Ghosthunting Kentucky. Patti Starr
was Robert Randall, and Bobby Mackey’s full name is Robert Randall Mackey. Bobby has even written a song titled “Johanna” as a tribute to her life there.
I asked Matt if Bobby and his wife, Janet, had ever experienced any of the paranormal commotion, and he shared another story with me about Janet. Shortly after they purchased the place, Janet, who was pregnant at the time, went upstairs to clean the apartment. She stopped in the middle of her work because she thought she heard voices in the apartment. At first she couldn’t make out what they were saying. When she resumed her work, they started talking again. Again, Janet stopped what she was doing. The voices grew louder and spoke more clearly, and as she listened, she understood them saying, “Get out of here.” She became very upset and started to leave the apartment. All of a sudden, she felt invisible hands take a hold of her, preventing her from leaving. She struggled and pulled away from the controlling force and ran for the stairs. Reaching for the railing, Janet started down the stairs, but the enraged ghost pushed her. She lost her footing and fell down the stairs. As she lay on her back at the bottom of the stairs, she looked up to see a figure looking down at her and then it walked away. The fall pushed Janet into premature labor. The doctor was able to stop the labor, and her healthy baby was born closer to the delivery date. Even though Janet had experienced other strange happenings, such as doors opening on their own, lights flickering with static sounds, and a ladder that walked toward her, being pushed down the stairs was enough for her. She vowed never to return to the place. However, she did return to Bobby Mackey’s Music World two years later to help bartend on Friday and Saturday nights. She would clean up quickly and leave as soon as her shift was over—and she would never stay in the building alone.
We wrapped up our investigation, and two days later I called Bobby Mackey to get his take on all the ghosts at his place. He was every bit a gentleman and so kind to answer my questions. He told me right up front that he did not believe in ghosts. He assured me that nothing out of the ordinary had ever happened to him, even though Janet did have some incredible experiences. I asked him how he felt about having the same name as Johanna’s boyfriend. He said that it was a strange coincidence, but nothing more than that.
Unlike Bobby, Janet felt that Johanna was the one who pushed her, since Janet was also pregnant—here again, another coincidence. Janet also married a man with the name Robert Randall, the same name as Johanna’s boyfriend. The ghost might have believed that Janet’s husband, Bobby, was her boyfriend reincarnated. Janet admitted to Bobby that she thought that Johanna attacked her because of jealousy towards her. A couple of days after talking to Bobby, I called R.J. to get a few more details for my story. He told me that Janet had passed away only the day before. I was truly shocked and asked if she had been sick. He explained that Janet had suffered with COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) for some time but had it under control with medication. She had gone to her daughter’s house to baby-sit her grandchildren while her daughter and son-in-law went out on a Valentine’s Day date. When they returned, they asked Janet if she was going to bed, and she replied that she wanted to stay up and watch TV for a while. The following morning they found Janet slumped over on the couch as if she had fallen asleep while watching TV. When they tried to wake her, they realized that she had passed away some time during the night. “At least Janet was able to spend her last hours with her grandchildren, whom she loved and adored with all her heart,” R.J. said.
I dedicate this chapter to this loving and devoted woman, Janet Mackey, who was loved by all who knew her. Janet Mackey had been married to Bobby for forty-two years and was only a couple of days short of her sixty-first birthday.
CHAPTER 2
Boone Tavern
BEREA, MADISON COUNTY
WHEN I FIRST MOVED to Bardstown, Kentucky, in 1995, I met a talented and unique young lady of twelve, Shoshana Gross. I was a member of the Bardstown Community Theater(BCT), and Shoshana’s mom, Tova, was also a member there. Once Shoshana and I met, we became instant friends. Occasionally I would arrange to spend time with her on weekends. She was extremely talented, with her musical skills of writing songs and playing the guitar, which kept me entertained on our weekends together. Shoshana is quite the success now as she lives with her husband in Scotland.
One day Shoshana called me to let me know that she had decided to go to Berea College, located in Berea, Kentucky. I was not familiar with the college until Shoshana shared with me the history. The college was founded about 150 years ago by Reverend John Gregg Fee. He was a strong believer in equality by providing interracial and co-educational advantages for students in the Appalachian area. The town literally developed around the college.
“How will you be able to afford to go there?” I asked. Shoshana replied, “This is the beauty of it. Berea offers a tuitionfree education. The money is provided by donations and other monetary means. Because of my good grades and high scores, I qualify to go there.” I congratulated her, and she said, “I have some more great news. There is an old hotel there called Boone Tavern that is supposed to be haunted.” Okay, now she really had my attention. I asked her, “What do you know about it?” “When I got into town I read about it in a brochure I picked up at the hotel. The Boone Tavern was built in 1909 to provide guests with lodging and meals while they were visiting the president of Berea College. As the number of visitors grew, so did the tavern, and it has been offering lodging ever since. During my short stay in Berea, I did hear stories from the students and locals that the tavern was haunted but didn’t have time to listen to all the stories. I knew I had to call you so you could check it out,” Shoshona replied.
Shortly after getting this lead, I did just as Shoshana had suggested and made arrangements to conduct a ghost investigation. I was the first official ghosthunter to go into Boone Tavern with such a task. I wanted our investigation to be as thorough as possible, so I decided to bring in a psychic/medium, Ginny Drake. She has worked in the field of education for over thirty years and holds a master’s degree in education from Georgetown College, a teaching certificate from Eastern Kentucky University, and a B.S. in social work from Murray State University. Ginny had become my mentor while teaching me to work with energies, so I felt she would be an asset to the investigation. I must say that when we arrived and parked in front of the Boone Tavern, I was impressed with the grandeur and magnificence of the Southern Colonial hotel and restaurant. As I stood looking at all the scrolled details and other features, I was fascinated to learn that the bricks used in the construction of the building in 1909 were made by the students attending Berea College.
Built on a prominent location, the hotel sits where the old Dixie Highway intersected with the campus of Berea College. This highway was planned as one of the first automobile highways in 1914 and was constructed to connect the Midwest to the Southern states. This was also another factor in the growth of Berea and the popularity of the Boone Tavern. Laden with bags of ghosthunting equipment, we made our way into the lobby of the hotel. We approached the front desk to let the staff know that we were ready to start our investigation. The front desk clerk looked at the registry to find where the empty rooms were. She gave us several keys to rooms on the second and third floors for us to enter during our investigation.
While we were standing in front of the registry desk, Ginny asked me to come and stand by her. I walked over to her, and, wham, it hit me. We were standing in what I would refer to as an energy vortex. It felt like there was an oscillating energy field spinning in a spiral motion, making me a little giddy. I enjoy finding these spots that tend to make me rock back and forth when I stand in the middle of one. There is more than one theory about how these vortices evolve, but I feel it may have to do with the energy of the land coming up through the building. Ginny asked the desk clerk what area was immediately below where she was standing. She told us it was the basement. Ginny looked at me and said, “We must go down there before we leave. I think we might get some good evidence there.”
I bent down to retrieve my bags, and Ginny said, “I’m picking up on a young child.” She hesitated and then continued, “It is a young boy. I think he is about nine years old. He likes playing tricks on the staff.” I turned to look at the clerk, and she was smiling. “Yes,” the clerk said. “We have heard of