4 Min. Video; Odd Minutes in Howard County: Part 2: Historical Society

 Over the last couple of years, I've been fortunate to work with Tony Hoos, Television producer at Howard County Community College, who produces historic and sometimes haunted short video specials about the county here in Maryland. There are several of my video interviews on their website that feature the Ghost cat in the Envy Salon, Pets and the Afterlife, and the haunting of the Patapsco Female Institute.  In this 4 minutevideo, Tony and his amazing crew take you BACK to explore Howard County Historical Society Museum  (this is part 2). 

Mike McManus and Dustin Linz introduce us to their office, the Howard County Historical Society Museum. The museum is a former church with parishioners so loyal, they don’t want to leave. Or at least their spirits don’t. Women sing, ceilings and walls talk, and the old cook holds a grudge about losing her job. Plus, the mysterious black mask follows Mike and Dustin inside, with some chilling results.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/_WJfs9QqRtc

Paranormal Q and A: What are some differences between the spirits of pets and the spirits of humans?

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). This week's question is: What are some differences between the spirits of pets and the spirits of humans? 

 ANSWER: Pets communicate the way that they behaved in life as humans do. Whatever a dog or cat could do when they were alive in the physical world, they can do in spirit. So they can generate sound of nails walking on a floor, or a meow or bark from spirit (although it takes a LOT of energy).  They can also touch a person from spirit (it may feel like a light pressure against someone). 

   People can also generate sounds like footsteps, can call out a name or speak any words, and can also touch living people. 

As a side note,  Pets know limited words in life, but they can show me images of what the liked, where they lived, and who they're with on the other side. One dog told me his dad and mom gave him ice cream the day he passed, and they verified that they took him to a Wendy's drive through and got him ice cream because it was his favorite. He also gave me details about his favorite place to walk and the name of his grandmother in Germany! - It was amazing. - So, they're really not that different! Pets have the intelligence of a 3 to 5 year old child

BOTTOM LINE: Communications from the spirits of people and pets can be very much the same. It's all about how they lived and habits they had during their time on Earth.

For Rob Gutro's 8 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.

Celebrate Pride Month - Read "Kindred Spirits" by Medium Rob Gutro

June is National Pride month, and we celebrate the diversity of the LGBT community. One of my books, "Kindred Spirits," is about how the spirit of a gay man has come through to me for the last 14 years and I've actually befriended him. The book examines the amazing signs he's given to prove he's around, sent a look-alike to save us from being lost in England, and helped solve the mystery around his own death... plus more!

ON AMAZON:  CLICK HERE to buy on Amazon

  (Just $6.99 paperback and $3.49 ebook) 

   ABOUT THE BOOK:  It's uncommon for a medium really get know a spirit so well that the living person considers the spirit a best friend. But that's exactly what happened to medium and paranormal investigator Rob Gutro. When Rob met his partner Tom in 2005, Ed's spirit came along for the ride. Rob never knew Ed in life, but Tom did. Now, Ed often communicates to Rob and has revealed his sense of humor, his heart, and helped solved the mystery of his passing. Ed's "Spirit Treasure Hunt" showed his family he's with them, too. Ed even sent a look-alike to rescue Rob during a vacation in England. As you read about this special spirit named Ed and his sometimes funny communications, you'll learn signs your loved ones send. This book will teach you how to be more aware of messages from your loved ones in spirit. "Being a friend with Ed in spirit is like having a friend who lives in another state" - Author Rob Gutro describing his relationship with Ed's spirit.

Paranormal Q&A: My Thoughts on Premonitions

Recently, Chris wrote and asked me about my experience with Premonitions. Here is his great question and my response. 

QUESTION: We have heard stories about animals and humans having premonitions about upcoming deaths. What is your perspective on paranormal entities announcing deaths? I was thinking of the banshee and other spirits that in folklore have been known to appear to announce impending death. Care to share any thoughts?

