Ford City Library’s Assistant Librarian Katie Wolfe hosted last night’s “Local Legends and Spooky Stories” event. It was attended by old and young alike.
Local folklore and spooky stories were told last night at the Ford City Library’s “Legends of the Library” program.
Assistant Librarian Katie Wolfe said that, as a historian, she enjoys the folklore of western Pennsylvania.
“I’m not big on super scary stories. Since Legends of the Library is about local history, I tried to pick ones that were odd, unexplained, mysterious that have happened in western Pennsylvania,” she said.
One of her favorites is the crashed bomber. In 1956, a B-25 Mitchell bomber flying from Nevada to Harrisburg crashed into the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh. Two of the six crew members died in the river. Despite many searches, no one has ever found the plane, fueling conspiracy theories about the purpose of the flight and whether the federal government secretly removed the plane from the water in the dead of night.
She gathered stories for last night’s Halloween-themed event from books that included, “Weird Pennsylvania”, “Legends and Lore of Western Pennsylvania” and “The Ghosts of Gettysburg”.
“We have a lot of these books in the library for people to come and read,” Wolfe said.
Wolfe said that there have been many UFO sightings throughout the years, some as close as Kittanning Township in 1969, where a UFO’s landing was verified.
“I like finding stories from history that are odd and can’t be explained.”
The audience consisted of both children and adults, which pleasantly surprised Wolfe.
“I’m happy with whoever comes,” she acknowledged. “We’ve had varying ages at a lot of these Legends series programs. I think it is very encouraging. There are whole families that come with their kids.”
“This is going to be a fun night, since it’s Halloween time,” she said. And the audience agreed as they enjoyed light refreshments following the event of holiday punch and cookies.
For information on additional programs offered at the Library, call 724-763-3591. Programs are offered for free and library membership is not required to attend.