By Sherri Blevins
FORT PAYNE- As we near the Halloween holiday, it is not uncommon to hear of all kinds of strange happenings. This weekend and next, be on the lookout for ghosts, two in particular.
On October 27, 28, 29, and November 3 and 4, Landmarks will host the Downtown Fort Payne Ghost Walk. Local historians and ghosts for the event, Bill Potter and Robin Black, will lead tour groups through the Main Street district along Gault Avenue and beyond, highlighting local mysteries and mayhem from Fort Payne’s past. Potter founded the DeKalb County, Alabama Historical Group on Facebook, which connects over seventeen thousand members to date through shared roots in DeKalb County. Fort Payne Opera House Artistic Director Robin Black studied musical theatre at Belmont University and vocal performance at Judson College. She has written, directed, and performed in various theater productions. Recently, she directed and co-hosted Fort Payne Opera House’s summer series, The Boom Town Opry.
MVN visited Potter and Black at the Fort Payne Opera House last week to learn more about the event. Potter explained what the walk was about. He said, “We are calling it a ghost walk, but it will be more of a historical walk than anything. We will examine some places where tragic incidents have occurred in Fort Payne dating back to the 1800s and through the 1990s.”
Potter revealed that Robin Black gave him the idea to do the walk. He stated, “My idea when we finished the Boom Town Opera was, because we had so much fun doing promo videos for the opera, we should keep doing them. I wanted to do a video at the old hospital. My idea was to do a video where different murders had occurred in town. Robin said that was a good idea. The next day, she said she had an even better idea, and the two could be combined. Robin’s idea was for the ghost walk.”
The tour will last approximately forty-five minutes, costing $10.00 per person. Tickets must be prepurchased through https://www.eventbrite.com/e/downtown-fortpayne-ghost-walk-tickets-728472810787. There will be four tours on October 27, 28, November 3, 4 at 6:00 p.m., 6:15 p.m., 7:00 p.m., and 7:15 p.m. On Sunday, October 29 the tours will be at 2:00 p.m., 2:15 p.m., 3:00 p.m., and 3:15 p.m.
Potter and Black allowed MVN to walk with them during Fort Payne’s Shop Late Until Eight event last Thursday night. They were dressed in their ghostly attire as we visited many shops and eating establishments. We had some interesting reactions along the way. For a fun experience and a chance to learn a little local history, join the Ghosts on their tour if it is not already sold out.