A Big Thanks to the Strathmore Mansion for the Halloween Tea Event

 On Wednesday, Oct. 28, I returned to the Historic Strathmore mansion for the fourth year to give a talk during the annual Halloween Tea event. This was held in person, and so many protective measures were taken (since we are in the middle of a pandemic). 

    The tea was so well-organized, and there was social distancing, lots of ventilation, everything was disinfected, everyone wore masks, and it was a super-safe environment. My thanks to Mary Mendoza and the entire staff for taking so many steps to keep everyone safe. After all, I don't want anyone to wind up on the other side before their time!  

   Fortunately, it was a beautiful weather day and I got to stand outside on the small landing and speak into the room through open double doors. I talked about one of the cases from my newest book "Case Files of Inspired Ghost Tracking."  

   There was a good number of people (about 20 or so) and there were many questions. In fact, there were so many that my 30 minute talk lasted over an hour once I answered them all!  I really appreciate the folks who came out and enjoyed the delicious tea, sandwiches and desserts and the beautiful music created by live musicians in the music room. It was a memorable time. 

   If you would like to read about TRUE cases by the paranormal group "Inspired Ghost Tracking" of Maryland, check out my new book available on Amazon.com under $10 paperback and $3.99 ebook. You never know what you're going to find when you go into someone's house, and if there is a ghost, a spirit, a portal, dark energy, a Ouija board, or poltergeist activity. In some cases we found combinations, and found ghosts of different time periods! 

If you'd like to check into a Tea at the Strathmore, call 301.581.5108 for reservations. Pre-paid, non-refundable reservations required. Vegetarian options are available; please be sure to request a vegetarian meal when making your reservation. Tea for Two gift certificates make great gifts! To purchase, call 301.581.5175 or visit the Shop at Strathmore located in the Mansion. https://www.strathmore.org/events-and-tickets/afternoon-tea

LIVE EVENT _ Saturday, Oct. 31- Hear about Local MD Paranormal Cases; 1pm EDT

 On Sat. Oct. 31 at 1 p.m. ET Westminster Branch Library presents a Lecture on "Cases from Inspired Ghost Tracking" with  Rob Gutro and Margaret Ehrilich, IGT manager.  

 WATCH:   https://ccpl.librarymarket.com/events/paranormal-casebook-maryland

Kuzco Sends Dan a Photo Hello from Spirit

My friend Dan volunteers at  a shelter and was enamored with a little dog, who wound up being fostered in another home.Kuzco since passed, but bonded with Dan during their time at the shelter. Recently, Dan got a big surprise with Kuzco's face showed up oddly on social media. Here's the story from Dan: 

Rob, this is my story about the sign from Kuzco. After my little boy Romeo transitioned in August of 2019, I started to volunteer at Humane Indiana Shelter in Munster, Indiana. There, I befriended a dog named Kuzco who was surrendered by his family after 5 yrs and unfortunately was heartworm positive. 

I spent about 2-3 hrs a day twice a week with him. I fed him all sorts of treats and took him on walks and gave him many belly rubs. We would just sit on the grass where he would love to watch cars drive by. 

When Covid-19 hit in late March, the shelter had to close. At that point, I had the option to foster him. I opted to let another family foster him that way he would not be alone while I was at work. The foster family had kids and the mom home all day. Unfortunately, his heart worm caused his heart to go into failure and unfortunately they had to help him cross over the rainbow 🌈 bridge 🌉. That happened in April of 2020. 

 The only thing that I have from him is his memory, videos and pictures of him and I, and also his hair that I plucked from my cloth gloves and hat. 

**This is Where Kuzco Gave Dan a Sign**

Dan said:  The humane shelter posted a video on Facebook of the remodeling of the kennels before and after. On the post on Facebook the still image on the video was that of Kuzco and he doesn’t appear on the video until 1:46 second mark. So my question now, is this a sign to me from Kuzco?

Why It's a Sign

I told Dan:  Yes, the freeze-frame image of Kuzco is a sign to Dan. The reason is that his image appears in the MIDDLE of the video, and only for a short time, so the chances of his little face appearing in a still frame are slim to none. Yet, there he was. That's because he made it happen so Dan would know Kuzco is very much around him. 

Thanks to all for Notes after our dog Dolly's Passing

Thank you for your notes and emails after our Weimaraner Dolly's quick passing on Oct. 22nd. The outpouring of support and care means so, so much to us during this time. We lost 2 teenage furkids within 5 months this year as Franklin also passed on May 8.

Our other dogs, Tyler and Dash, witnessed her passing which made it easier for them to understand, and Tyler knew she was failing over the last 6 months.

Our friend Margaret Perry Ehrlich (who also manages the Inspired Ghost Tracking group ) sent is this beautiful image she created with our dogs Dash and Tyler on the ground (because they are still with us), and our 4 dogs in the afterlife: Franklin, Dolly, Sprite and Buzz.

We were fortunate to have Dolly and Franklin so long as they outlived most of their breeds, although both battled a number of health issues. Thank you again for your kind words and support.

Paranormal Q and A: What other types of paranormal or mystical activity do you think is possible?

