Ghost hunts, history spice up night at Rodgers Theatre

My son and I joined a group of nearly 25 individuals Saturday at the Rodgers Theatre to take part in a paranormal investigation of the historical building. Midwest Paranormal (MP) of Butler County sponsored the two-night event, which began Friday evening.

Organizer, Kevin Davis of MP, says the purpose of sponsoring these events is to “help preserve historical buildings and properties” and raise funds for such places. All proceeds from the weekend’s events will benefit the ongoing Rodgers Theatre restoration efforts.

Gena Davis, of Midwest Paranormal, checks in guests Saturday for the ghost hunting event at the Rodgers Theatre.DAR/Amber Hornbeck

Davis also wants to emphasize to critics that he and his team are “not ghost hunters, we seek the truth” with historic paranormal investigations. Events like this, Davis added, “allows the curious to experience buildings in a way that would never happen otherwise; closed doors are opened. And a new generation becomes interested in history and their communities.”

Well-known St. Louis area paranormal investigators, Sandy Oates and Greg Myers, of Paranormal Task Force (PTF), were on hand as special guests Saturday night. Oates and Myers have appeared on a variety of television programs including, “Ghost Adventures,” “Castle” and “Fact or Fake.”

Friends Tiffany Wilmath and Alicia Romero, both of Dexter, were “really excited” to take part in Saturday’s paranormal exploration event. The pals are fans of “ghost hunting” TV shows and were anxious to get some kind of confirmation supernatural phenomenon is real.

Wilmath said her interest in the unknown began at age 8, with episodes of what she describes as “sleep paralysis” and hearing her name being called throughout the night. She found out about the Rodgers event on Facebook and jumped at the opportunity to participate.

“I used to watch all those shows (paranormal investigation) with my mom after school,” noted Romero. Although she’s never had a ghost encounter, Romero was “super excited to experience something, anything” at the Rodgers.

This toy bear is designed as both a trigger object and ghost hunting tool. It is typically used in paranormal investigations to attract child spirits or any playful presence. A small meter is housed inside the bear to detect energy fields. DAR/Amber Hornbeck

Davis and his team provided attendees with a wide range of equipment to use in their investigations. Some unique items included a “Boo Bear, ” interactive stuffed animal, assorted EVP detectors (electronic voice phenomenon) and an Ovilus 5, which converts EVP readings into written and spoken words, similar to text messages.

My son, Cooper, tagged along with me for the night to take in the sights, getting first hand experience in his very own ghost adventure. Admittedly, I am quite the skeptic when it comes to such phenomena, but witnessed an occurrence I can’t explain.

Cooper and I were alone in the Rodgers auditorium and he was on stage playing softly on the piano. He had been asked to play by the organizers to “entice” activity, as music is known to “stir spirits.”

There was a heavy-duty extension cord coiled atop the piano which sits flush against a concrete wall at the back of the stage. As Cooper was playing, I was standing beside the piano taking photos when I saw the plug end of the cord wiggle back and forth.

Cooper Hornbeck plays piano to "stir the spirits" Saturday at the Rodgers Theatre. Note the extension cord coiled atop the piano was inexplicably thrown to the floor shortly after this photo was taken.DAR/Amber Hornbeck

I said, “Did you see that?” Cooper stopped and just looked at me in shock. He had witnessed the movement too.

My first thought was that vibration caused the movement or perhaps my overactive imagination just played tricks on me. I chalked the whole thing up to coincidence and Cooper continued to play.

A couple of minutes later we heard a clapping sound and witnessed the coiled heavy duty extension cord being sucked down behind the piano. Yes, I screamed and yes, we both exited the auditorium promptly.

The rest of the evening consisted of some group activities for attendees and individual exploration of the theater. A midnight snack of pizza was provided by Midwest Paranormal.

While Cooper and I didn’t have the chance to interact with legendary Rodgers balcony ghost “Norman,” a man who allegedly died of a heart attack in the theater, we did gain a new appreciation for the work of paranormal investigators.

Jack Altman, left, and Linda Moore, of Midwest Paranormal, analyze data retrieved from an Ovilus 5 transmitter. The Ovilus converts EVP (electronic voice phenomena) readings into written and spoken words, similar to text messages. DAR/Amber Hornbeck