Exploring Loudoun's "Real Nightlife"

They came in all shapes and varieties.

From the "friendly spirit" to "the colonel who never made it back to Mississippi" to "the ghost who does housework," entities from the beyond were out in full force last weekend to support the Loudoun Museum.

At least, that's what the organizers said.

"I have a theory about ghosts," said Peter Kelpinski, a member on the Loudoun Museum's board of trustees. "Think about it this way: for centuries, we had no knowledge of radio-, light-, or sound waves. But were they there? Yes. It's the same with ghosts."

Kelpinski is the founder and one of the chief personalities of "Hauntings," which since 1991 has opened Leesburg's ghostliest haunts to all those brave enough to partake.

The museum has since then hosted the tour on the Friday and Saturday one week before Halloween.

"At the time we started it, it was just a citizen thing," Kelpinski remembered. "There was an organization called Leesburg Renaissance that was trying to revive downtown Leesburg. They came up with the idea of a ghost tour."

Kelpinski happily took on the job of transforming the plan into reality.

"I've always loved ghosts and stuff like that," he said. "I liked helping. I grew up with 'Dark Shadows' and that kind of stuff."

In the 19 years since its inception, the hauntings program has become a cherished tradition—and a theatrical production.

More than 60 volunteers worked for about a month to learn lines and craft characters, and at each of the tour's locations guests were greeted by performers in elaborate historical costumes.

"We match the period of the costumes up to the specific ghost stories," said Liz Whiting, president of the Loudoun Museum's board of trustees. "Most of the stories date from around the Civil War."

The tour consisted of six stops on the road of the dead, including the Loudoun National Bank, reportedly haunted by a former bank manager who plunged to his death while the building was being renovated.

"The bank's cellar is a veritable catacomb of vaults and corridors where valuable bank documents were stored," intoned an actor in late nineteenth-century garb. "Only very brave, or very foolish, is the employee who comes here alone to work after hours."

Kubra Alam, 24, said her favorite part of the tour was the integration of fact into myth. "What I liked was that there was lots of history mixed in," she said. "It was good for us history buffs. The interpreters did a really good job."

Alam was not the only happy visitor. According to Kelpinski, this year's Hauntings attracted about 700 guests and raised between $7,000 and $8,000 for the Loudoun Museum.

"At one point the revenue from Hauntings was small change compared to our overall budget," said Kelpinski. "But now because of massive funding cuts this literally helps pay the bills. We're down to that point. Every dime is needed."

Kelpinski said he hopes Hauntings will help teach Leesburg residents about their town's heritage.

"For most people this is their only connection with the Loudoun Museum," he
explained. "There is a lot of learning about the town. We're collecting ghost stories but also putting history in them."