Spooky season is here, and Jenny Ounvilavong has a ghost story to share.
Spooky season is here, and Jenny Ounvilavong has a ghost story to share.
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It was 2020 and the throes of the pandemic. Gyms were shut down, so Ounvilavong set up exercise equipment on the second floor of what used to be the Kalbfleisch Bros. car dealership building in downtown Stratford, which her in-laws were renovating into a wedding and event business called Grayson Mills.
Ounvilavong was working out during a cold winter afternoon when she noticed a man peeking out from a back staircase in what she thought was an empty building.
“Hello? Hello? Hello?” he called out.
Ounvilavong, a certified medium, went into meditation to connect with the man. It was George A. Mills, one of the earliest owners of the building that opened in June 1884.
Mills drove a horse and buggy taxi and had been doing maintenance on a buggy in the same space that would later become Kalbfleisch Bros. showroom. Three teenage boys walked past the building during a lunch break from school and saw Mills on the ground, motionless.
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“Hello? Hello? Hello?” they called out.
Mills had been stomped to death by a horse, but his spirit never left the building at the corner of Erie and St. Patrick streets that he purchased from local lawyer J. Grayson Smith. Mills thinks of himself as a host, like The Great Gatsby, during weddings and special events, Ounvilavong said.
He still floats around the building and likes to be left alone, but the paranormal prankster will sometimes move cellphones while meetings are happening, Ounvilavong said. One of Mills’ favorite spots in the venue is a corner in the back room on the main floor that grabs the attention of Ounvilavong’s baby daughter when she’s there.
“Something in that back corner he really, really likes,” she said.
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Mills’ story is the final one on a ghost walk hosted by Stratford Walking Tours owner Lauri Leduc.
“People love to delve into the paranormal and history, so it’s a good combination of the two,” she said.
Leduc, who grew up in Monkton, studied Canadian history at university and participated in many walking tours while living in the United Kingdom for 18 months. She created her own company in April.
“I saw a gap that existed,” she said. “The tourism folks have some great audio tours, maps you can walk around and look at things, but when I’m touring I like to go with a local – someone who knows the area and can interact with you and knows it firsthand.”
Leduc offers several different tours, but none have been as popular as the ghost walk, which was a regular request from customers.
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“It kind of just evolved from there,” she said.
Leduc didn’t know much about Stratford’s haunted history before digging into books and newspaper articles. Now, wearing a cape and holding a lantern, she’s taking walkers on a 75-minute journey that prods into the paranormal and makes several spooky stops that include a hotel, the city’s jail and even the Avon Theater.
Spirits sometimes show up while Leduc tells her tales, like one night at the William Hutt bridge when the lights flickered.
“Before I started this. . . I heard a few things here and there, but nothing as extensive as when I got into it,” she said. “It’s been a great process. I really enjoy it. I’ve always liked local history, learning more, learning new things. Sharing that information with others has been very rewarding.”
About half of the remaining ghost walks are sold out. Tickets for the remaining walks are $15 and can be purchased at stratfordwalkingtours.ca.
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