Investigation Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller, Matt Miller, Breanna Miller, Holly Eller, Jacque Kelly
Date: September 25, 2022
I was being treated at the popular restaurant for my birthday for some great German food, so we used that occasion for an investigation as well. We had investigated here prior to May 2019 when the restaurant was damaged by a tornado. A quick history, the building was built around 1910 and first used as a general store and deli on the ground floor while the owner’s family lived upstairs. In 1989 the building was sold and reopened in 1990 as a restaurant.
As for the paranormal, staff claim doors slam by themselves, glasses have flown off shelves, lights and fans turn on by themselves. A girl with black hair wearing a white gown has been seen staring out of the attic window and one time an apparition appeared in front of the cook. Staff have told me that they feel uneasy and scared in the basement stockroom. Some believe the ghost is Genevieve Ksiezopolsli, daughter of the original general store owner. She is called “Chickie”, never married and lived her entire life in the building.
On this evening I obtained no evidence from EVP sessions at the restroom area and near the bar but we did talk to a couple waitresses that provided additional stories and some photo evidence. One employee has seen the face and black silhouette of his body looking out the east first floor window when she would lock up and leave. Could this be the ghost of the original owner? The other employee provided me with two photos taken at the restaurant after it closed for the evening. The first photo looks to be a misty face. The second photo appears to be a person on the left wearing a white dress or nightgown. Our ghost hunting club hopes to investigate during October, one of the only opportunities that the restaurant allows anyone to investigate there.
Hiking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller, Holly Eller, Breanna Miller
Date: October 29, 2022
Starting at the Normandy Entrance the 2.3-mile trail took us up a steep path to a wooded ridge which eventually ascended along curving Holes Creek to where I discovered on private property a swinging bridge across the creek. We eventually arrived at Kennards Nature Nook that had restrooms, sculptures of kids playing, and a unique natural play area made from carved trees. We returned on a slightly different trail through the woods.
So, what was I doing watching out for snakes and hiking through this stream on the outskirts of Waynesville? I was retracing the steps based upon an old newspaper article in the Cincinnati Enquirer where over 60 residents witnessed a large lizard creature after it attacked a teenage boy.
Here’s the story. In the north area of Waynesville, Old Stage Road crosses over Satterwaites Run, a stream where in May 1882 two boys Ed (age 13) and Joe (age 11) Lynch made an incredible, terrifying discovery. They were chased by a cryptid called the Crosswick Monster. In the months prior to this, locals reported large unknown tracks crossing over the dirt road. However, on this day while the brothers were fishing in the stream, they heard loud sounds coming from the tall grass. Suddenly a huge 12-foot-long scaly lizard, black and white in color with yellow spots, ran toward them on its four thick legs and feet a foot wide. The reptile had a wide head and forked tongue. The boys screamed and ran towards their home, but the fast lizard caught Ed in its mouth and pulled him to the ground.
Joe screamed louder and watched the gigantic lizard pull his brother along the stream to a large sycamore tree, apparently the den of the lizard. The screams were heard by Allen Jordan, George Patterson and Reverend Jacob Horn. When they arrived, the nearly dead Ed was still in the creature’s mouth and almost pulled inside the tree. As the men ran over the lizard (or as some residents called it a giant salamander), dropped the boy as it climbed further into the hollow tree. Ed was quickly taken to Waynesville’s Dr. L. C. Lukens for treatment and the three men rounded up a group of sixty locals armed with clubs, axes, and hunting dogs. They found the tree and started beating on it with clubs and axes. The cryptid lizard surprised them and instead of charging out of the hollow bottom, it leaped to the ground from a large hole in the top of the tree. Landing on the ground, the lizard stood up on its hind legs balanced by its tail and took off away from the group. Some of the vigilante group dove out of the way and others chased the creature.
The residents chased the lizard for over a mile through the stream, over fences, and hills when suddenly the lizard dove into a hole in a hill which was surrounded by large rocks. The men and their dogs surrounded the hole and waited for the creature to emerge, but it never did. Apparently, there was a second exit, and the cryptid was never seen again. As for Ed Lynch, the boy was in severe shock, had bruises and cuts but survived the attack.
Today, Satterwaites Run is still spooky. Walking through the creek the land on both sides is privately owned. The stream was very quiet with overgrown trees blocking out the sun in this section. It was a dry summer and some of the stream was rocky and dry, but another section was knee deep or deeper with small fish.
Based upon the description of the huge reptile, researchers think that the bipedal creature was a monitor lizard except monitor lizards are not known species in Ohio nor do they grow beyond 10 feet. It is unlikely that pioneers or local farmers brought this exotic animal to Ohio. Due to the adrenaline and terrifying encounter, some of the large group trying to rescue Ed Lynch estimated the lizard as over 25 feet long, twice the size of the other witness’s reports. Still, regardless of the discrepancy of the creature’s length by eyewitnesses, what was this cryptid and how did it get here?
