NMCC instructor to present ‘Haunted Aroostook’ lecture

    PRESQUE ISLE – The ghost stories of a possessed man who grew up in Fort Kent, a poor widow known as “the Robin Hood of Caribou,” and the haunted section of Route 2 that runs from Haynesville to Houlton will be among the tales told at a public lecture Thursday, Oct. 29 at 1 p.m. in the library at Northern Maine Community College.     To get the campus and local community into the Halloween spirit, NMCC English instructor Jennifer Graham decided to research some of the County’s well-known legends and lore surrounding the paranormal. “Haunted Aroostook” is the result of a collaborative effort between Graham and Gail Roy, NMCC assistant dean of learning resources, who was hoping to offer something in the college library to mark the season.
    After combing through a series of books which include some of the more well-known and even lesser-known stories of paranormal activity in Aroostook, Graham has compiled a series of those stories, which she will tell at the NMCC event Thursday.
    “This is purely for entertainment purposes. We wanted something fun for Halloween that people would be interested in. I find these stories interesting. You often hear about ghost stories and local legends that are oftentimes passed down from one generation to another. This is an opportunity to share some of those,” said Graham. “I went out and gathered information and have put it together for people to hear.”
    The English instructor admits that the stories are considered more entertaining from her perspective. However, she points to a renewed interest of late both across the country and here in “The County” toward things dealing with the paranormal.
    Nationally, the top movie at the Box Office this past weekend was the low-budget horror flick “Paranormal Activity,” which grossed over $22 million. Locally, an organization called Paranormal Aroostook County has formed with a goal to visit and research places in the area which are rumored to have had some sort of paranormal activity and to publish the group’s findings.
    Among the stories Graham will recount is that of a farmer from the Violette Settlement area of Fort Kent named Maurice Theriault. The St. John Valley native, who was deemed to be possessed, had his story chronicled in the non-fiction book “Satan’s Harvest,” and according to Graham, is considered the most famous example of paranormal activity in northern Maine.
    Other stories to be recounted include the lost hunter at St. Froid Lake in 1926, the sighting of a UFO in Presque Isle shortly after WWII, the spirit of Robin Hood in Caribou in 1910, the ghost hitchhiker on Route 2 between Haynesville and Houlton and Dyer Brook’s own Jack the Ripper during the log drive days. Graham will also talk about Maine’s most famous ghost story, that of Col. Buck’s Cursed Tomb that originates in Bucksport.
    The lecture is open to the public at no cost. Interested community members are encouraged to attend.
    For more information, contact Roy in the NMCC library at 768-2734.