(Photo : Rob Gutro and Paranormal Q&A) 

ANSWER:   First,  a premonition is a sense of something that will happen in the future. It's not a "Deja Vu" which is an event that you sense happened before to you and there is nothing you can do to change it.  There are 2 Kinds of Premonition. One from someone who is about to pass, and another from someone who did pass and wants to warn us about something. 

  That said, I do believe that when people are on their deathbeds, their spirit temporarily leaves their bodies (astral projection) and they "inform" their loved ones in different parts of the world, that they are going to pass.  - By inform - I mean give them a feeling, or give them a premonition.

    There are also other kinds of premonition from spirit- and they are done as a warning to us. For example,  the spirit of my dog Buzz gave me a premonition that if I walked my new dog, Dolly,  in the same exact area where Buzz was killed on the 1 year anniversary of Buzz's death, the dog's leash would open as it did with Buzz (causing his death when he ran across the street), so I heeded the premonition.

 Fortunately I did. I decided to walk Dolly through a wooded area instead, and as Buzz's spirit warned me, her leash mysteriously opened. Had I been on the main street where Buzz was killed, something also could have happened to Dolly.  It really scared me, and I took her right back home.

  So, premonitions can be of an impending death of someone, or can be a warning!

Thanks for the great question (and future blog post)! 

Thought of the Day: Fortunate Phone Calls from a Parent

 My friend Jane posted this meme about considering yourself lucky if you still can get a phone call from your parents. Having lost my parents in 2008 (my dad) and 2013 (my mom) I can relate. Jane lost her mom in 2020, and her mom was also a friend to me as well. Even though they can't call us anymore in the normal way (although some spirits have been known to use phones), I provided my take on spirits and communications (which you will read about in my "Lessons Learned from Talking to the Dead" book). 

  Here's what I said:   "If you can still receive calls from your mom and or/ dad, you're the luckiest person."   This is so true. However, my parents and yours don't need the phone to call me anymore though. They come through dreams, in my actions (that mimic theirs), whenever I hear someone with their same name, and more. 

   Personally, I swear my husband Tom has become the mouthpiece of my mother, because he says so many things she used to say (and he didn't know about)! 

 By the way, as a medium, I will tell you that our parents want us to think of them as living in a house with no phone service or no computer. They still think of us and love us from their new home. I always think of my mom and dad as living several states away.

Medium Rob Gutro's second book

LESSONS LEARNED FROM TALKING TO THE DEAD

 is written to answer any question you may have on the paranormal. In this 2016 revision, six chapters have been added and information on ghosts and spirits updated throughout. Learn the difference between a ghost and a spirit and the energy foundation. 

Learn lessons spirits want us to know to live better on Earth. 

Experience a "Spirit Treasure Hunt" of messages that prove a spirit was with all the members of his family and prove he didn't commit suicide. 

Meet the ghost of John Wilkes Booth and see photo proof of a ghostly face from a "Double Murder Ghost Investigation." Experience cemeteries, battlefields and historic places. Learn about spirits of suicide, murder victims, angels and demons, poltergeists, ashes, slow death experiences, how to protect yourself, reincarnation and how infants and animals pass messages to the living. 

Many questions that you may have about the paranormal and how your loved ones are trying to communicate can be found in this comprehensive book. The author has written 8 books on the paranormal, 5 about people and 3 about pets.   

4 Min. Video: Odd Minutes in Howard County : Ghost in Howard County Historical Society Museum

  Over the last couple of years, I've been fortunate to work with Tony Hoos, Television producer at Howard County Community College, who produces historic and sometimes haunted short video specials about the county here in Maryland. There are several of my video interviews on their website that feature the Ghost cat in the Envy Salon, Pets and the Afterlife, and the haunting of the Patapsco Female Institute.  In this 4 minute  video, Tony and his amazing crew take you to explore Howard County Historical Society Museum  (this is part 1). 

