Next Meeting - Sunday, July 12 - 7 PM

Members, Guests, and Interested Persons are welcome to attend this general meeting.
Sunday, July 12 - 7 PM
Tampa Marketing Company, 1906 N. Armenia Ave. #306, Tampa, FL 33607

Agenda:
Introduction of all in attendance.
Gettysburg Trip Summary Andersonville/ Americus Investigation - SummaryUpcoming Pat's Island/Ocala National Forest Camping TripSt. AuGHOSTine
Conference Call
Open Discussion
Meeting will end at approximately 9:30 PM
Refreshments will be served.

Andersonville/Americus a Great Trip we will do Again !

Thanks to everyone that participated in the Andersonville/Americus trip. I cannot thank Fred Sanchez and Kevin Frye with the National Park Service enough for the assistance and guidance. While I am sure we are all slowly digging though our pics and audio, I think we all stayed busy and saw and experienced some really great things in South Georgia. The Windsor Hotel was a beautiful place to stay and the historic charm of Americus had everyone's attention. We had time to visit the incredible Providence Canyon and spent several hours at historic Westville. The town was filled with relocated historic stuctures and surprised us all with the size and number of structures to visit. We briefly stopped at Andersonville Village to see the original train depot before going on to the National Park. The park closed at 5 and we began. We had five hours of almost complete, exclusive access to the cemetery, prison, and headquarters area. While it started as a very hot Georgia day, it gradually cooled off as we investigated in small groups various locations in the park. We cannot thank the Andersonville National Park enough for their time and permissions to experience such a true national historic landmark. To see where over 33,000 prisoners were kept and over 13,000 had died was an emotional experience. We had approximately 6 different small groups of investigators scattered throughout.

Sunday we visited the Oak Ridge Cemetery in Americus before proceeding on to Plains, Georgia for a visit to the home town of Jimmy Carter. A visit to his boyhood home, school, and family gravesite was followed by some fresh peanut butter ice cream before the long trip home. It was great to see Steve and Becky from Memphis that made the long drive down to participate.

My worst fears in organizing the trip was the weather and trying to keep everyone not lost. The weather was very hot - 110 heat factor, but dry. We lost one person beginning on Friday night, she never checked in with me and decided later on Saturday to go home, she is fine. Two people did get lost, but they figured it out and found us again. The biggest problem was when two participants decided to get into a big argument in the hotel late on Saturday night. This was not their first time doing this and I had warned them previously. They added great stress to everyone and ruined one participant's trip entirely - as well as their own. I have insisted they NEVER attend any of our events again.

Overall however, the incredible story of Andersonville with the generous access allowed by Fred Sanchez and the wealth of information provided by Kevin Frye made for one of the best trips Tampa Ghost Watchers has ever had. Thanks to everyone that attended and to those that helped along the way in making it a success. We encourage and welcome your comments. You can see my unedited pictures here.

Don't forget, our next meeting will be Sunday, July 12, 7 PM

at our offices at 1906 N. Armenia Avenue in Tampa -

PLEASE NOTE: we have moved to the third floor, we are now in #306. We have a conference all planned, will have summaries of our trips to Gettysburg and Andersonville and more.

Andersonville/Americus REVISED SCHEDULE

NOTE: We still have space for more participants on this trip, but email bill@tampaghostwatchers.com ASAP to be able to participate. I feel this may be our most exciting trip ever due to our access to facilities and due to the obscurity of the location.

Camp Sumter and Andersonville National Park closes to the public at 5 PM, Tampa Ghost Watchers will have exclusive access to the park from closing until 10 PM on Saturday night ! We will be accompanied by a Park official and noted volunteer historian Kevin Frye.

If you are looking for or have space for another person to ride with you or if you are looking to share a room, let me know asap. One lady is looking for a room share now. This is a good 5 hour drive from Tampa. PLEASE WEAR COMFORTABLE SHOES, DRESS FOR THE SUMMER HEAT, AND BRING YOUR OWN COOLER WITH PLENTY OF DRINKS ! (DO NOT WEAR SANDALS WHILE AT CAMP SUMTER) We will have additional drinks for you, but it gets very hot and dry in south Georgia in late June.

Friday, June 26 - Late Night Meeting as you arrive in Floyd's Pub in the Windsor Hotel. We will all be arriving at different times so it will be a late and casual get together as we arrive.The Windsor is said to be haunted on the second and third floors. Ghosts of a little girl and former housekeeper are thought to roam the hotel. Both were pushed down the elevator shaft in the early 1900's. Windsor-americus.com
Late Night - EVP investigation of the Windsor Hotel. Andersonville background story.Saturday,

June 27 - 8 AM Complimentary Breakfast Buffet for hotel guests
9 AM - Visit to the Global Village and Discovery Center. Center for Habitat for Humanity /www.habitat.org
11AM - Visit to Providence Canyon (admission included)
Noon - 3 PM Historic Westville - pioneer town from the 1800's. Visions of pioneer farmers and Civil War veterans have been reportedly seen here Westville.org - Admission included - Lunch at the Kiser House Restaurant (on your own)
3 PM - Visit to Andersonville Village including Pioneer Farm - Admission Included
5 PM - 10 PM - Andersonville National Park Visit/ Investigation - EXCLUSIVE NIGHT VISIT FOR TAMPA GHOST WATCHERS ONLY ! (Box snack and drinks provided)Special Presentation by historic researcher Kevin Frye.Reports of tragic feelings reaching to you have been reported. Of 45,000 Union soldiers imprisoned at Camp Sumter, almost 13,000 died, mostly of starvation. More info at www.andersonvillegeorgia.com

Sunday, June 28 - 8 AM - Complimentary Breakfast Buffet for hotel guests - Hotel Checkout
9:00 AM - Visit to the Oak Gove Cemetey in Americus. Opened in 1856, the Oak Grove Cemetery is the final resting place of many of Georgia's historic figures, from state chief justices and an 1865 candidate for governor to soldiers from the Native American, Mexican and Civil wars. http://www.georgiatrust.com/
11 AM - Visit to Plains, Georgia. Home town of former President Jimmy Carter.

Depart for home as you wishSchedule and events subject to change

Tarpon Springs Investigation Report

Over 40 of us visited the Zone Lounge in Tarpon Springs for a very thoughtful discussion on paranormal communication last night. Bruce Moen helped members reach to their inner selves when seeking spiritual contact. For a four hour event the time seemed to fly by. We welcome your comments from the event below.

St. AuGHOSTine will be held in October

We are putting together one of the most informative paranormal conferences in Florida history with speakers from California, New York, Colorado, Kentucky, and more !

We will have access to the famous St. Augustine Lighthouse for four seperate groups to investigate.

Get all the details at http://www.staughostine.com/