And please invite ‘The Lady of the Bay’…

 

PCHS Museum, South Bend

PCHS Museum, South Bend

The Pacific County Historical Society has invited me to do a Ghost Story Book Signing at the Museum in South Bend – Wednesday, December 10th at 2:00. I’m so excited and I hope that lots of people from North County come, even though the book is Ghost Stories of the Long Beach Peninsula.

            Not only will many of the places and names in the stories be familiar to our North County neighbors, but I also look forward to hearing about some of the haunted places across the bay. And, I’m especially interested in hearing anything that anyone knows about “The Lady of the Bay.

At the Oysterville Store -- Tucker Wachsmuth Photo

At the Oysterville Store — Tucker Wachsmuth Photo

My first knowledge of her came a few weeks back at the Ghost Story Event at the Oysterville Store. I was told that she was from “the other side” (of the bay, not the beyond) and that she sometimes appears rising up out of the water “around the curvy parts” of the bay, especially when it’s foggy. I would love to know more and I hope that some of the folks from across the way – Nemah, Bay Center, South Bend, Raymond, maybe even Naselle or Tokeland – know of her and will come to share with us.

I’m sure there must be other good ghost stories in the North County area. With places like Hangman’s Park and the creepy area under the dome of the courthouse (I was up there once and it is surely one of “those” places where ghosts might hang out), there must be some great stories. I’ve heard that there’s a ghost at the Raymond Theater, too.

Fern Hill Cemetery, Menlo

Fern Hill Cemetery, Menlo

I’ve been thinking about how local most ghosts are. They don’t seem to stray far from ‘home.’ People have told me that they have had Mrs. Crouch experiences in places other than our house, but I’m not sure how they are able to identify her. The book-signing at the Museum could be a ‘test.’ Presumably, Sarah Crouch is still buried in the Fern Hill Cemetery in Menlo – not too far from South Bend. Maybe she could pay a visit to the Museum on the 10th

Whether we get the benefits of ghostly attendance or not, I hope that we have a good audience turn-out. I’m looking forward to this new opportunity to introduce the stars of Ghost Stories of the Long Beach Peninsula. And the book will make a perfect Christmas present! It just invites curling up by the fire on a stormy winter evening…

2 Responses to “And please invite ‘The Lady of the Bay’…”

  1. Stephanie Frieze says:

    How exciting! I hope that the weather is good for driving that curvy bay road. It’s interesting that there might be a ghost lady of the bay. One time when I was driving that road on a dark and stormy night, I made up a story about a present day woman plunging into the bay in her car and being rescued by a gentleman from a previous time. I assure you that I saw no one and only managed to amuse/scare myself.

  2. sydney says:

    Great story premise, Stephanie! You should develop it into a short story!

Leave a Reply