| Volume VII, Issue II April 1, 2008 |
| NEW MEMBERS: WELCOME ABOARD! We thank everyone who renewed their membership and welcome several new members, including Renee Cote, Ray Holshue, County Historian Joe Laufer, Theresa Montalto, Hon. Karen Suter, Carol & Art Plumer, Elizabeth & Lynn Johnson, Regan Young of Regan Young England & Butera, the Law Firm of CaplanHaines of Mt. Laurel, Christopher Stockton, Esquire, of Taenzer, Ettenson, Stockton and Aberant of Moorestown, F.O.P. Lodge 116, Nanci Henrich, Dave "the Barber" Mount, the Mount Holly Historical Society, Corey O'Neal, Eleanor Rich, Burlington County Sheriff Jean Stanfield and United Transportation Union Director Dan O'Connell. We also thank our attorneys, ParkerMcCay of Marlton, for their continured support. Don't forget to renew if you haven't already done so. If your name is not on the list, it means we did not receive your renewal. We also want to take the opportunity to gratefully achnowledge very generous donations from PMA members William Doyle and the Family of Carole Melman and Glenn Kenny. PARANORMAL AND GHOST HUNTERS NEWS Well, it's official: We're haunted!! Several interested parties gathered at the Mt. Holly Library on March 12 to watch the Ghost Hunters episode featuring our Jail. Ghost Hunters is a weekly docu-soap which follows the exploits of TAPS (The Atlantic Paranormal Society), a group of paranormal researchers from Rhode Island. It was so exciting to see High Street, the Prison, Jail Curator Marisa Bozarth and Chief Volunteer Ron Reed on national television. As those of you who saw the show know, TAPS detected a "presence" which had apparently been smoking in the women's wing. Contrary to wild and ugly rumors, it was not actually PMA President Janet Sozio running around the Jail in the middle of the night with a flashlight and a cigarette. If you didn't see the show, you can catch it on a rerun. It airs on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on the SciFi Channel. The number of our visitors has risen dramatically since the show aired. UPCOMING EVENTS Burlington County's Earth Fair will be held on Sunday, June 8 at Smithville Park. The event, sponcered by the Freeholders, is free to the public and features entertainment, environmental displays, demonstrations, live animals, nature walks, and lots more. The PMA traditionally has a booth at this event at which we hand out material about the Jail. We need a volunteer or two to man the booth. Please call the PMA office if you're interested in helping with this. It's easy and fun. We are still in the process of planning our May 17 event, History and Government Day. Elementary school children will be invited to tour Mt. Holly's historic sites, which will all be open for free. We will provide maps. Relief Fire Company's old pumper will be on display. We need volunteers. Don't be afraid - it's not rocket science, and the volunteers usually have as much or more fun than the guests at these things. Join us! The Freeholders have given us permission to have the Haunted Event again this fall. Plans already underway and will report in the next Post. THIS 'N THAT We recently received a notice from our insurance company that on December 26, 2007, President Bush signed into law the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Act, pursuant to which the PMA has the right to purchase insurance coverage for losses arising out of acts of terrorism. The Board of Trustees is investigating whether this insurance will cover us when people faint at the Haunt after being terrorized... Mt. Holly resident Jan L. Bastien has written a book called Ghosts of Mount Holly, a history of the town's haunted happenings. Jan's book visits firehouses, taverns, cemetaries and our old Jail to exhume those bits of the past whose clammy fingers still cling to the present. The book will be available for sale in our gift shop in late May. |
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