NORWAY — Halloween is the perfect time for a scary story. And the 1851 Gingerbread House has its share of footsteps, moved objects and unexplained anomalies.
While renovations continue on what many consider to be an iconic building on Main Street, there have been multiple reports by contractors and volunteers of strange events inside and outside the vacant, two-story house, said volunteer consultant Mike Cullinan.
Cullinan said Albert Judd, a member of the Friends of the Gingerbread House, has been at the center of some of the strange occurrences.
He said Judd told him the masons who were working on the house came to him one day and asked if construction work was being done in the attic. While no such work was being undertaken, the masons reported hearing repeated sounds seemingly emanating from the empty attic of the 80- by 20-foot house. No explanation has yet been found satisfactory for this, Cullinan said.
He said Judd also told him he and another volunteer were working on cleaning the basement when he put down his broom and dustpan to go outside for a moment. When he returned, the broom and dustpan were on the opposite end of the cellar.
No one else was inside the building at the time, Cullinan said.
Another volunteer working on cleaning the first floor heard repeated footsteps on the stairway leading upstairs. Each time, no one was there, he said.
Many wonder what is causing these alleged anomalies, Cullinan said. Perhaps the building is settling on its foundation or the dry fall air is wringing out the summer’s humidity from the building’s timbers, they wonder.
“I can’t explain these things, either,” Judd said. “But I think I’ll keep watching to see if anything else happens toward Halloween.”
Cullinan said he hopes people will visit the Gingerbread House this week to see the student’s Halloween art work in the windows and other decorations. They also can see the new chimneys.
The Friends of the Gingerbread House banded together to save the landmark building from demolition in 2008. It was moved from next to the Advertiser-Democrat building to farther west on Main Street, near Butters Park.
ldixon@sunjournal.com
Fundraisers
NORWAY — The Friends of the Gingerbread House will sell baked goods at the DECA Club’s Christmas Craft Fair at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School in Paris on Saturday, Nov. 23.
Donations may also be sent to: Norway Landmarks Preservation Society, PO Box 525, Norway, ME 04268 or via PayPal on the website www.GingerBreadHouseNorway.org.
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- Images of pumpkin faces adorn the windows of the Gingerbread House on Main Street in Norway. The artwork was created by students at the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School.
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- Shingles have been removed from the 1851 Gingerbread House on Main Street in Norway, exposing the original clapboards.
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