Ghost tours stir up scary stuff!

lime springs - This tale of horror will spook your very soul. On Saturday, Oct. 13, Lime Springs celebrated its Harvest Fest and Ghost Tours of Lidtke Mill. 

This was the fourth annual terror-filled event. Visitors toured the haunted Mill in the frightful Old Town getting chilled to the bone by the temperature and spooky stories. Participants could then get warmed up by attending the soup supper at the Lime Springs Community Center. 

Lidtke Mill Board President Dr. Roy Herman Lidtke explained this festival of dread. Attendees visited seven different stations, where story-tellers spoke for about 10 minutes. They were dressed in scary period costumes that added a touch of fright. 

For his first venture in writing stories for the tour in 2014, Lidtke researched lots of ghost stories, picked a few that would fit into the Old Town theme and rewrote them accordingly. “Old Town is a ghost town, which lended itself to a ghost tour,” he said. 

He noted the tour was geared to be more psychological than scary. There isn’t anyone jumping out to startle people, but after hearing the stories, a person might have to sleep with the hallway light on at night!

The first room featured a hand-crafted child’s coffin made by Lidtke. He took great care in studying the history in 1890s coffins. In the Victorian era, funerals were held at home, with the body usually laid out in the parlor. Dr. Don Lyon was the guide.

Jessica DeVries spun a web of mystery and drama about a spider woman living in the miller’s house.

Other stories expressed romantic miseries of horror, noir of spirits of man and beast haunting in time and atmosphere of unknown fear that grips your soul. Those guides included Gary Gassett, Pastor Jeff Jacobs and Sue O’Kada. Wayne Lidtke and Tom Sappington wrote their own stories, Wayne for the electrocution at the mill and Sappington for the wooden jail, the newest addition to the Mill Complex. Roy said from his research, there are only two jails west of the Mississippi River made of wood still around.

Dr. Lidtke noted the horror event and supper were added to the Mill’s fund-raisers to take the place of the July ice cream social. It has been a good change. “That first year, we had a lot of positive reactions to the tour, including letters,” he said.

Besides Lidtke and others writing stories, the Mill Board has had a seventh grade writing contest. The stories had to be 500-1,500 words and be about scary ghosts. The style of the tale must be creative but not gory or bloody. 

It was too close to pick a first-place winner this year, so two were chosen, Laurelin Vopava and Britannia Garcia. Honorable mentions were Eli Vilmain, Hayden Riley, Nolan Johnson, Payton Ruppert, Sam Brace, Tyler Pisney and Ethan Matt.

The proceeds from the fest will go to pay for the upkeep of the Mill and to the dam project. 

In addition to the soup supper and ghost tour, seven vendors displayed their wares at the Community Center. They included fund-raisers for a Chester and Lime Springs Methodist Church trip to the Creation Museum in Kentucky. There were also crafts, jewelry and other items for sale. 

Hayrides were available to take guests from the Community Center to Old Town.

So in the future, beware of the haunted Harvest Fest full of dreadful terror. You may find your own life at stake. (Really, it’s not that scary, but it does make you look over your shoulder!)