Mike McManus and Dustin Linz, from the Howard County Historical Society Museum, take us inside the Weir House, a 200 year old building that was supposedly a field hospital for soldiers during the War of 1812. The building is now a storage facility for the history museum next door, and it now houses some spirits from the past, like the little girl at the top of the steps, a ghost that might come at you if you get too close, and the mysterious black mask, which follows Mike and Dustin next door.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/uD_EFXvTXBk

Watch part two here: https://youtu.be/_WJfs9QqRtc

Haunted hotels in Hampshire, United Kingdom: Dolphin Hotel

  In my book "Ghosts of England on a Medium's Vacation" I stayed in a bed and breakfast in a former Tudor Era castle, that turned out to be haunted,  In fact, there was a ghost named Rupert in my room and I wound up figuring out exactly who he was and learned why he was there. You can read about him in my book. In today's blog, Thanks to an article in the UK Hampshire Chronicle, you'll read about the Dolphin Hotel.

Dolphin Hotel, Southampton

Google Street View

This Grade 2 listed hotel has stood in the heart of the city’s Old Town since 1751.

Parts of the hotel are medieval and, with its vaulted cellars and creaky passageways - a perfect location for ghost hunting.

The hotel’s most active ghost appears to be the apparition of a young chambermaid named, Molly.

The story goes that Molly killed herself after her affections were spurned by a cruel young man she fell in love with.

Molly has been witnessed wandering the halls of the hotel with her legs stuck below floor level.

Ghosts of England: On a Medium's Vacation

What happens when a medium goes on vacation? Can a medium simply switch off their ability at will? Well…not exactly. Rob Gutro is a medium/author/paranormal investigator and a scientist who has written 4 books about his encounters with human and animal ghosts and spirits. In this book, you will read about his experiences on two separate trips to the United Kingdom. England’s rich history and many epic battles have caused an over-abundance of residual emotional energy. Everywhere he traveled, he had a paranormal experience. He explored royal palaces and spent the night in haunted castles. He encountered the ghosts of historical figures including a queen, a prince, and a nobleman; and several ghosts even shared their pain of death experience with him. 

TO PURCHASE ON AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/Ghosts-England-Vacation-Rob-Gutro/dp/1985276577/ref=sr_1_8?dchild=1&keywords=rob+gutro&qid=1591021774&sr=8-8

Part 3: A Unique Pet Cemetery: Mystery Cat from a Razed Washington DC Hotel

  In May, I was the subject of a short local film about Pets and the Afterlife and how they communicate from the other side, based on my 3 Amazon best-selling books of the same name (Pets and the Afterlife). We filmed at Pet Cemetery in Elkridge, Maryland that was filled with interesting markers and tributes. This is part three about a special cat from an old Washington, DC Hotel that I didn't know existed, so I did some digging. In today's blog, you'll learn a bit about Mose, and what happened to that mystery hotel! 

"OUR SWEETHEART MOSE" THE CAT- I came across one memorial that obviously has a story behind it. This plaque had the engraved face of a cat who lived from 1936 to 1948 at the Dodge Hotel in Washington, D.C. I was intrigued to find out where Mose lived his life, and uncovered information about a Washington, DC hotel I never knew existed. 

WHERE WAS THE DODGE HOTEL?  The hotel doesn't exist by that name anymore in 2021. According to GG Washington.org, "A site at North Capitol and E Streets, NW was chosen, and under the leadership of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., the new chair of the YWCA Board, the hotel was constructed."  

"The end of the road came for the Dodge Hotel in 1972, when new owners decided to raze it to make room for a more profitable office building. In addition to $1,000 chandeliers, the going-out-of-business sale for the hotel featured a set of hand-carved doors said to have been installed by Robert F. Kennedy when a Kennedy-For-President office was located at the Dodge.

The large 400 North Capitol Plaza office complex, still standing today, was subsequently constructed on the sites of the Dodge Hotel and the Hotel Continental, which had occupied the adjacent lot on North Capitol Street and was also torn down in 1972."

