It is Monday night, June 23.

It seems as if the Cemetery Club meets in sections. Granted there are a lot of us! I'd like to set up semi-regular meeting times so that if people want to attend, they can plan on it. I'll make a date for the cemetery picnic when we do that. I'd also like to plan a real live ghost investigation. Lori and Joe's house is the most likely first stop. Rebecca, though, said that a friend of her in Kewanee is willing to let us in to her haunted house, too. So plans will have to take place soon to set those up.

The questions to ask are:

1) When do the paranormal events usually occur? At night? Morning? Afternoon?

2) What exactly are the paranormal disturbances? Do they revolve around a specific person or persons?

Also, each member of the households need to be interviewed properly before the investigation takes place. Actually an initial interview should happen to find out what we'll be investigating and to determine what kind of equipment we should bring. We will also have to determine who will go on which investigation. All 14 of us would totally fill up a house!

Anyway, once we get to the location for the second interview (basically for a tour of the house with emphasis on where the hauntings are taking place), we'll figure out our plan of investigation. Then we start it up!

If anyone has any investigation suggestions, please let me know. My e-mail is poetrychick_99@yahoo.com.

This past Sunday, Sharon, Rebecca, Beth, Logan and I went to Riverside Cemetery and focused mainly on Potter's Field. I believe I captured one face image. I'm not sure about Sharon and Rebecca yet. We both had digital cameras.

Beth spoke via pendulum to a little boy named Jack. Logan got the dowsing rods working (he's 5 1/2 years old). Rebecca saw a face image on one of the stone in Potter's Field without the use of a camera. I communicated briefly with a young woman named Marguerite via my crystal pendulum.

All in all, it was an interesting morning.

Everyone keep in mind (and tell any concerned family members) that we are taking safety precautions in the Club. We will not do anything to "invite" ghoulies into our lives or stir up anything dangerous. We're out to learn and have fun, but we do not take our hunts or investigations lightly. I strongly encourage everyone to do some reading on ghost hunting and spirits/ghosts in general so that you have an understanding of what we're doing.

I recommend that no one use a Ouija Board unless you really know what you are doing and know how to protect yourself from any wily critters who may happen to slip your way. The Ouija has a bad reputation, probably because people view it as a game and get into trouble. If you want to use one (or an Angel Board, etc.), research research research. Always know as much as you can before diving into anything.

There's my lecture for tonight. Thanks to everyone who's been able to come to meetings so far!

Happy haunting!
Minda

It's 7:21 a.m. on June 22, 2003.

It's been a while since I posted on here. So much going on in the world! Bill and I spent our first wedding anniversary in New Orleans. We went on a cemetery/voodoo tour Saturday morning (last weekend) and then on the Haunted History Ghost Tour the next night. So it was a theme trip!

Exciting news in the ghost photography area. At our second meeting (held at Cindy's house; present were Minda, Sheri, Joe, Lori and Cindy) we looked at the Riverside Cemetery Potter's Field photos. Every saw faces in the gravestones. It was pretty cool all the way around. We also watched the video "Alone in a Haunted House" by veteran ghost hunter Joshua P. Warren. He explains how ghost-hunting equipment is used and spends the night in, of course, a haunted house. He captured orbs on film and video. It's definitely worth a watch. I own it if anyone wants to borrow it.

Today the Cemetery Club is meeting at Riverside. It's our first "on site" meeting. We're looking for signs, hoping to get photos and readings. It will also be good preparation for future night hunts.

Happy haunting!
Minda

It is still Sunday, June 1, 2003 ...

In an amazing feat (almost as amazing at Super Yow, the amazing duck), we have gone from only 4 members to a total of 14!

Granted, most of these new members are related to me, but no matter. We have more than enough living souls to begin exploring the great unknown.

We had an impromptu first meeting today at Grandma's house. Equipment was explained and we discussed various personal ghost stories as well as what to expect on a ghost hunt.

Other items discussed included:
1) A fieldtrip to Monmouth, Ill., to experience Crybaby Bridge. (Angie's idea)

2) A fieldtrip to Raven's Grinn Inn, for the haunting as well as just to have fun. (Minda and Lesa thought of this one)

3) A picnic at Riverside Cemetery to acquaint ourselves with the cemetery, get used to the equipment and take notes. (Minda's very first fieldtrip idea)

4) Connie mentioned an old over-grown cemetery out in the boonies. She will get back to us on this one. If it's not in use anymore, we probably wouldn't need permission to investigate in the evening.

I hope we will be able to meet next weekend (I'm thinking Sunday afternoon). If anyone gets a chance to read this, let me know if that will work for you.

Happy haunting!
Minda

It's Sunday, June 1.

While I have not been perusing any cemeteries this week, I did pay a visit to the Rock Island County Historical Society's library this weekend. It's amazing what a difference two and a half hours in the right place can make.

First off, I almost automatically discovered a book on their sale table titled "The Silence of Eternity" by a local author. The cover had an illustration of a tombstone (or "grief stone," as I'm calling them now after reading Simon Clark's "Darkness Demands," which is excellent fiction, by the way) on it. Of course, I picked it up. It contains the history of Riverside Cemetery, based on meeting minutes the author located from the very beginning of the cemetery's creation. And it was only $5! It was published locally in 1989. What a find!

I also found lots of newspaper articles dating back to the mid 1950s that spoke of ghost stories and legends from in and around the Quad Cities. Some talked about the oldest cemetery in the Quads–City Cemetery in Davenport. I must find it!

I photo-copied most of the articles I found. I even "dug up" cemetery articles about people every now and then volunteering time to help clean up and resurrect graves. Great "cryptic" terminology, eh?

Overall I was very pleased with all that I learned and was able to take with me. The volunteers were all at least 70 years old and very nice. Copies are 20 cents, but it goes to a good cause. It's a very nice library. I hope to bring the Club members to it as well as go to other historical societies if there are some in the area.

I'm almost done with Richard Southall's "How to be a Ghost Hunter." I'm now reading about how to start a paranormal group. It seems I'm on the right track!

I will be scheduling our first meeting soon!