Local haunts: Paranormal tour of Grand Rapids offers glimpse of our shadowy past

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Local haunts: Paranormal tour of Grand Rapids offers glimpse of our shadowy past
April 5, 2011
By Morgan Jarema
mlive.com

GRAND RAPIDS — As crowds of people descended on downtown Grand Rapids in search of nightlife on a recent Friday evening, another group prowled the streets in search of afterlife.

Downtown’s buildings are rich in history — some of it haunting — and one woman wants to spark people’s interest in local history by appealing to their interest in the creepy-spooky-otherworldly.

Since October, Cityscape Adventures has offered monthly “Paranormal Investigations: Grand Rapids Most Haunted,” tours of the city’s reportedly most haunted haunts.

It is one of a handful of downtown- and Lakeshore-area tours led by Brenda Dyer of Cascade Township.

Dyer set the tone for the recent Most Haunted tour as soon as people climbed onto the GR Hopper bus that would take them from building to building.

“Because of what happened on the last tour, no provoking (the spirits),” she warned. “I’m serious.”

Previous tour-goers apparently copped an attitude with spirits at one stop, “and some boxes went flying,” Dyer recalled.

The tour included stops at St. Cecilia Music Center on Ransom Avenue NE, the Masonic Temple on East Fulton Street and the basement of Ritz Koney Bar & Grille, in the Judd Building on Ionia Avenue SW, where in 1938, a 19-year-old stenographer on the third floor named Mina Dekker was bludgeoned to death with a hammer. Her killer was not caught.

The group of about 30 met up with local paranormal investigators, Michigan Paranormal Alliance, who taught those gathered in the Masonic Temple’s red room about the use of equipment and investigation basics.
TIPS

Ghoul tools

The gear of the spectral trade ranges from the simple to the specialized. Here are a few staples used by the Michigan Paranormal Alliance:

Flashlight: Not only for navigating darkened rooms and hallways, investigators say they have had success communicating with the disembodied by removing the cap enough so no battery connection is made. When they ask questions, one flash means “yes” and two means “no.”

Audio recorder: MPA technical manager Edwin Lelieveld, of Dorr, says a regular mini-cassette recorder or even a cellphone’s audio recorder will work. But, he says, you will need noise-canceling headphones that fit around your ears to hear spirits on playback.

Dowsing rod: Only for the steady-of-hand, these ancient water-finding instruments also are said to detect energy flow.

Night-vision goggles: You may or may not see spirits with these, but at least you’ll be able to see other ghost hunters as they shuffle around in the dark.

Electromagnetic Field Meter (EMF): “Spirits pull energy out of the air, which is why temperatures can get colder where they are, and they tend to be stronger near electric currents because they’re using the electricity to make themselves a little ... stronger,” said MPA investigator Liz Thorington, of Cedar Springs.

Ghost Touch: A small black box with a metal rod sticking out. Works a lot like an EMF Meter. “The theory is the energy can touch this and the tip actually lights up,” Thorington said. A thermometer gun also is used to measure sudden temperature changes.

Laser scope grid: A flashlight-like device that projects a grid of green dots to detect shadows or movement in a wide area. Great for dancing in front of while waiting for ghosts.

See for yourself

Two spooky experiences from Cityscapes Adventures:

“Paranormal Investigations: Grand Rapids Most Haunted” tours are $26 per person. Cityscapes Adventures’ next tour is April 22 and will include St. Cecilia, Masonic Temple and the Judd Building. Register online or call 800-281-6531. Not recommended for small children.

“Midnight Menace” Lock-Ins: Held in downtown buildings, where about 30 people, age 18 and older, spend the night investigating paranormal activity reported over the years. Events run from midnight to 6 a.m. Includes food, prizes. Tickets are $60 per person. The next lock-in is 8 p.m. April 23. Location has not been announced.

At Ritz Coney, participants got to try out meters, dowsing rods, night vision goggles and other equipment pros say are essential to investigating the unknown.

Tom VanDorp and his daughter, Cheyenne, 14, of Kentwood, brought their own ghost detector — a handheld device that measures electromagnetic activity.

Cheyenne likes to watch “Ghost Hunters” and similar television programs, which she got hooked on about the time her grandmother died.

“Once I started watching (the programs), I started paying more attention to things I couldn’t explain,” she said.

Added her father: “She was real close with her grandma. I think the opportunity to chat with her would be great.”

T.J. Miller and his girlfriend, Angie Williams, both of Kentwood, took the same tour a while back and returned with a half-dozen friends.

“I don’t normally put a lot of stock in this sort of thing,” said Miller, 28, “but, last time, when we were in the red room, the lights were swinging back and forth and when they asked if anyone was there, a couple people heard ‘Yes.’ It was creepy.”

Later, Williams, 33, snapped pictures in hopes of capturing an image of an apparition as she felt her way down a pitch-black hallway.

“She’s looking for Michael Jackson,” her boyfriend quipped.

Dyer cautions the tour is not a haunted house-type experience. Nothing is staged, she said, and, sometimes, there is little or no paranormal activity.

“Just because a place is haunted doesn’t mean that you’re going to always see or hear something,” said MPA investigator Lisa Sekeet, of Southeast Grand Rapids. “Ghosts were human, like us, and they aren’t dogs who perform. They communicate when they want to.”

The anticipation of making contact, the history lessons and getting to watch trained investigators work often are enough for the people who take the tours.

“I’ve always been into the whole ghost-hunting thing,” said Becky Foley, of Belmont.

She took the tour with her sister, Christine Foley, also of Belmont, and their niece, Veronica Foley, 15, of Rockford.

“I worked at the Van Andel Arena for 13 years, and I used to walk over to the Ritz Coney for lunch,” Christine Foley said. “I never realized there was so much paranormal activity over there.”

Cityscapes and the MPA are working on customizing the tour for high schoolers to include lessons in history, math and science.

Dyer, 42, previously worked in inventory management in the automotive industry but, for several years, stayed at home to raise her and her husband’s four children.

“After so many years of staying home, I wanted to do something, but I wanted to do something fun,” she said.

It was a road construction detour downtown that led her to start the tour business.

“I went through the Heartside area, and I could not believe my eyes, how much things had changed,” she said. “It was beautiful. All the buildings that were restored, it was like they brought history back to life.”

Dyer, who said she takes advantage of local history programs as often as she can, has a friend who has a tour business in Europe.

“I thought, ‘We could do this in Grand Rapids,’ “ she said.

She includes the paranormal in her tours because of the history lessons that can be incorporated, not because she’s a fan.

“Why do we love to scare ourselves? I have no idea,” she said. “I’m afraid of those (scary) movies.”