People can RSVP for the Wilbraham Senior Center’s free event at 413-596-8379 by April 27.
Reminder Publishing file photo
WILBRAHAM — The Friends of Wilbraham Seniors are calling those interested in “what goes bump in the night” to attend “Who Goes There,” a presentation by Agawam Paranormal’s Lead Investigator and Director Rob Goff Sr. at the Wilbraham Senior Center on May 1 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. The event is free of charge.
Agawam Paranormal is a “family and friends based team that conducts investigations locally that are suspected of having paranormal activity,” according to the website.
Goff founded it 30 years ago and has been involved in paranormal investigations ever since due to the “experiences that I had witnessed and could never adequately explain, even to myself,” the website states.
The presentation showcases and unveils paranormal activity in the area through three of Goff’s investigations, West Springfield’s Vincent’s Steakhouse, Springfield’s George Walter Vincent Smith Museum and Wilbraham’s own Taproom Bar & Grill.
The Friends of Wilbraham Seniors is a 501c3 nonprofit charitable organization that has been supporting the needs of area seniors since 1985. Their mission is to provide area seniors with resources they might not be able to have otherwise, either through the senior center’s programs or financial support.
Kathy Sowa, a member of the Friends and the event co-chair, said that events and fundraisers like these help keep regular programs alive at the senior center and bring people in to see what the senior center has to offer.
The event includes a special raffle that allows winners and their guests to go on three paranormal investigations with Goff Sr., an offer that Sowa said doesn’t happen at any other of his presentations and sets this one aside. Proceeds used to go toward funding the construction of the senior center, but now go towards funding the programs the senior center offers.
She said the investigations won’t involve “drudging up any devils or demons,” but is more about seeing what might be within some of these buildings. The buildings in question are currently a secret until the presentation, a small gala will be held afterward to showcase what happened during the investigations.
Local author David Bourcier will also be signing and selling his new book, “Wilbraham: A Journey Through History,” with all proceeds going directly to the Friends.
Sowa said she intially wasn’t too interested in the paranormal when the event was being planned, until Goff got her “hooked” after a presentation to the board.
“He has a lot to share and is just very dynamic,” Sowa said. “Whether you believe in paranormal activity or not, or anything that follows with that, I think it’s just reaching outside of your box to learn something different, and this to me was different and so it caught my interest … we do get that comment sometimes where it’s ‘oh, I don’t have interest in that.’ Neither did I, but I listened to the things he explained and just the whole concept of, maybe this is real, maybe it isn’t, but who cares, it’s something interesting to hear and see.”
She said over 150 people have already signed up to attend the event and those interested can call the senior center at 413-596-8379, no later than April 27, to reserve a seat.
