Goodbye to 2009

2009 was an exciting year at Ohio Paranormal Investigation Network. While things were hit and miss throughout the year, the year as a whole was very exciting.

As the Director of O.P.I.N. since 1996, I have done what I could to keep the group grounded and away from the spotlight as necessary. Our culture as a paranormal investigation field has changed dramatically over the last few years and it has become necessary for groups like ours to come out of their shell and become visible to the general public. Years ago this was trouble in the making, now it is the standard way of doing business.

Our main goal has always been to educate as many people as possible through our knowledge and experience, whether they are a client or someone listening to us in a library. We are taking this goal to the next level by letting everyone know what we are up to. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but in years past many groups kept their public affairs private. We are making many efforts to mingle with others from our field and the general public in public events to help keep the reality of what we do intact and keep the misinformation from the internet and television from influencing our field too much.

This year members from O.P.I.N. have participated in two paranormal conferences as speakers; the Ohio Paranormal Convetion in Dayton, Ohio and the Northeast Ohio Paranormal Conference in Rootstown, Ohio, both events were top notch. We will be attending these events next year and may put more of these events on our calendar in 2010.

Due to cut backs in spending we were only able to do two library presentations this year. My goal was at least four, but many libraries were either not doing these types of presentations or finding local talent to fit their needs. Both of our appearances (Grafton and Westerville) were done without asking for any compensation and both were very well received by those who attended. We have spent some time creating educational and mind-opening PowerPoint Presentations to share with the public with these events and we hope to have more events in 2010.

O.P.I.N. was also happy to participate at the Lake County History Center's public ghost hunt event which took place in November (see the following blog posts). This gave us a chance to work with other groups, help the public while educating them, and giving back to historical places in our home state.

A majority of the rest of the year was spent helping clients with private investigations, which have become fewer and fewer each month due to the influx of groups. I'm not complaining about this as this does lighten the workload for everyone and does free us up to get involved with other projects we have not had time to do in the past. The ghost field has been growing since I became involved back in 1996 and the growth seen since the "Ghost Hunters" television show era is actually only a small bump in the influx compared to the decade prior.

On a personal note I was able to get a paper published in the Journal of Anomalous Sciences, a quality Journal aimed to bring the amateur movement of paranormal investigaiton into the eyes of the professional scientists. I joined ParaNexus, a professional organization of individuals with long term goals very similar to my own, and have become a Director for the state of Ohio. I have had many personal projects I have been working on since completing my first two books in 2008. I hope to debut some of these new ideas in 2010, including some more reading material. O.P.I.N. is also poised to have a busy and successful year with many new adventures in planning. Stay tuned as we will be discussing some of our upcoming projects in the works for our team.

Lake County History Center Public Investigation 11/13/09

O.P.I.N. was invited to help assist in a public investigation of the Lake County History Center located in Painesville, Ohio. The building has stood since 1876 and has never been investigated by anyone despite numerous claims as well as a rich history of suffering and even death. The site was the home of the first hospital in Lake County (infirmary) and became a home for the mentally ill and the homeless (the literal "poor house"). The Lake County Historical Society (formed in 1938) took possession of the building in 2007 and is in the process of refurbishing the building for a Victorian showcase, exhibit and education area, library, reception hall and more.

I was sent an email from Cathi Weber, who operates the Willoughby Ghost Walk tour (as well as the Willoughby Area Paranormal Education and Research Society Meetup group) asking if I were interested in helping with an event that would help raise funds for the society's efforts to refurbish the building. I jumped at the chance to help with history as well as the educate the public at the same time. The event came together quickly and was sold out just as fast. There were well over 75 people in attendance who either got their feet wet with investigating a historical building or had the opportunity to investigate with other veterans from a number of other teams in northeast Ohio.

I was also able to enlist the help of O.P.I.N.'s Lead Investigator (Carly Cassidy) and Equipment Manager (Bob Davies) to help lead groups of people through the building as well. In addition to our group there were also members of Paranormal Researchers of Ohio and Investigators of the Past who helped educate those who attended.

Not only were the investigators treated to guidance to veteran investigators, they were also treated by a presentation by Paranormal State guest Michelle Belanger. Not only did she take time to teach, but she took time to help guide various groups through the basement area (where a jail and slaughterhouse were located) and helping educate them in their psychic selves. Jackie Williams, also a psychic, gave a brief presentation and also helped guide groups through the second floor.

It was a fun time to mix, mingle, share some stories and help educate those who have an interest, but have not been able to get information from those of us who do this for more than fun. We certainly hope to be a part of future events in this awesome building or in other locations like this in the future.

See Carly's message below:

Lake County Historical Society

On November 13, 2009, I had the pleasure of leading a group on a ghost hunting expedition benefit for the Lake County Historical Society. I would like to thank all of the wonderful people who participated. I had an amazing time and a wonderful group of people to lead. Thank you all for making it a memorable experience for me.

Welcome to the Blog home of O.P.I.N. @ GhostHelp.Net

I have been operating this group since 1996 and have had some success and failures along the way. The group has been booming with investigators and investigations some years and at times I have been doing this on my own. It's been an up and down "career" as the leader of a paranormal group, but I wouldn't want it any other way.


So often you see these groups pop up and claim to be the greatest thing this field has ever seen, I don't think that's us, but hopefully we can and have made an impact on someone out there and we are continually striving to make more of an impact one person at a time (and hopefully the overall field in due time).

The culture of paranormal investigation has changed dramatically over the 13 years I have been involved. No one cared what we were doing back then and it would have been pointless to blog about it. Now, it's almost a necessity to communicate with the general public what is going on within the walls of the group. I have spent many years ignoring newspaper requests to cover this group, declined public participation in many ways in order to keep the group grounded and focused on what's really important; the client. But, times have changed and people want to know what goes on with a group like ours and I feel that we can teach through sharing our experiences.

I invite you to follow along with my new "journal" for the Ohio Paranormal Investigation Network where I will share the ins-andouts with what we are involved in as time permits!

(Photo above shows our equipment table at the Northeast Ohio Paranormal Conference in October, 2009, in Rootstown, Ohio.)