Forget dinner and a movie. Last Saturday, a score of intrepid souls gathered at Fellsmere’s Marsh Landing Restaurant for Dinner and a Ghost Hunt. All that was required to enjoy the unique experience was a good appetite and an open mind.
It wasn’t Halloweeny, with hired spooks and recorded creepy sounds, either. The evening was presented by the restaurant and the Florida Bureau of Paranormal Investigation (or Paranormal FBI). And these guys are totally serious. In fact, the seven-person team’s leader is Larry Lawson, a Fellsmere Police Department detective, and it includes his two sons, Ryan and Evan.
From ages 8 to 70+, the diverse group of singles, couples, families, experienced ghost hunters, total newbies, skeptics and believers were all willing to “suspend disbelief” for the evening.
During dinner, Lawson explained that PFBI, which doesn’t charge for its investigative services, focuses on historical locations and events.
He assured the group, “I’m a cop. Cops investigate. As far as being sensitive (to paranormal activity), I’m as sensitive as this cup. I’m a cop. I want proof! Evidence!”
Lawson himself has had experiences he considers paranormal, and called Fellsmere probably the most haunted town in the county. Over the years, residents and police have reported strange activity and sightings.
Ryan enjoys trying to debunk a lot of the so-called paranormal experiences. “I think maybe 95 percent of it is in your head. BUT I have heard voices. At the St. Augustine Light House, we heard a laugh, and it was empty except for the three of us.”
His brother Evan added, “We were in the lighthouse keeper’s house and all three of us heard, clear as day, a little girl laughing. I’m very curious. I love the rush you get. It’s a family thing.”
Lawson divided the group into teams – one to explore the restaurant, while the other headed for the historic old school, now Fellsmere’s City Hall. After a couple of hours, the groups would switch.
Paranormal activity, Lawson explained, can be detected as sightings such as shadows, mists, full-figure apparitions; sounds, electro-magnetic activity, smells, orbs, or through a medium.
Ghost-hunting tools were handed out: meter to detect the presence of electromagnetic activity (spirits seek energy); temperature gauge (a sharp drop in temperature indicates the presence of spirits); laser grid (to detect shadows); tape recorder (to catch voices the human ear may not detect); a motion sensor; flashlight; compass; walkie-talkie.
Be as quiet and still as possible, Lawson advised. Ask questions. Is anyone there? Do you wish to communicate? What’s your name?
Around 9:30 p.m., as one group headed over to the school, the other newly minted investigators wandered about the darkened restaurant. Built in 1926, the restaurant was originally the land sales office for the Fellsmere Estates Corporation. After the floods, depression and land boom crash of the late 1920s, it became headquarters for the Florida Crystal Sugar Corp., and later the municipal building and police headquarters. It was transformed by Fellsmere resident Fran Adams in 1995.
On a previous investigation, said Fellsmere resident Ted Pankiewicz, there with son Hunter, 8, a trashcan had moved across the floor in the ladies restroom, after an employee had twice re-set it. Many have reported seeing a woman in white, which some believe is Marian Fell, daughter of Fellsmere’s founder E. Nelson Fell.
On this night, the spirits were quiet – mostly. Some electromagnetic activity was detected in the bar, and blinds in a front window had been closed but in one of the photographer’s frames, they appear open. Lawson said that had happened before. A restaurant customer, now deceased, always requested the blinds be open.
The old school was another story, with both teams reporting activity. The big, brick structure loomed. In the silent darkness, it was easy to imagine the laughter of children echoing along the broad stairways and empty hallways.
It was here the first team heard thumping noises, not attributable to the A/C or squeaky wooden floors. There were “temperature anomalies” in the auditorium, and one first-time hunter was startled by someone, or something, pulling her hair.
The second team spent time in the auditorium, with its wooden theater seats and deep, curtained stage. A laser grid of green dots had been projected on the backdrop and within the course of an hour or so, as several investigators sat quietly watching, shadows moved across the grid.
Photographs taken from the stage revealed a number of bright orbs, most of them blue, occupying several of the auditorium seats. Orbs were photographed as well in the choir room.
By 1 a.m., the adventure was over. Even the most skeptical of the investigators were discussing their experiences with enthusiasm and the ghosts were again left to their otherworldly pursuits.
