Graveyard Haunted by Ghost Hunters Article by Brendan McCarthy November 7, 2005 chicagotribune.com Officials seeking to safeguard a Barrington-area cemetery are fighting a frustrating battle against what they say is a myth.   Ghosts.  Spirits.  Apparitions.  Call them what you want.  Local legend has it that the two-acre White Memorial Cemetery in Cuba Township, in southwest Lake County, is haunted.   Township officials say no way, but dozens of people each month prowl the cemetery, parking their vehicles along Cuba Road and using strobe lights in an attempt to catch a glimpse of ethereal beings.  More than 20 people--including teenagers and middle-age ghost hunters--have been arrested for trespassing in the last two months.   The nuisance has gotten so bad that township officials permanently locked the gates to protect the cemetery from vandalism and other damage.  The only people allowed in are family members, who are given a gate key.   "It's a very unfortunate situation," Priscilla Rose, township clerk and member of the cemetery's board.  "It's a nice country cemetery that unfortunately has been the site of myths and legends.  I don't buy into all the stories though."   The busiest time of the year is October and November, Rose said, citing Halloween and the Day of the Dead.  In an effort to thwart unauthorized visitors, the township has spent more than $10,000 on a security system that includes motion sensors and cameras.   Lake County sheriff's police regularly patrol the cemetery.  Because it is continuously locked, anyone found inside without a key or approval is charged with trespassing, Sgt. Christopher Thompson said.   "People are intrigued, curious, but what they don't realize is that is has become bothersome," Thompson said.  "Our position is that although we find the folklore fascinating, it's our job to serve and protect the area."   Thompson said he has not had any reports of ghost sightings from deputies.   "I don't think any of our deputies are afraid of the cemetery assignment," he said.   On Halloween, an unspooky township highway commissioner sat in his truck in the cemetery for eight hours, watching out for spooky people seeking out spooky things.   "It was boring," said Tom Gooch, a longtime Barrington resident who remembers hearing stories of White Cemetery ghosts as a child.  "All I saw was a lot of foolish people driving by with their lights off, taking flash photos along the road, which is dangerous."   Gooch, who has relatives buried in the cemetery and believes in "spirits but not ghosts," said everyone is worked up over a whole lot of nothing.  He wishes the local legend would fade away.   "Every time we get some press, some wacko climbs in his car convinced he can see a ghost at midnight," Gooch said.   The cemetery is well-known among local ghost enthusiasts and is featured on several web sites.   "It's one of the most haunted sites in the region," said author Dale Kaczmarek, president of the Ghost Research Society of Oak Lawn.  Kaczmarek has investigated the cemetery, and although he hasn't found much in terms of ghosts, he believes it's haunted.   "There have been many reports of a phantom car that pulls up to the main gates," he said.  "Also there are reports of balls of light that come up from the cemetery and float along Cuba Road."   The stories of White Cemetery are so rampant that a Palatine independent film company, CNGM Pictures, has created two movies based on the site.   But Gooch, a frequent cemetery visitor, and other officials aren't happy with the attention.   "Those films are the result of an overactive imagination, similar to whoever dreamed up the tooth fairy," he said.  "The difference is the tooth fairy doesn't harm anyone.  These films just stir up more myths." << Go Back to Press