Things that go bump in the night...in the Tower
October 3, 2007
The nights are growing longer. The air is getting chilly. Halloween is just around the corner and the things that go bump in the night are getting restless...at least that's the feeling you get when taking the new "Haunted Tower Walk" through Fresno's historic Tower District.
Brian Rutherford of Nightfall Tours is your tour guide through the Tower as he discusses some of the spooky goings on that have been reported in various Tower businesses. What creepy things have occurred in a local beauty salon? What secrets does a popular deli hold within? Some possible answers are revealed as the tour visits eight locations over the course of the evening.
"Everyone who likes history, ghost stories and would like to actually visit a 'haunted' building will have a very good time," says Jackie Meador, leader of the Central California Paranormal Investigators ( www.ccpifresno.net), a group that researches paranormal activity in the Valley and is sponsoring the Haunted Tower Walk.
Although Rutherford is leading the tours, it was Meador who actually did the research for it. The Haunted Tower Walk not only delves into the supernatural aspects of life among Olive Avenue, but also explores the Tower's rich and colorful history.
"I wanted to highlight that historical part and also make people chuckle and maybe gasp in awe over the ghosts that haunt the Tower," says Meador, who also teaches a class on paranormal investigation through the Fresno Adult School / Cesar E. Chavez Adult Education Center ( www.fresnoadultschool.com). "I hit the library for research and walked Olive Avenue every weekend. I interviewed many people in person and over the phone who were actually anxious to talk when I told them what I was doing. I am still in awe with the level of cooperation and friendly reception I received."
The tales told on the tour all come from the people who actually work in the establishments that line Olive Avenue between Wishon and Roosevelt avenues. Find out why the back room of the Revue is referred to as "the morgue." Learn that the frights of a local video store are not confined to the horror DVD section. Ponder the possibility of the paranormal in the Chicken Pie Shop. Are these events supernatural in nature or the result of over-active imaginations? That's up for you to decide.
The Haunted Tower Walk is a casual two-hour journey. Jackets and walking shoes are recommended. Unlike a lot of other seasonal attractions, this tour is about the people of Fresno's past who possibly still haunt the present. "The Haunted Tower Walk is not something that will scare or intimidate," Rutherford says. "It is entertaining, true-to-life."
"This is not a scary tour," Meador says. "It's meant to be fun, educational and entertaining. No one is going to jump out and scare or grab anyone. There are no special effects, no bloody extremities, no actors playing the ghosts and no fog machines. The people who shared their stories firmly believe strange things have happened and are still happening."
Many of the businesses discussed on the tour are still open after the tour and participants are welcome to visit them at the tour's end. Maybe you'll meet a ghost, maybe you won't. But as you walk the Tower ask yourself, are those goosebumps running up your back from the chilly October air or are they caused by something more?
The Haunted Tower Walk is run Friday and Saturday nights through October. Each tour is limited to 20 participants, 18 years of age and up. Tickets cost $15 and reservations are required. Details: (559) 221-8669, www.myspace.com/nightfalltours, nightfalltours@yahoo.com

Rutherford stands before one of the businesses purported to be haunted.

Ghosts at the Fairgroungs
A janitor there told me about 3 in the top floor of the club. A jockey, a female bettor that commited suicide, and a third unknown spirit. Employees will not go up there to clean late at night. Anyone know more information about them?
Good job
With out a doubt there are spirits...Call them whatever you wish...Boogiemen, monsters, demons, ghosts, spirits...whatever.
I want to thank the work of Rutherford as well as other pioneers in the paranormal research industry...So many times we get in the wrong mind set (adapting to what the world teaches us and forget about the spiritual world...Check this, if heaven and hell exist. And if we believe in God, angels, demons and satan...Why can't we accept ghosts/spirits? What the Kingdom is wrong with your minds? The truth does not just vanish for our comfort.
The simple fact is good and evil do exist;God exist as does satan; angels and demons; so does the physical and spiritual beings. WAKE UP!!!
Loyally in Jesus,
JERM
No kids
Maybe the reason kids aren't allowed is that they might not enjoy this. Imagine taking your 8 year old and they are bored out of their mind and starts whining. It ruins it for everyone else. That and it's hard to keep kids under control.
