The following was kindly submitted to us in Spring 2009

I worked at the Guild from 1971, through to 1973 and saw more than a few paranormal activities.  My first experience was down in the tunnel, and I had been warned that strange things happened down there....to be honest I thought they were just trying to spook me.  Well if I wasn't a believer before, I sure was after this incident.  It was in early June, during my evening shift.  We were working a banquet in the Bickford/Elm Catalpa rooms. I was asked to go and find another bus boy who was on his break, and we needed him.  Traveling through the tunnel was the fastest way to the old wing as we called it.  Went to the employees rest area, but didn't find the guy, so I checked in at the front office, and no one had seen him.  I requested that if they did to send him down PDQ, as we needed his help cleaning up.  On my way back through the tunnel I heard footsteps coming from behind me at a very fast pace, I presumed it was Bob my co worker so I waited for him to catch up.  I kept hearing the footsteps, but saw no one, then it happened.  All of a sudden the air got very cold, and there right in front of me, by say no more than ten feet was the spirit.  I was sure not prepared for what I saw, so being scared I turned and ran....with the spirit following me, this I knew because I could still hear the footsteps gaining on me.  Finally I stopped and turned, and the spirit kept going, passing right through me....man was I cold.  Then it turned and disappeared right through a solid stone wall.  Here is the really strange thing, when I got back there was Bob, he asked me where I had been....I replied that I was looking for him.  Then he said he had just come through the tunnel?????  How could he have come through the tunnel, when I was in the tunnel and sure did not see him???

Now Bob and I were good friends, so I confided in him as to what had just happened.  He said that he had heard what he thought were my footsteps ahead of him.  When he sped up to catch me, my footsteps got quicker...then just stopped.  Bob got the same cold feeling I had, and he sped up to get out of the tunnel.  So that was just the first of a few for us.  Had strange things happen in a cottage called Cory Cliff, as well as in the Studio.  The manager of the gift shop was a an eccentric old lady, and she told me outright that spirits were running amok in the hotel....especially in the tunnels.  My reply to her was what tunnels, I only knew of one tunnel.  With that she said come with me, and proceeded down into the tunnel.  She went to the very spot where the spirit I had seen go through what I thought was a solid stone wall.  Then she said strange things come out of here, this is their passageway to us.

I can't remember the name of the building directly across from the main hotel, but there were many strange things going on there as well. One evening a young girl I knew was setting up there for a meeting the next day.  Susan came into the office and asked me if I was busy, which I wasn't.  Then she wanted to know if I could help her for a while, I said yes and with some table clothes in hand off we went.  Walking across the lawn to the building she said she was afraid to be in there alone.  I asked her why, and she said look upstairs at the lights...so I did and said what's the big deal.  Susan said she wasn't upstairs, and that the lights were off when she first entered....now they were on, and she heard what she thought were voices coming from upstairs.  She left the room just in time to see what appeared to be a man and a woman going up the stairs, then the lights came on....that's when she came to get me.  

Unfortunately to turn off the lights, we needed to go upstairs.  Now not wanting to appear scared in front of Susan...I had a crush on her, so up I went to turn off the lights, with Susan at the bottom of the stairway.  At the top of the stairs I saw 2 spirits standing right where the light switches were...there was no way for me to turn them off, without being very very close to them......something I really wanted to avoid...but couldn't.  Now it was about 10 P.M. and when you shut off the lights, secondary partial lighting comes on...when I turned off the lights, the male spirit immediately turned to me....what I saw was nothing but pure evil!  His eyes were red as fire and he growled leave us alone NOW....I thought my eardrums were going to explode.  Down the stairs I came, and I asked Susan if she was working tomorrow and she said yes day shift.  I was also working days, so I suggested finishing the setup in the morning...she agreed as the meeting was not scheduled until 10A.M..  Of course the next morning Tim who was our boss saw us, and wondered why we didn't do this last night as ordered.  When I told Tim what happened, he said okay, and left us to finish our work.  I went to Tims office when we were done and asked him why he was so understanding.  His reply was that he to had seen many spirits during his time here, and they were best left alone.

Many spirits were also reported, and seen in the gardens....particularly in the Maze.  Heard of haunting an the 6th, 4th and 3rd floors in the new wing.  In the main building rooms 212 and 214 for some reason seemed like a magnet to the spirits.  One couple checked in around 7P.M. what we call a late check in, they were in 212.  I showed them to their room, and in less than 5 minutes later they were both downstairs at the office, with their luggage, asking for a room change.  I explained that we were fully booked, and they requested a hotel near by that was comparable to the Guild.  When I asked what had happened, they said oh don't you know???  I sent them over to Inn on the Park.  In one of our smaller dining rooms called the Library we had so many reports, I lost count.  Lights going on and off, heavy drapes opening or closing with no one around.  Who knows, but the funny thing is rooms 212, 214 where right over the library, and the library was right over the place that spirit that chased me went through the wall.

Now I know a bit of the history of the Guild and perhaps the spirits were of some who perished there when it was an army hospital.  I also have heard of so called hauntings on the road leading down to the bottom of the bluffs.  These usually happened in the late afternoons, or early evening right around dusk.  Although a few were reported later in the night when it was totally dark.  These revolved around a carriage coming up the hill and a very fast pace.  Heard five such reports, and they all sounded very similar, small black carriage pulled by two black horses,  They round the curve and barrel on past the people only to disappear.  Two sightings in the dark were by guests walking their dogs near the top of the road.  The road comes out on the edge of our northwest parking lot.  I both cases a carriage with lamps burning barreled past the guest to disappear....  The guests came in and wanted to know where these carriages were going.  We never had any carriages at the Guild...so what do we tell them??  Obviously we lied, because to do anything else would certainly spook them, and possibly hurt the Guild.


Our thanks go out to the former staff member who shared these experiences with us. Please note that we have changed the names of the employees mentioned in this report in order to protect their privacy Please contact us if you have had a similar experience or have further information that you may be able to add. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Confidentiality is assured.

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