderful! Unfortunately, the temperature zoomed right back up to 100, where we've been for WAYYYY too long, but I've got to say that those two days were simply incredible. At least for a little while, it seemed like Fall was in the air. Maybe that was just a little preview... a few more weeks, and we should be there. In January, of course, we'll be dreaming of this hot weather, but for now I'm anxious to see it go away.

     Calling all friends of The Grove! It's that time of year again - I'd like to humbly ask you to please vote for The Grove in USA Today's contest to name the "10 Best Haunted Destinations in America" once again. USA Today nominated The Grove as one of the twenty best haunted destinations in America, and voting has just started to determine the top 10. We're up against some national places such as the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, CA, so while it might take some voting, it would be great to see The Grove in the top 10 again this year!

     You can vote once a day, so even if you were kind enough to vote for us before, you can definitely do so again. You don't give any information - not your email addr, not your name, not your shoe size, not your blood type, nothing at all. You just click the link or the QR code, scroll down when you see the picture of The Grove, and then click on the "vote" button, and that's all there is to it. I promise that you won't end up on any weird email lists or anything like that - you don't provide any information at all! Thanks again for your vote. Two years ago The Grove took 4th place, last year we were at 5th, but I'd be happy just for the house to be in the top 10.

You can scan the QR code below with your phone, or if you don't have a scanner app on your phone, this link will take you to the right place. Like I said earlier, you don't give them any info at all - just a click for The Grove which is greatly appreciated. You're allowed to vote once a day per device, so you can click the link to vote on your computer, and then scan the QR code with your camera. If you get a few spare moments over the next month, I'd REALLY appreciate a vote or two for The Grove as time allows.

     Meanwhile, over on Lafayette Street... I mentioned in a GroveZine a month or so ago that Jefferson's been booming with some new businesses. Three of them are shown below: Foodie Tasting Room, Pop Culture SocieTea, and Port Jefferson Coffee Roasters. You can see pictures from the businesses, in that order, above. These are all wonderful shops that you're going to love exploring. The entire building has been renovated, keeping its New Orleans style architecture, and we have some wonderful shops that have moved in - if you haven't been to Jefferson in a while, it's time for a visit!

     I had a birthday recently, and I spent part of the morning being reflective about life. All the things that have happened, and all the wonderful things still ahead of me. One thing that I've noticed with each passing year is that I pay a little more attention to articles in the news about our bodies as we age. I always caution myself about looking at the source material and relying on good information, but I saw in the news a few days ago that caught my attention, and it was straight from the horse's mouth. The headline read, "At 101 Years Old, I’m the ‘World’S Oldest Practicing Doctor’: My No. 1 Rule For Keeping Your Brain Sharp!" I clicked on the link and read the story, and to be honest, it made a whole lot of sense to me. It's nothing Earth-shattering or cosmic, but it's something to keep in the back of your mind as we're all having birthdays. Click here to read the article.

     There's something very special about Jefferson - there's a sense of community here. For the most part, everyone knows everyone else, and while there are occasionally little tiffs here and there (aren't there everywhere?), people in Jefferson watch out for each other. Which brings me to a very sad note. Jeffersonians are all mourning the passing of one of our own - James Goolsby, who owned the Old Store & Fudge Shop. Every now and then you run across someone who's just a down-right, honest-to-goodness, good person. That was James.
     He understood the retail business inside & out, and he gave me so much advice, especially years ago when I was just trying to find my path through the jungle of sales, marketing, and distribution. My favorite thing about James was just stopping in his store for a visit. No matter what was going on in Jefferson, no matter what the latest news was, James had an opinion... and it was well-worth listening to. I can't tell you how much time I spent sitting on the bench in front of the Fudge Store with him, discussing everything from Jefferson politics to retail marketing strategy to the juicy local gossip. I'm really going to miss him. Those of you who enjoy coming to Jefferson, who stopped into the Fudge Shop for some delicious treats or a few antiques, may remember James. What a great guy. Rest in peace, buddy. You were a wonderful friend to me, James, and I will miss you. What I wouldn't give for just one more conversation with you...

     We've been having a little problem at The Grove this year. We've been using the same yard service for about 10 years. They come mow & edge every week, although they're getting a little more popular so they haven't been as regular this year. There are two special things that they do - in the Fall, after all the trees are bare, they show up, rake the leaves, and haul them away; in the Spring, they have two fellows that weed the flower beds. I knew that, like all of us, the two fellows were getting up in years. This year I guess that they turned a corner, and are no longer able to squat down and work the beds. We tried to find someone and had a couple of leads, but nothing panned out at all. Finally my wife was able to get someone on the phone who weeded beds, and got him to agree to come by. When he stood us up as well, she called again, and he timidly said, "But... isn't that the ghost house?" Sigh... we have such a nice, peaceful place - granted, with a bit of strange activity - but its reputation seems to be scaring people away from working for us. This is a problem that I didn't see coming...

