As it is Halloween today, I think it is only fitting that I share a good Beaupre ghost story.

I heard about the ghost of The Ports from a number of different sources. The first source is a lovely lady that worked at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Kingston.  Her son had lived in an apartment above The Ports, and both he and his girlfriend had encountered the ghost on more than one occasion. A clerk at Peter’s Drugs in Portsmouth had also lived above The Ports and told me she had felt the ghost too.  The cook and some of the wait staff have also encountered the ghost on more than one occasion….saying they felt a presence and a cold spot down in the basement and in one area behind the bar near the kitchen!

After my husband Phil passed away in August of 2013, I needed to move away from Gananoque.  I needed to “go home”, but there was no ‘home’ in my hometown anymore.  The closest I could get was to move into an apartment above the Ports.  My youngest sister Madelyn, and I along with our parents had briefly lived at the Ports in the early 70’s. So on October 31, 2013, I moved in. The next day I was approached by the cook who asked if I was the new tenant who had a connection with The Ports. ” Yes” I replied, “why”? “You have woken  the Ghost”, he said. He then went on to explain that when he arrived that morning to start his kitchen prep, various items, including some knives, had been moved around in the kitchen and the box of latex gloves they use was sitting in the middle of the floor, nowhere near where they are kept!

You can imagine my surprise and delight! I had heard the ghost stories from others and here was another one! Oddly, the ghost stories of the Ports never scared me.  I guess because I always felt the ghost was a relative.

Not long after I had settled into the Ports I started to encounter the Ghost myself.  The first time was a blustery, rainy day in late November.  My arms were full of groceries and the car keys were still in my hand.  After entering my apartment, one of the bags broke and the contents spilled all over the floor.  I also dropped the car key ring which burst open and the keys scattered everywhere.  I picked up the groceries and the keys and, slightly flustered, went about restoring order.  I tossed the keys in my purse and made a note to get a new key ring.  The next day I was meeting a friend for lunch, but couldn’t find my car key.  It had been on the key ring the day before, but now was nowhere to be seen.  I looked everywhere! Even places it shouldn’t have been, like in the fridge!!!  I had to rearrange my lunch date to meet downstairs at The Ports for lunch. I looked high and low but the key was nowhere to be found. Two days later I found the car key sitting on a corner of the desk in my office.  I had not been in there in a week!!!!!!! spooky!

The other encounter involved my hearing aids.  I woke one morning to find them missing.  By this time I was in the habit of talking to the Ghost.  I asked very politely if I could have my hearing aids back, as I had no doubt the ghost was the culprit.  The next day one was returned to me, I found it sitting on the top of a high case, barely visible. It took two more days for the  ghost to return the second hearing aid which I found on a shelf in my closet.  I thanked the ghost profusely and said how I enjoyed their game but could they please not play with my keys or hearing aids.  I guess the ghost was miffed as there were no more “encounters”.

If I had to guess, I would say the ghost is probably that of my great-grandmother Anne Ester Beaupre.  She was a firecracker of a woman and a match for her husband Edouard Beaupre who accomplished many things in his lifetime.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!!!

BOO!