(Image: Old post card, pre-1972, of the Dodge Hotel. Cr: E.L. Crandall)

WHO FOUNDED THE GRACE DODGE HOTEL? GG Washington reported Grace Hoadley Dodge (1856-1914) was born into a wealthy and venerable New York family. She was the granddaughter of William Earle Dodge (1805-1883), co-founder of the Phelps Dodge Mining Corporation, noted advocate for Native American rights, and one of the early supporters of the Young Men’s Christian Association in the US. In 1906 she became the first president of the National Board of Young Women’s Christian Associations, whose budget deficits she would regularly make up with her personal funds. At her death in 1914, she left $500,000 to the board.

WHO APPROVED THE HOTEL? The YWCA had joined with 6 other charitable organizations to form the War Work Council to provide assistance to workers, including housing. Among other projects, the council provided funds to the YWCA for construction of a hotel for women in Washington.  The 8-story, 376-room hotel was completed and opened in October 1921.

ENTER MOSE - Since Mose's memorial says he was born in 1936, he would've made his entrance to the hotel 15 years after it opened.  The only article I could find noted that Mary Lindlsey was the manager until 1936. So, after she left, Mose the cat made his entrance. 

WHO DESIGNED IT?  New York architect Duncan Candler (1873-1949), designed the Grace Dodge hotel and it was stately and elegant but restrained in décor. It was finished in tan brick with limestone trim and featured an enormous three-story tall entrance-way with a neoclassical pediment broken by third-story windows.

Part 2: A Unique Pet Cemetery: Washington Bullets Mascots, a D-Day Dog, Parakeet Wordmaster, Monkey, Rabbit, Lizard and heroic pets

  In May, I was the subject of a short local film about Pets and the Afterlife and how they communicate from the other side, based on my 3 Amazon best-selling books of the same name (Pets and the Afterlife). We filmed at Rosa Bonheur Memorial Park (Pet/person) Cemetery in Elkridge, Maryland that was filled with interesting markers and tributes. This is part two. In today's blog you'll read about Washington Bullets Mascots, a D-Day Dog, Parakeet Wordmaster, Monkey, Rabbit, Lizard and heroic pets and more! 

PHOTOS OF MARKERS - This blog also contains photos I took of different grave markers that I thought were really nice. Some of them had profiles of their dogs or cats, others had actual photographs in lockets on the plaque that you could open to see their pet.  

Washington Bullets mascots. Several mascots for the Washington Bullets basketball team are buried at the cemetery: "Tiny BB" (1966–1987), Alex "The Bullet" (1957–1975), and "Buckshot" (1964–1967). 

(Photos: Ticky and Tiny. Credit: R.Gutro)

Little Van Atta (D-Day Dog) (1947–1955), an underground courier dog born in France, who is said to have brought the news of D-Day to her native city with a message hidden in her collar. 

(Photo right: Film crew deciding on the location for my filming. Credit: R.Gutro

Pretty Boy Boyer (1954–1956), a parakeet with a vocabulary of 1000 words. His headstone is inscribed "Bye, Bye, Mommy, see you later", which is what he always said when his owner left the room.

Carlo (1939–1966), a dog. At age 27, he was, according to his burial marker, "one of the oldest authenticated dogs in the country". 

Gretchen (1939–1950), a boxer who saved the lives of her owner and the owner's father by waking them up during the night when a fire broke out in their home. 

Juan Carlos, a dog with personality

Misty, a German Shepherd seeing-eye dog to a veteran blinded at the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. 

Moses Gigrandy (1929–1942), a monkey. 

Sylvester, a rabbit who slept on his young polio-stricken master's bed for three years and was trained to play certain games. Shortly after the boy died, Sylvester passed on and was buried at Bonheur. 

Wiggles, a 29-year-old champion horse. 

Lizzy, a monitor lizard born in Africa. 

Amanda, a guinea pig. 

Buster Ward (1967–1979), a pigeon that flew into a moving mail truck. 