Food for thought: 90 years later in 1972, just 24 miles downstream in the nearby Little Miami River, police officers reported another large reptile called the Loveland Frogman. Satterwaites Run stream flows directly into the Little Miami River less than a mile away from where I stood. Coincidence or just another urban legend?
The famous wienermobile was back in Dayton at UD campus promoting and advertising Oscar Meyer products. We have seen this vehicle five times over the past forty years. The first wienermobile was built way back in 1936 and currently there are six vehicles traveling the country driven by graduating college seniors (under one year contracts) called Hotdoggers whose job is to “meat” and greet people across America and pass out OM swag. By the way, I own a 1990’s Hot Wheels Wienermobile die cast replica.
It’s not Uranus, Missouri, but the new “east” franchise was plenty of fun. Management was building a miniature golf course, ice cream parlor and much more. Still there was much tomfoolery afoot. In the fudge factory building, I bought fudge and other chocolate goodies for the family, and they were delicious. The store contained t-shirts, signs, and other funny “Uranus” gag stuff. The photos show the rest, from the Uranus Space Port to a miniature taxidermized mouse circus to the infamous Uranus Zoological Park. My favorite was the pet the alien box which I can’t reveal the surprise. You must stick your arm in and find out yourself.
Okay, this roadside attraction is just for me to laugh at. Actor Leslie Nielsen in the 1980 comedy movie “Airplane” deadpanned this classic line with Robert Hays – “Can you fly this airplane and land it? Surely, you can’t be serious. I am serious, and don’t call me Shirley.” So here in rural east central Indiana I found the town of Shirley, population 830. So, I had to pose by the town sign while Jimmy asked me, “Surely you aren’t going to pose by the town sign? Yes, I am and don’t call me Shirley.”
Hiking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller, Matt Miller, Breanna Miller, Holly Eller, Jacque Kelly, Nick Kelly, Elizabeth Kelly
Date: August 6, 2022
Celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary early, we rented a five-bedroom house in New Buffalo, Michigan for the entire family. Nearby, the state park has three miles of shoreline along Lake Michigan. We began hiking the Warren Dunes wooded trail and ascended a steep hill. At the top the trail was all sand with tall grass on either side. We were in wide open hot 80+degree sun with the only breeze blowing off Lake Michigan. We split up and Matt, Holly, Nick and I hiked over a half mile or more as the trail eventually completed its 260-foot climb to the top of a large dune. The dune summit gave us a beautiful view of Lake Michigan (Photo #4). Matt, Holly, Nick and I took turns sprinting over a quarter mile down the steep, ankle-deep dune. I almost lost my balance and face planted several times. At the bottom I was exhausted. The small speck you see in Photo #6 is Matt at the bottom of dune with Breanna, Rosie, Jacque and Elizabeth as specks on top of the next dune watching. After all of us crazy runners were completed, we met the rest of the group and hiked another quarter mile to the lake where we rested and waded into the water. The mile hike back in the heat over the smaller dunes was very difficult for me but I made it.
We took the trail from the newly opened Hocking Hills State Park Lodge. The trail descends and combines with the hemlock trail to make a five-mile loop trail. Along the trail was one waterfall, one swinging bridge and impressive sandstone cliffs, steep walls, and large rocks. We had to be cautious along the trail due to steep drop-offs and loose rocks. The tree leaves had turned into beautiful fall colors.
I did not have a flashlight with me, so I only went a short distance into the cave. It was dusk when we returned on the trail and the quartz crystals in the exposed cliff bedrock made it look like twinkling lights. We did see lots of cairns along the trail. We ascended the trail back to the lodge and enjoyed a delicious supper. We rented a lodge room and enjoyed the pool and whirlpool after the long day of hiking.
This 1.8-mile remote, one-way in and one-way out loop trail has a deep valley, high cliffs, and a rock shelter. It is considered the most challenging, rugged trail in the park. The fall trees had turned, and the colors were beautiful mixed with the rock configurations. We descended tight, narrow, stone steps between massive rocks as the trail led us down and across the valley. Although the area was in a drought all summer, one small but impressive waterfall cascaded down from far above.
A lot of urban legends surround the Rock House, a popular hiking destination since the 1820’s. The cave is 25 feet high and 20 to 30 feet long. The length of the cave is about 200 feet and climbing through it I admit it is one beautiful cave. There are many names carved in the sandstone, several going back almost 200 years. In the early 1800’s robbers and bandits used the cave as a hideaway, which lead to the cave’s nickname “Robbers Roost”. In 1835 businessman F.F. Rempel built a 16-room hotel a short distance from the cave. The hotel had a ballroom, stable and post office. I sat at the shelter house just off the trail where the location of the hotel once was.
The urban legend associated with the hotel is the ghost of Mary, a former guest who was found dead in her room. Mary’s body vanished before the police arrived, so it is perceived that someone got away with murder. Rumer has it her ghost roamed the hotel and now roams the trail area and around the shelter house area among the wildflowers.
I did not hear nor see any traces of the ghost which was fine as I did not want to share my tomato/cucumber sandwich with anyone. I have not unearthed any newspaper articles on the hotel murder so this smells like an urban legend and not fact.
