KENORA — Throughout September and October, Kenora Phantom Fandom aims to reveal the spirited history of Kenora’s most popular attractions including the Kenora Cemetery, the old armouries, and Mather-Walls House.
Lead paranormal investigator Jim Doulis said that he has always been fascinated by the history of Kenora and the paranormal.
“I like to call myself like an empath. When I walk into a building, I kind of get a sense of what the energy is in the room. The feeling, you know, the whole hair raising on the back of your neck sensation. We had a small group about 10 years ago where we kind of did the Mather-Walls House and I just thought, you know what, let's do it again. Let’s get it started,” Doulis said.
Doulis is intrigued by the history of Kenora’s older buildings, spending much of his time in the library or the Lake of the Woods Museum and Douglas Family Art Centre researching.
For example, John Mather built three identical homes in 1889. According to the Ontario Heritage Trust, the third belonged to Mather’s son, David. Today, the Mather-Walls House is operated by the Lake of the Woods Historical Society. This is where rumours begin to start that the grounds were haunted, with reports of employees seeing apparitions and hearing strange noises.
“Kenora has a lot of history and a lot of buildings that need us to tell their stories,” said Doulis.
As part of discovering the history of Kenora through paranormal investigation, Doulis and his team acknowledge the Treaty Three First Nations who walk the land on which Kenora’s buildings were built.
“Every investigation tour that we do, we do a land acknowledgement because we weren't the first ones here, there were others way before us. So, we want to recognize that before a building was built, this was their land,” said Doulis.
When asked if Kenora Phantom Fandom would like to consult with the surrounding First Nations before conducting their investigation, Doulis stated, “I would love to have another member or investigator join our group because they can give their side of the story. They would know certain areas like we want to do the old Saint Joseph's Hospital and before it was a hospital, it was a keystone for a healing place.
“We want to make sure that we get our facts right. We want to get everybody's information. I would love to have someone with a First Nations background join our group, so that way they can share their experiences,” Doulis said.
On September 13, Kenora Phantom Fandom will be “laying the foundation” with their cemetery tour. Doulis said that it would be a great opportunity to meet Facebook group members and converse with other paranormal investigators.
Doulis said paranormal investigators from Thunder Bay’s Lucky Paranormal will be in attendance, along with crews from Dryden and Winnipeg.
“It'll be a good stepping stone and then from there, we're going to go right into investigations. Into the Mather-Wall House, the old armouries, we're looking at the Kenricia Hotel right now. We have a whole bunch lined up,” said Doulis.
Doulis explains that their investigation isn’t just about showing up at a location, and that the history of the location tells the story.
“I give a big shout-out to the Muse, which is our local Lake of the Woods Museum. They've helped us out with getting photos and giving us the history of certain buildings. In regards to the old armouries, they used to be a courthouse and they've kind of given us all the details about the people that have been hanged there, their charges, and what’s the dark side of that building,” Doulis said.
The team also uses the Kenora Library’s archived periodicals to fill in the gaps from their research at the Muse.
“Now it's pretty much look at old articles from the old high school because we're going to be investigating one of the schools. We have to pull up old high school pictures of buildings that either no longer are there or they've changed completely,” Doulis added.
Once at the sign, the team plans on using electromagnetic field readers, voice recorders, and a spirit box to aid them in their investigation.
Using the advice given by a Winnipeg paranormal team, Doulis won’t be spending “thousands of dollars on equipment.” At least not in the beginning.
“We have some equipment that members get to use and we even have like the old school rods that people get to use if they could get a sense of how that equipment works. We have motion sensors too, so we're actually kind of pumped,” Doulis said.
Meet and greet events are available through the Kenora Phantom Fandom’s Facebook, as well as, the dates of their investigations. However, Doulis does note that he wants to keep the number of members limited while investigating certain locations.
“The one thing with the investigations, we don't want large groups. We don't want 40-50 people in a building. It kind of kills the vibe. All the background noise, there’s lots of talking and when it's small groups, we kind of get to put them up into two groups where everybody gets their equipment. Everybody gets walkie-talkies and it's pretty much lights out and go with your gut. See what you can feel and just get for clarification,” Doulis explains.
To find more information about investigations, gathering, and generally spooky content, the Kenora Phantom Fandom Facebook page is available for all to discover.
