Obviously, the second option wasn't a
consideration for Mr. Flauaus, who'd come to respect,
perhaps even enjoy, the historical setting and its
paranormal implications.
"We wanted to at least make (Elaine) comfortable with what's
going on," he said
As for the ghosts themselves, Mr. Flauaus and the CPPRA team
don't have a completely clear picture of who, or what, the
apparitions are.
Ms. Bolig reports the constant presence
of a little girl and has also seen "an old, grizzled-looking
guy," according to Mr. Flauaus.
But those aren't the only signs Ms. Bolig
attributes to otherworldly visitors.
"I was sitting at the bar by myself on a
Monday night and I saw the phone move," she said. "Then the TV
remote moved from one corner of the bar to the other."
She described bar stools that would slide
out and push themselves back in and recurring instances of the
air conditioner turning on by itself overnight.
"Sometimes I'll even get a mist in front
of my face and then it will just vanish," she said.
Alyssa Lauver, a waitress, has also seen
some disturbing things. The inn is equipped with a video camera
focused on the foyer so a hostess knows when customers have
arrived.
"One time I saw a man on the monitor
standing there in an old-fashioned tuxedo, looking straight
ahead," Ms. Lauver said. "I called a friend over and she saw it
too."
"I'm not crazy."
According to a psychic who works with the
CPPRA and identifies herself only as "Jo," nobody who has seen
the supernatural side of the Meiserville Inn should be
considered "crazy."
Mr. Groner said that Jo has distinctively
sensed the little girl and an older gentleman, as well as a
second child in the basement who may have died from "an
accident, something violent."
But the CPPRA doesn't trust only the
feelings of those who claim to have a psychic gift, despite the
fact that Mr. Groner himself says he "can pick up on energies"
when he enters a room.
They also take hundreds of digital
photos, record audio for Electronic Voice Phenomenom (EVP)
analysis and wait patiently, often for hours, to get a sense of
the place and conditions that could be interpreted as ghostly
visitations.
After the CPPRA's time in the Meiserville
Inn, they gave Ms. Bolig a St. Benedict medallion for protection
and assured Mr. Flauaus that the entities they believed
inhabited the building were not dangerous.
"One of the things we've done," said Mr.
Flauaus, "because Don said the girl was a bit playful, was leave
things out for her to do. Elaine brought in some stuffed animals
and we left a coloring book in the lobby."
As of yet, the pictures have not been
colored by a mysterious hand.
Mr. Weaver described his time in the
Meiserville Inn as one of the more important investigations he's
been involved with since he started working with the CPPRA.
"This is one of the cases that really
keeps me in the business," he said. "We were able to help
Elaine. There's nothing like getting e-mails from people saying
that everything's great now."
Life in the Meiserville Inn has returned
to normal since the invesitgation. Mr. Flauaus seems to enjoy
the unique charm of the building's supernatural aspects and Ms.
Bolig and the other employees are now more comfortable with what
goes on around them nightly.
When asked if she was still frightened in
the building, Ms. Bolig was thoughtful.
"No... I'm learning to live with it," she
said. "But I don't go in the basement."
