Spirits Await You

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PLANT CITY - The stories are told in low campfire voices that are almost whispers and they all share the same spooky theme: occurrences not easily explained surround the buildings and houses in historical downtown.

Weird noises echo down hallways, and the sources of the sounds are never found. Doors seem to open by themselves. People alone in an empty room feel as if another presence is near and that otherworldly eyes are watching them.

Sometimes the spirits reach out beyond the veil in a more direct manner to contact the world of the living.

'Something just grabbed my hand,' said longtime Plant City resident Dodie White. 'I could feel the pressure. I could feel a presence.'

White was rehearsing a production of 'Steel Magnolias' a couple of years ago at the old State Theatre on J. Arden Mays Boulevard when she had her ghostly encounter. The building was being renovated into a collectibles store. It was nearly empty, and White said she is certain her arm did not brush against the walls, another actor or furniture.

'It was so strange,' White said.

People who enjoy a chilling tale or seek haunting experiences of their own will get a chance on Saturday when Hopewell Funeral Home & Memorial Gardens hosts its Lantern Ghost Walk starting at 6 p.m.

Cost is $10 for ages 16 and older and $5 for ages 8 to 15. Proceeds benefit Unity in the Community, a nonprofit organization that sponsors charity food drives.

Walkers are encouraged to bring a battery-operated lantern or flashlight. Because of the length of the walking tour, organizers said the event may not be suitable for children younger than 8.

The event will have some scares, but not too intense or frightening for children, said Marsha Passmore, the ghost walk coordinator.

The one-mile circuit through the historical downtown district starts at McCall Park at Collins and Drane streets and includes stops at the State Theatre Emporium, the Plant City Cornerstone Center and the 1914 Plant City High School Community Center.

Homeowners in the historical residential district along Collins and Evers streets will give their houses and yards a spooky makeover, and businesses such as Espress Yourself Coffee 101, Plant City Photo Archives, the Greater Plant City Chamber of Commerce and Sunshine State Federal Savings and Loan will also participate.

Throughout the walk, guides will tell tour groups haunting tales. Some are elaborate tales of fiction created for the ghost walk and to capture the Halloween spirit, Passmore said.

Others are true ghost stories.

Passmore and the tour guides will not give away which yarns are make-believe to sustain the suspense and ensure surprises. The former city commissioner promises every tale will be equally eerie.

'Everybody that comes will get their money's worth,' Passmore said.

Heather Davis, the co-owner of Coffee 101 at 101 E.J. Arden Mays Blvd., said she plans to tell tour groups that the second floor of her building was once a hospital. She is mum as to whether the spirits of patients who died haunt the halls.

'People have said there are ghosts in this building,' said Davis, who added that she has not experienced any paranormal activity in her coffee shop.

Some find humor in the ghostly goings-on.

'It's sort of funny,' said Jim Pollard, who often spends time alone inside the Plant City Cornerstone Center at 315 N. Collins St. While finishing work for the day, Pollard said he has witnessed disturbances in the cavernous main floor of the building, which was built in 1923.

'I don't know if there's ghosts,' Pollard said. 'Maybe we'll never know. But every once in awhile, a door you shut opens by itself.'

There are also unexpected bumps, taps and scraping noises coming from the former sanctuary. Pollard said when he heard something strange, he would walk down hallways and peer around corners searching for who or what was causing the clatter.

The results are the same every time.

'There ain't nobody there,' Pollard said with a hearty laugh.

Workers at the 1914 community center also have reported bizarre noises echoing in the corridors.

'One night I thought I heard someone going up' to the East Hillsborough Historical Society archives office, said Royal Wise, who lives inside the community center and performs maintenance on the property.

Although it sounds like people walking on the upper floors, Wise said the sound may be the air-conditioning units.

'Nothing ghostly,' Wise said. 'I don't think there's no ghosts in here. Except me.'

Candy Owens, who works at the Plant City Photo Archives, said the ghost walk invokes an old-fashioned Halloween spirit she has not felt since childhood.

'We need the fun to come back to our town' for Halloween, said Owens, who will tell a tale on Saturday about a lovelorn ghost who, in life, called the photo archives building home about 100 years ago. 'People are so stressed out. We need to make life fun again.'

White said she gets goose bumps when she remembers her experiences at the State Theatre. She was skeptical of the existence of ghosts before a cold, phantom hand wrapped itself around hers.

'That was as real as it can get,' White said. 'I guess I turned as white as a sheet. Or a ghost.'

IF YOU GO

WHAT: The Hopewell Lantern Ghost Walk

WHEN: Registration from 6 to 6:45 p.m. Saturday; the ghost walk begins at 7 p.m.

WHERE: Meet at McCall Park at Collins and Drane streets in the historical downtown district

COST: $10 for ages 16 and up, $5 for ages 8 to 15

CALL: Hopewell Funeral Homes & Memorial Gardens, (813) 737-3128