| Family Tradition Restaurant |
| The Family Tradition |
| Jaimie takes a seat down in the basement |
| The dining room |
| An area back in the kitchen |
| Inside the walk-in cooler where Thelma was once seen |
| That's the swinging door that flew open all on it's own |
| Tom checks EMF levels in the basement |
| We told Jeff and Moe that no one would come to take their order! |
| There's Bryan |
| The Family Tradition Restaurant in Harrisville, PA has been around, in one form or another, since about 1930. The current owners established the restaurant as it is today in 1985. Prior to the current owners taking over, the place was called The Spot, and existed under the same ownership for 38 years. It was a husband and wife who ran it, but the husband passed away in 1965. After which, the wife ran the restaurant and cared for her former husbands blind mother, Thelma, who lived there as well. They lived in a small apartment, behind the kitchen. Today there is a walk-in cooler were there was once a bedroom, and the current stockroom was once Thelma's bedroom. As the story goes, she was not well cared for, it is even alleged that she was fed only table scraps. It is thought to be Thelma's ghost who still resides here. People have reported seeing an elderly woman wearing an old style dress and a shawl. She has been seen at least twice in the stockroom, and once in the walk-in cooler, in the diner area, and passing by the office door. However, Thelma may not be the only resident spirit here. We learned, from another source, that back in the 1950's a man had been shot just outside of the restaurant. He either managed to get inside, or someone brought him in, and he died there just inside the entry way. |
| We were fortunate enough to obtain an all night investigation here back in October 2008. We arrived in the evening with a full team; Tom, Bryan, Jaimie, Amy, Maureen, and Jeff. Once we met with the owners we learned quite a bit more about the paranormal events that occur at the Family Tradition Restaurant. In addition to the sightings of Thelma, employees here have seen whisps of smoke in the stock room, and in the basement - in the back near the furnace. One employee, Jessie, was working late all alone one night baking some pies. He was sitting at the counter out in the diner when all of a sudden one set of the swinging doors that lead into the kitchen swung open all on its own. It was as if someone ran out from the kitchen and into the diner. But, there was no one else there except for Jessie. Completely startled he ran out of the restaurant and swore to never be alone there at night again. Other noises have been heard in the kitchen, sounds like someone rattling dishes together, cups and silverware, etc..., the owners themselves have heard what sounded like someone shaking a rack of dishes in the kitchen. One employee heard someone say, "What are you doing?" Of course, there was no one around that said it. |
| The investigation went business as usual for us. With the normal setup of infrared cameras and audio recording equipment we began our investigation in several small teams. Using equipment such as EMF meters (analog and digital styles), temperature measuring devices, and digital voice recorders we attempted to document any paranormal activity that we might happen upon, or that happens upon us. We were able to cover the entire restaurant, including the basement. During the course of the night several of us had some experiences that we initially thought to be paranormal. However, upon reviewing our evidence, we were able to conclude that they actually were not. One thing that we picked up on while reviewing our video footage, was that early in the night the sound of ice dropping into the large ice machine was quite noticeable, probably due to the ice machine being empty, or close to empty. As the evening went on and the ice machine filled up, the sound of the dropping ice was muted, since the pile of ice in it rose higher and higher. At least some, if not all, of the banging noises that we heard coming from the kitchen had to be attributed to this. While down in the basement, Tom and Jaimie heard footsteps overhead in the kitchen. Tom radioed Bryan to see if anyone was in the kitchen, Bryan advised him that he had heard a sound, also. At this point, we thought we had it - documented paranormal activity on video. However, after reviewing the video, we found this not to be true. This being said, it goes to show that having video footage of an investigation can be priceless. Not necessarily because you may catch some type of paranormal activity on video, but rather it may aid you in determining if an experience was truly paranormal, or not. In conclusion, the Family Tradition was a successful investigation. Did we capture or document any paranormal activity while we were there? No. However, we were able to debunk some of our own experiences so as not to come out and claim them as paranormal. Remember as always, "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence." |
| Amy and Bryan stirring up some trouble in the kitchen |