A portal Credit: GIPHY.com

Paranormal Q and A: Each week, I'll answer a question about the paranormal, whether a general question, or one about human or animal ghosts (Earthbound) or spirits (crossed over). Here's this week's question:

QUESTION: What other types of paranormal or mystical activity do you think is possible? 

 ANSWER: Anything is possible when it comes to the paranormal, because it means "beyond what is normal." I've run into portals, which are doorways that open between the spirit world and ours, and other portals (energy doorways) that help a ghost move from one place to another on Earth (because they can't cross over). Time travel comes to mind and it's something we currently think of as "paranormal" or science fiction.

Salt Tower in the Tower of London

You can read about my experience running into an energy portal in the Salt Tower of the Tower of London. That story is in my book "Ghosts of England on a Medium's Vacation." 

 Placing bad energy on someone or something (sometimes called a curse) has been around for centuries, and there's some truth to it. There's so many more possibilities!

For Rob Gutro's 6 books on the paranormal, visit: www.amazon.com. All of Rob's books were written to help explain the paranormal, and teach readers how to find signs from spirit.

New Lecture Video! Westminster Library hosts Rob Gutro, talking about How Pets Communicate from the Afterlife

On Oct. 24, 2020 the Carroll County Public Library System in Westminster, MD presented "Pets and the Afterlife"

Speaker: Rob Gutro, Author, Medium, scientist, dog dad Description Learn how pets in spirit have the ability to send signals to the living and wait for us in the afterlife. Rob Gutro, medium, paranormal investigator, scientist, and author of Pets and the Afterlife - How They Communicate from the Other Side and More and Pets and the Afterlife 2: Stories of Signs from Pets That Passed will discuss how to cope with grief after losing a beloved pet. He will identify the signs they give us and the science behind why living pets can sense entities. By the end of the talk, you will be able to find the signs from your pets in spirit. Rob's website: www.petspirits.com

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/pf7XEkw43R0 

>

Ghost Town: Gay City, Hebron, Connecticut: Alcoholics, Grisly Murders, Ghosts, Uphill Flowing Water

Gay City Park, CT. Cr: http://www.ctmq.org/gay-city-trails/

Today's blog features a ghost town that has a number of reported hauntings and a a place where water
runs uphill. It's got quite a history, too. Founded in 1796 by a group of Methodists, they were known for pairing their religion with a generous amount of alcohol, believing that heavy drinking and intoxication would bring them closer to God. That led to a lot of things... including grisly murders.
   Gay City is a part of the town of Hebron in central Connecticut. The ruins are now Gay City State Park/ The park includes streams, a pond, over 1,500 acres of woods with hiking trails, ruins of old mills and stone foundations and ghosts. The original city was named after John Gay, one of the settlement’s founding fathers. 

Several grisly, unsolved murders, along with a large fire at the textile mill, which served as the largest employer, led to Gay City’s gradual abandonment. 

Gay City Park, CT. Credit; Damned Connecticut

According to the blog Damned Connecticut, "The town was originally settled in 1796, when Elijah Andrus led a group of persecuted Methodists out of Hartford to a quieter space along the Blackledge River where they hoped they would be left alone by the regional Congregationalists to live and worship as they pleased. Under the guidance of Rev. Henry Sumner, the faithful—including many members of the Gay family—attended services twice a week, which included imbibing generous amounts of “spirits” in the hope of finding higher spirits.

Apparently, such dedicated alcohol consumption caused a host of social issues, but the settlement continued to thrive.

 In 1811, a textile mill was built, and soon other mills, shops, homes and even a distillery followed. The town was soon known as Factory Hollow, and had its ups and downs over the next few decades—the main mill burned down twice, the second time in 1885, and the town never really recovered.

UPHILL RUNNING WATER
 According to one story from the Bolton Historical Society, it was claimed that the water in the settlement “ran uphill” from the pond to the mill, which spooked a few residents.

MURDERS IN THE TOWN
 Factory Hollow also suffered other problems, including two alleged murders, both of which pre-date the Civil War. According to David Philips’ Legendary Connecticut, the first one involved a jewelry peddler, who may have been robbed and murdered by the village charcoal-burner, although the actual perpetrator was never brought to justice; the unfortunate merchant’s skeleton was discovered in a charcoal pit near the edge of town, damning evidence for some.

The second untimely death involved a blacksmith’s apprentice—the story goes that the young lad showed up late to ye olde shoppe one day and ye olde blacksmithee took extreme exception, stabbing the tardy assistant to death, and then beheading him.   As with the other murder, no records exist of the crime, no was anyone apparently ever arrested for it.

THE TOWN ABANDONED, BECOMES A PARK
By the end of the 19th century, the town was essentially abandoned, and then was slowly swallowed up by the surrounding countryside. Finally, the land was sold by Emma Foster (one of the last descendants of those who lived there) to the state in 1943, with the stipulation that the area be renamed Gay City. A year later, Gay City officially became a state park.

GHOSTS 
For years, visitors supposedly saw the spirits of the murdered victims wandering around the forests that have now grown up through the village. In 2010, a teenager drown in the pond.