Ghost tour will share haunting tales of Ventfort Hall

By C ori U rban

Special to The Republican

EXPERIENCES OF BEing touched when no other person is nearby. Hearing voices when no one else is in the house. The smell of strong perfume or cigar smoke, again when there are no other people in the house.

These are some of the experiences people relate regarding hauntings at Ventfort Hall.

“Numerous guests have experienced paranormal activity during ghost hunts and tours,” said Linda L. Rocke, marketing director at Ventfort Hall, a Jacobean Revival-style mansion built in 1893 and home of the

If You Go

Event: Ghost tour at Ventfort Hall

When: Saturday, 4 p.m.

Where: Ventfort Hall, 104 Walker St., Lenox

Tickets: $30

For more information: Call 413-637-3206

Museum of the Gilded Age.

On Saturday at 4 p.m. Robert E. Oakes, author of “Ghosts of the Berkshires,” will lead visitors through the rooms and halls of this historic estate, sharing tales of its hauntings.

(A 7 p.m. tour was sold out as of Monday.)

“I believe that hauntings involve a range of experiences that can be hard to understand and describe, but nevertheless, many people have had,” he said. “It can be the sensation of an unseen presence, a ‘gut feeling’ or intuition or something more tangible that comes through the senses — a sound, a smell, a touch, or even a vision of some kind. It seems to me that certain places are especially likely to inspire feelings like this, and I think Ventfort

Hall is one of those places. What exactly it is, I don’t know. But I do believe there’s something there.”

During the tour, he will tell guests about unusual experiences that members of the museum staff, volunteers and visitors have shared with him. These include whispered voices, the sound of piano, lights that seem to turn themselves off, the feeling of being touched, a gravelly voice calling to a guide from the third floor (which is unrestored and off limits) and the appearance of apparitions, as well as evidence captured by paranormal investigators and the experiences of psychics who have visited the estate.

According to Rocke, people are interested in hauntings for a variety of reasons — some for spiritual connections, some for curiosity, some like the history behind the locations they go to for tours and investigations or maybe because the popularity of television shows about paranormal activity lead them to seek local venues. Ventfort Hall ghost tours are so popular, they are offered almost every month. The venue also has offered ghost tours for children under 12 with Oakes that are popular; more are planned during February school vacation. There are three paranormal investigations (ghost hunts) three times a year with David Raby (theshadowswithin. com).“Some (people) love country and to local charities including Baystate Children’s Hospital and a Connecticut autism group. The show will be in the Better Living Center and the adjacent Young, Stroh and Mallary buildings at The Eastern States Exposition Fairgrounds, home of the Big E, in West Springfield. There will be a steam locomotive running on about 100 feet of track and visitors can board it and blow the steam whistle. For many it’s a thrill to blow the whistle for the first time. There is so much to look forward to about the show, Sacerdote said. “It’s the experience of it all” like seeing people there who have become friends and maintaining “mini traditions” like going to a certain restaurant with a certain group of fellow railroad enthusiasts.

Hours for the Railroad Hobby Show are Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Tickets for adults are $15 per day; children 15 and under are free accompanied by an adult. Eastern States Exposition parking is $5 per day. Tickets will be sold on the grounds beginning one hour before the show opens on each day of the show. For information and advance tickets go to railroadhobbyshow.com. Learn more about the Amherst Railway Society at amherstrail.org.