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."
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