Ghostoric ranch: Ghoulish good time with GhostWalk 2004!

October 15, 2004
Santa Paula News

If you want a ghoulish good time in a spooky ranch setting and have the opportunity to be entertained and informed on haunting aspects of Santa Paula’s history, the 11th Annual GhostWalk is for you!

By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesIf you want a ghoulish good time in a spooky ranch setting and have the opportunity to be entertained and informed on haunting aspects of Santa Paula’s history, the 11th Annual GhostWalk is for you!GhostWalk 2004, benefiting the Santa Paula Theater Center (SPTC), will offer a series of eerie experiences from the grayish lips of those up close and personal telling life - er, death - stories that will tantalize and terrorize.GhostWalk starts Oct. 15 and continues each Friday, Saturday and Sunday night through Oct. 30. There will be no GhostWalk on Halloween, Sunday, Oct. 31.The scene for this year’s GhostWalk is the Teague-McKevett Ranch, located on Telegraph Road just east of Hallock Drive, where apparitions will abound.The ghostoric setting is perfect for seven ghosts with seven stories of how they met their demise and why they have returned for the ghastly visit.Teague-McKevett Ranch is a “Great venue,” said GhostWalk founder Mary Alice Orcutt Henderson, who also authored a story that concerns a fictional granddaughter of the planter of the city’s treasured Moreton Bay Fig tree.For the 125th anniversary of the Moreton Bay Fig Henderson wrote its history, noting that on July 4, 1879 Ebenezer Hugill Orne planted the towering fig in honor of the birth of his third daughter. When the tree was threatened with removal in the 1960s, a band of citizens rallied to save it and the tree now belongs to Santa Paula.Henderson’s GhostWalk story relates to “One of Orne’s granddaughters; she insists it is her tree, not the city’s...I have some fun with it.”Other characters include Jeff Howard, the killer of a Basque sheepherder who had strayed onto his property: “Louie Hengehold’s story will be exceptionally humorous...we also have a story of a disgruntled grower,” armed with a shotgun against pumpkin poachersand a tale concerning the Wobblies, among the earliest of the labor unions.
An animal is even getting into the GhostWalk act with the tale of a kit fox lamenting his extinction; another story concerns a woman using an Ouija board to find out the identity of her killer.“We have all brand new ghosts debuting in an excellent location,” said Henderson.GhostWalk starts at 6:30 p.m. and ends at 9 p.m.Walks depart every 15 minutes; check in for those holding reservations must be at least 15 minutes before departure time.The GhostWalk takes about one-hour and requires about a mile of walking; wear sturdy shoes. It is mandatory that each GhostWalker bring a flashlight.Most, not all, of the route is wheelchair-accessible but it is dark and rough.Bring a little mad money to buy ghoulish goodies (to benefit area youth groups) or creepy curios that will benefit SPTC.Reservations can be made by calling the Hauntline at 525-3073 or on the Internet, www.ghostwalk.comTickets are $10 for adults ($12 for box office walkups),for children 7 and older with student id cards the cost is a flat $8.Younger children or infants are resolutely discouraged, and only 25 walkers are allowed per group.



Site Search

E-Subscribe

Subscribe

E-SUBSCRIBE
Call 805 525 1890 to receive the entire paper early. $50.00 for one year.

webmaster