Published: October 18, 2009 08:56 pm      

Hundreds brave cold seeking thrills, chills

BRAMWELL — It was a dark and stormy night, but none of the guests seemed to care as the town of Bramwell joined forces with the Mercer County WE CAN program to host the second annual Ghost Walk of Historic Bramwell.

“Welcome to the Bank of Bramwell,” George Sitler said as a group of visitors entered the historic building that now serves as the Bramwell branch of New Peoples Bank. New Peoples Bank was the corporate sponsor of the Ghost Walk. “I am Issac T. Mann, the president of the bank, Please allow me to show you around.”

Working from a script prepared by Bramwell Mayor Louise Stoker, the volunteer tour guides talked about the town and worked with volunteers who played a variety of characters who presented some more macabre moments of in the town’s storied history. Stoker even sang a song from the historical musical, “Bramwell 100” to warm up the guests before they took the tour.

“We were making changes in the tour right up until the time for the first group to go out,” Joanne Boileau, regional director of the West Virginia Children’s Home Society said. “We had a couple of our volunteers who were out sick, and some who were injured, but when it was time to start, everything just sort of fell into place.

“It reminded me of a line from the movie, ‘Shakespeare in Love’ when everything seemed to be in turmoil, but suddenly, everything went off like it was planned to go. The theater owner said: ‘It’s a miracle,’ and that’s how I felt Saturday night,” Boileau said.

The volunteers made the miracles. Tour guides included Tammie Toler, Courtney Neese, Beth Nelson, Brian Bradley, Susan Williams, Boileau and Stoker, but students of the “University 100” class at Concord University assisted each of the tour groups.

“Jay Kephart developed the character, Isabella Freeman, exclusively for this Ghost Walk,” Angela Fedele, WE CAN program coordinator said. “She was just fantastic as a living statue.”

Fedele performed the role of Mrs. English — a character who was obsessed with cleanliness — and Fedele’s husband, Scott Sharbaugh, was a last minute substitute in the role of Col. John Davis Hewitt. Valerie Presley played the role as the British Nanny, Christian Masters was Otto Kamp, Brooke Nelson played Molly Morton, Kevin Spicer was Captain I.A. Welch and Kelly Murphy Eller developed several stories that gave insights into the Cooper family — the family of her mother, the late Eva Cooper Murphy.

“I think they finally found something I was good at,” Dan Turner who played Leonard Paisley, the piano player from the silent movie era at the Bramwell Theater. Turner played an old upright piano. “It had 88 keys, but I’m sure the ivory was flying off of 39 of them,” Turner said. “With that strobe light going, I couldn’t see a thing, but I think people enjoyed it.”

Trent Estep and Courtney Hoover, Americorp/Vista volunteers at Concord University helped WE CAN and the town. “This is a very well-run event,” Hoover said. “It was a little chilly, but I think it was a good experience.”

Fedele said that more people from Bramwell were involved this year than last. Keyboard artist Karl Miller performed prior to the start of the Ghost Walk, and his mother, Edris Miller, a member of Bramwell town council, joined Carolyn Clark, town recorder in assisting people.

Tim Vickers, a member of Mountain State Paranormal Investigations, and other members of the paranormal investigations group, checked out some of the unusual occurrences reported in the town. “They’ve had a lot of reports,” he said. “We plan to come back for the next three or four weeks to check them out.” The group was established in 2001 and is based in Fayetteville.

— Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com