     I had a small tour one Sunday morning, a group of ladies from the D/FW Metroplex. The moment that I stepped out of the air conditioning of the house onto the front porch, I started sweating. Even with the shade of the front porch and both ceiling fans going, the heat was unbearable. Usually to start the tour everyone puts on blue surgical booties to protect the floors of the house, and before we go in I tell the first half of our "Lady in White" story, which I conclude in the Game Room. We were all melting out on the porch, so I decided to just tell the entire story in the Game Room, and skip the part on the porch. As soon as we walked into the air conditioning of the Parlor, I knew that I'd made the right decision.
     When we got to the Game Room, I told the story about how the Lady in White is seen walking down the west side of the house, and then steps up through a wall of that room. The point where she steps up used to be a back porch to the original 1861 configuration of the house, so we believe that it is Mrs. Minerva Stilley, the original lady of the house. She is the only woman who would remember the house in that configuration. Anyway, as I told the story, the ladies squealed, looked around at each other, and then laughed - a little nervously, perhaps. When I asked what was going on, one of them told me that when they were waiting on the front porch for me to come out and start the tour, they were on the east side of the porch looking out into the garden. One of them looked back to see a woman dressed in white walking beside the east side of the house. She told the others, figuring that the woman was their tour guide. She'd already passed the porch, so one of the ladies dashed over to the east side of the porch to talk to her, but looking all along that side of the house, there was no one there. They were thrilled that they'd seen our famous Lady in White, but I was a little disappointed that I wasn't standing in the Game Room as she entered the house!

     On another side of the paranormal, the Texas UFO Con was just held in Jefferson. This was the second annual Con, and the event organizer announced that he's already work on next year's. It should be in August again, so pencil it in on your calendar. This was a full day of great information & discussion. Topics ranging from historic UFO events to Men in Black were included, and my friend Tui Snider did a fascination presentation on "The Great Airship Mystery of 1897." Nick Redfern rounded out the day with a program called "Don't Answer the Door - Men & Women in Black." It was a fun, informative day, and I'm already looking forward to next year.

     I talked about our Lady in White, but I also have a story about one of the other spirits that people see here at the house - the fellow that we call our "Garden Guy." He wears an old-fashioned black suit and hat, and the first time that I saw him was in the initial few weeks that we owned The Grove. The previous owner, Patrick Hopkins, has several stories about the Garden Guy that come from the time when he had a restaurant here at The Grove. What I'm about to tell you actually happened earlier in the summer, and the temperatures were a little more comfortable. We were even getting a little rain about once every week or so, so things were relatively pleasant. I always open the front door and walk onto the front porch a few minutes before the tour begins - I always enjoy visiting with our guests. This time, a couple of the folks looked at me a little funny. It was enough that I asked if there was anything wrong; they said, "No, we were just surprised that you weren't in costume."
     That didn't make any sense to me at all, so I asked what they meant. The couple went on to explain that they'd driven by the day before, and saw a man in an old-fashioned suit and hat walking through the garden. They assumed that we were getting ready for a tour, and that the man that they saw was the guide in costume. I assured them that my costume was a tee shirt and jeans, and that definitely wasn't me that they saw.
     In reality, I'll bet that I've had that exact same conversation on the front porch at least three times over the years. There may have been more, but this is at least the third time that I remember. It seems that sometimes as people drive by the house, they see this fellow walking through the garden. Personally, it's been several months since I've seen him, but I was coming home one day and was waiting for the driveway gate to open. Looking over into the garden, I saw a man in a dark outfit walking through the trees, and before I could get a good look at him, he was simply gone.
     Our cat Marley sleeps inside where it's nice and comfortable, but sometimes during the day he goes out and patrols the property. I've often wondered how many times Marley has seen him, and who he thinks this guy in the black suit is.

     Speaking of the supernatural - don't forget the Fall History, Haunts & Legends Conference. It's going to be on November 4th right here in Jefferson, with the same, popular format that everyone's come to expect from HHL. Saturday there will be presentations throughout the day on various paranormal topics, along with a massive vendor room for you to explore during breaks. After a pause for dinner - and to let everyone get checked into their hotels and B&Bs - the nighttime investigations begin. A number of different sites with reported supernatural activity will be featured, with an investigation team at each location. They'll feature different types of ghost-hunting equipment, from the latest technology, to the ancient art of using dowsing rods. If you attend HHL's nighttime investigations, you've probably seen me there year to year. It's an excellent opportunity to go into old homes and buildings that I normally don't have access to, and to work with some of the best paranormal investigation teams in the area.

     You know, I love this time of year! We just finished the UFO Con, the Bigfoot Conference is coming up soon, along with the Jefferson Museum's "Sitting Up with the Dead" program, then Halloween, all capped off with HHL just before we roll into the holidays. I hope to see you at some - or all! - of the events.      May God bless us all - I know that there are GroveZine readers all around the country, and as I watched the news earlier today I realized that many of us are suffering through radically different situations. Wildfires in Hawaii and Washington State, a hurricane hitting California causing flooding problems, an earthquake hitting California at the same time, and a record, scorching heat wave through the rest of the nation. I'm praying for a smooth, easy Fall, followed by a calm Winter with no snow/ice events. Talk to you soon, and please don't forget to vote for The Grove in the USA Today poll - vote early, and often!

Here's what's coming up around Jefferson...

08/25-26/2023 - Jefferson Jeep Jam
09/06-10/2023 - Diamond Don AHRMA Motocross
09/16/2023 - 5th Annual Vintage Tractor Show
09/29-30/2023 - Fall City-Wide Rummage Sale
10/13-10/15/2023 - East Texas Burn Run
10/20-21/2023 - Texas Bigfoot Conference
10/19-10/21/2023 - Sitting Up With the Dead: Victorian Mourning & Funeral Customs Revisited
10/22/2023 - A Taste of Jefferson
11/02/2023 - 7th Annual Christmas Ladies' Night Out
11/11/2023 - Krew of Hebe Casino Night for Toys for Tots
11/04/2023 - Fall History, Haunts & Legends Paranormal Conference
11/30-12/02/2023 - Candlelight Tour of Homes
12/07-12/09/2023 - Candlelight Tour of Homes
...and much more throughout the coming year!

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