Museum Center Keeps Fullerton’s Spirits Up

By Alexandra Andersen –

Every year, just as the leaves start changing colors and the air begins to chill, the Fullerton Museum hosts its Haunted Fullerton Walking Tours, giving believers and skeptics an overview of the town’s haunted past, while telling stories of its ghostly present.

This year, due to limited space and popular demand, the Fullerton Museum will add an extra tour during its last two weeks, on Tuesday evenings. For the past 10 seasons, the tour ran on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 6:00 P.M. to 8:30 P.M, with a special Halloween tour on 10/31. The extra tours have been added to accommodate the 20 person limit and sold out preregistrations.

From September 14 to November 3, tour participants make the 1.5 mile walk through downtown Fullerton, as their guide gives in-depth details of the historical importance of each haunted location and shares stories of its recent ghostly encounters.

According to Fullerton Museum educator and tour coordinator Aimee Aul, it’s the historical aspect of the tour that interests many of the participants but paranormal enthusiasts can get their dose of the unexplained during a presentation by Sam Neill and Jim Van Eeckhoutte, co-founders of the North Orange County Paranormal Society.

Before the tour begins, walkers meet in the museum classroom for a NOPS demonstration of the equipment used to debunk or confirm claims of paranormal activity. Neill and Van Eeckhoutte sit behind desks with rows of devices used to detect changes in the environment and electromagnetic field, and explain how they work.

“We’re not here to prove to you that spirits exist. We’re here to share our experiences and help if we can,” said Neill, as onlookers listened to their electronic voice phenomena recordings, or EVP, and watched a video that captured an orb. The NOPS founders join the tour and encourage people to share their stories or ask questions during the walks between locations.

The tour locations vary but chances are the Plummer Auditorium, the Fox Theater, Le Potager and the Villa Del Sol will be on the itinerary due to their long-standing history. Guide Susie Dittmar likes to focus the paranormal stories she shares on experiences employees or owners of the buildings have had. She also likes to retain a sense of freshness by making sure the encounters happened within the last 10 years.

Tickets for the Haunted Fullerton Walking Tours are $15 for museum members and $18 for non-members, and are a major source of fundraising for the Fullerton Museum.

“These ticket sales and profits from the Beer Garden at the Farmer’s Market fund all exhibits and educational programs throughout the year,” said Aul.

The educational program allows 6,000-10,000 students from the Fullerton School District and the Fullerton Union High District to visit the Fullerton Museum yearlong for free guided tours, according to Aul.

The Haunted Fullerton Walking Tours book up fast and are growing in popularity.

“Even our newly added Tuesday tours are filling up. Sign up early or you won’t have a ghost of a chance,” said Aul.

Story by Alexandra Andersen/FullertonStories.com

Tags: Fullerton, haunted, paranormal, spooky, tours

This entry was posted on October 22, 2011 at 4:27 pm and is filed under Features, Fullerton History, People, Videos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.