Bently the Pig (2012–2014), a micro-mini pig named for the child from MTV's teen mom, that traveled from Florida to Maryland on a plane. He caused a fire in the garage. 

Also reported to be buried at Bonheur: a lion, squirrels, and white mice.

(Photo: Rob at the Rosa Bonheur Memorial Park during the video production). . 

 

NEXT: A Special Cat from an Old Washington, DC Hotel 

Part 1 A Unique Pet Cemetery: A WW1 Horse, 1st Baltimore Elephant, a WWII Corporal Canine

 In May, I was the subject of a short local film about Pets and the Afterlife and how they communicate from the other side, based on my 3 Amazon best-selling books of the same name (Pets and the Afterlife). We filmed at Pet Cemetery in Elkridge, Maryland that was filled with interesting markers and tributes. This is part one where you'll learn about a WW1 era Horse, 1st Baltimore Elephant,  and a WWII Corporal Canine!  

ABOUT THE ROSA BONHEUR MEMORIAL PARK  -The  Rosa Bonheur Memorial Park is a pet cemetery located in Elkridge, Maryland, USA. The cemetery was established in 1935, and was actively operated until 2002. Approximately 8,000 animals and humans are buried in the cemetery's ​11 ¹⁄₂ acres, which is large enough to accommodate about 24,000 pets.

WHO IS IT NAMED FOR? The cemetery is named for Rosa Bonheur (1822–1899), a French painter and sculptor noted for her paintings of animals.

FIRST U.S. CEMETERY TO BURY PEOPLE WITH PETS - The Rosa Bonheur Memorial Park made national headlines in 1979 when it became the first pet cemetery in the world to allow humans to be buried alongside their pets. There are at least 28 humans, and perhaps as many as 100, buried at the cemetery. A tomb of unknown pets was established in 1991.

 (Photo: The horse called Gypsy Queen's marker. Credit: R.Gutro) 

 SOME NOTABLE ANIMALS INTERRED HERE - 

1) Gypsy Queen. In 1925, World War I veteran Frank Heath and his horse Gypsy Queen began a journey across the United States, with the goal of visiting all 48 states. They completed the trip more than two years later, returning to their starting point in Washington, D.C. in 1927. In all, the pair covered 11,356 miles, making it the longest trail ever covered by one horse under saddle. Gypsy Queen died in 1936, and a bronze tablet was erected in her honor at the Rosa Bonheur Memorial Park in 1938. Gypsy Queen also has a burial plot at the cemetery

(Photo right: Maryann's marker with a flag)

2)  Mary Ann. Mary Ann was the first Elephant at the Baltimore Zoo. She was brought to Baltimore from India in 1922, and was especially popular with children. Mary Ann died in 1942 after falling over in her sleep and injuring her spine. She was buried at the cemetery after her death. 

WHO WAS MARY ANN? Mary Ann was the first elephant exhibited at the Baltimore Zoo. She

was purchased for the zoo with pennies contributed by children. Her arrival also revived zoo attendance, which greatly increased revenues and made it possible to fund new exhibits.

 MARY ANN'S MARKER - is a white pillar with a flag pole waving an American flag.

(Photo: Baltimore newspaper clipping of Mary Ann's passing)

3) Corporal Rex Ahlbin. Rex Ahlbin was a combat dog who served with the US Marine Corps during World War II. Rex served with the US 3rd Marine Division during the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay at Bougainville Island in 1943. Rex, a two-year-old Doberman, warned of the presence of Japanese soldiers near a Marine position, enabling Marines to fend off a later attack. Rex also served with the Marine Corps during the Guadalcanal campaign and at the Battle of Tinian. For his service, Rex was promoted to the rank of corporal by the Marine Corps in 1944. Rex is buried near the center of the cemetery, with a marker noting his service to his country.

(Photo: Rob walking through the cemetery before the filming).

PART 2: More Noted Animals at the Cemetery