That and you cross the street several times (I went Friday when it rained), it could would be a liability. There are other things for parents to do with their kids anyways, let the adults have some fun.
the anonymous lamer goes splat!
the only one going splat is the lamer who hides behind the anonymous comment.
dont be hating
peoples is different
just like worms see in different spectrums
and doggies hear different
i mean even my mama knows that my mind is gone
but u should see
what i see
buckwild
hey antimusick i hope you go splat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I wonder.....
How does Orange Bear know so much about the supposed ghosts that are active in the Californian? Surprising that he knows so much about a hotel/apartment building that is used for housing so many of those disabled(druggies)folks that he so vehemently loathes.
If one were to speculate, as Orange Bear likes to do, one may think he was a resident there either now or at some point which raises the question.....is Orange Bear a disabled druggie?
Stupid, i know.....almost as stupid as.........
almost.
Maybe there is a reason kids are not allowed on the tour.
Just because you have kids doesn't mean they should be allowed eveywhere adults go.
Face it most peoples kids may not be as well behaved as yours.
Most adults paying for a tour may want to enjoy it kid free.
Maybe if movie theaters got smart theyd offer special no kids allowed screenings of movies.
This way adults can enjoy a movie in peace.
Kids do not have the right to go everywhere and its time people learned that.
Now back to the ghosts.
My favorite huanted building is the Californian Hotel Downtown.
Many people have died or been killed in the building.
Starting with its heyday as a major hotel up to its presnt incarnation as senior/disabled(druggie) housing.
You have four very active ghosts there the little girl that plays with a ball and jacks at the back of the lobby by the womans restroom.
Woman using the bathroom regularly report hearing a little girl laugh/giggle back there. They also report hearing a bouncing noise and sounds of metal clinking on the floor.
Then you have the little boy that goes around knocking on doors. people hear a knock but when they look out or open the door no one is there.
He also is known for knocking on the lobby office door that is in full view of the cameras and staff can see there is no one outside the door.
There is the man that likes to appear in lobby pictures then vanish when people sitting there realise he is there.
Then there is the scary one it is evil or demonic. It manifests as a dark shadow that passes along the lobby ceiling late at night.
Upstairs at night you can here voices and music comming from inside the ballroom.
Perfume and cigar smells fill the hallway outside the ballroom door.
I think a really good place for a Downtown Halloween Party would be the Californian's basement where the staff lived when it was a hotel or the secret (casino/prohibition) floor at the back of the building
what
siiiiiiiiiiiiiicccc
Things that go Splat in the Downtown
the tower is not as spooky as Downtown can be... How many Suicidal or Accidental Ghosts are their that jumped or fell off the tall buildings downtown?
"Downtown suicide victim identified A man police say committed suicide Wednesday (10/3/07) by jumping off the spiral parking garage in downtown Fresno was identified Thursday as Danny Ursulo, 34, of Fresno. A spokeswoman for the Fresno County Coroner's Office said Ursulo had been living at the Rescue Mission.
Ursulo's body was found in the alley behind The Californian Hotel on the 800 block of Van Ness Avenue.
Fresno police say witnesses and surveillance cameras revealed Ursulo jumped from the top of the nearby spiral garage. A motive is not known.
The incident was reported about 7:30 a.m."
I remember also in the last 8 or ten years a Woman jumped off the D. Mattei/Guarantee Savings Building.
There must have been more from these buildings since they most of them have been around for over 80 years.
Any spooky anythings happening this Sunday? PLEASE let me know!
18 and over only?
I've been to other walk tours in other cities and all ages were welcome. He is missing out on $$$ by limited it to 18 and over. That..and I called a few weeks ago when I saw the flier at Sequoia and he never called back. Oh well!
You can read up on the history of the area and do your own walks for free WITH your children ages 10 and over.
I'll be there!
I'll gather up some of my pals and give you all a real scare!
Tower Walk!
I have been on the Tower Walk and the history alone is soooo awesome! I highly recommend checking it out and $15.00 is totally worth it. AND, there ARE ghosts out there!!!
Thanks to Brian and Jackie for setting this whole thing up! Good job!
BOO! anything to make a $15
Ghosts are designed for scary tales to impress children and young minded adults.
"Parascience has so far failed to produce a single repeatable finding and until it does, will continue to be viewed as an incoherent collection of belief systems steeped in fantasy, illusion and error" - Psychologist Dr. David Marks
BOO!
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