Ghost walks fifth year in Amherstburg

By Jolene Perron

Ghosts are taking over the Amherstburg Navy Yard this October.

Rob Tymec is bringing his team of actors from Monkeys with a Typewriter back for the fifth year of the Amherstburg Ghost Walks.

The tours originally started in Old Sandwich Town in Windsor. Tymec said someone from the Amherstburg Chamber of Commerce participated in the Ghost Walk and approached him to bring it to Amherstburg.

“I already knew (Amherstburg) had a lot of ghost legends and stuff and a really extensive history,” said Tymec. “I was actually probably more excited to do one for this area.”

Tymec met with historians in the town and acquired a small sponsorship to pay his actors. Five years later the event is supporting itself.

The tours began Sept. 27 and will continue until Oct. 26 on Friday nights beginning at 8:30 p.m. Extra tours will be added Oct. 19 and Oct. 26.

The meeting place is “The Mayor’s Fountain” at Dalhousie and Richmond Street. Adults pay $8 and children under 12 years old will pay $4. However, Tymec doesn’t recommend the tours for children younger than nine because “it starts getting too scary for them.”

“We’re lucky that this specific area has a bunch of buildings that have those specific stories in them,” said Tymec. “In between we’ll also tell some of the old legends and some stories about Texas Road.”

Tymec has also included a story about a boat from the 1800s which is said to have sailed without a crew across the Detroit River to seek out its captain. He said more than one historian has told him this legend although there is no actual account of it happening.

The entire walk will last just over an hour. During this time the actors will be rotating, disappearing and sometimes interacting with each other based on the stories.

Rob Bondy is a new actor in the production and said he is excited about his first Ghost Walk.

“I grew up with some of these stories because I’m from Amherstburg and so I’ve always had a connection to the local history,” said Bondy. “The fact that I’m doing it in my own town, it’s neat … it’s just another thing being involved with the culture of the town itself.”

Tymec said when people come out to support the Ghost Walks they are supporting locally produced art from a company “that actually pays its actors.”

“We have broken the 1,000 (participants) mark,” said Tymec.  “I’ve done these in three different locations now and Amherstburg is always the best turn out.”