Michigan Night on Baltimore St Again? and a Response to Recent Newspaper Articles

Baltimore St. 6/21/06

I guess it is Michigan week at the Ghosts of Gettysburg. For the second time in 7 days I have had eighth graders from the Grand Rapids, MI area. For such a large group, I was surprised that we actually got off on time. These kids were a fun group. I wonder if they booked through the same tour company as the last group because its sounds like they hit all of the same places the group the week before did. We took some pictures, had some laughs, and I made a good number of them squirm a little with my last story! Good times.

Storytellers Rant… After a recent public meeting was held, the local newspapers jumped on a story about ghost tours giving some Gettysburg residents problems. The locals complained about noise and safety concerns while the ghost tour businesses said that a few bad apples are giving the rest a bad name. One article even talked about turf wars between competing companies.

[link]http://www.eveningsun.com/localnews/ci_3959314[/link]

Here’s where I stand on all of this.

I think that the residents have a right to their privacy and are just in complaining if the tours bother them. The one gentleman quoted in these articles happens to live next to an alley where guides will stop and tell stories. Why a guide would stop there I have no idea. There are plenty of other places to stop in that area. The blame here falls on the individual guide.

As far as safety is concerned this is also the responsibility of the guide and in a small part the tour operator. Guides should not block the sidewalks, forcing individuals and groups into the street. The way I have been doing this for 9 years is very simple. If you can not leave half of the sidewalk open, you don’t stop your group there. I do not want to have to stop in the middle of a story because I am interrupted with a sidewalk issue. You lose any momentum you might have built in the story and it can be somewhat embarrassing to everybody. Don’t block the sidewalk and stay out of the alleys, it’s that simple.

Guides need to use every effort to use the crosswalks, where pedestrians have the right of way. The guide should also make sure it is clear before they let their group cross the street. If they can’t control their group enough to accomplish this, then they don’t belong tour guiding.

Also I question if some of these new start up companies have the insurance that the larger ones do. I know that the company I work for has a fairly large policy to protect our customers in case of an accident. It also covers some of the properties that the owners are kind enough to let us use such as the Seminary and Gettysburg College. Tour operators should also give their guides some sort of safety training. But all of this is voluntary, at the moment.

Two years ago, the tour operators had to sit through meeting after meeting going over safety and other ghost tour realted issues. There was talk of "licensing" the guides, so there was some sort of standard amongst the tours. That fell through. There has been plenty of talk, very little action. And with new ghost tour companies popping up nightly, it is no surprise that there are problems. Nobody can keep track of these new companies, therefore the blame falls on the larger, better known operations.

I do think that it is only a small percentage of guides who are causing most of these problems. And with a minimal effort, many of them can be solved fairly quickly.

As far as the turf wars are concerned, usually the larger groups with the louder guides take up the most space. Obliviously. This will force a guide with only three or four people on their tour to seek another place to stand. Part of the problem is that since there are so many people starting up these companies, many of which are not profitable, trust me, there are more groups on the streets. It is possible that the number of people taking these tours has not gone up, there are just more voices out there competing for the same real estate.

While we’re at it…The concern of someone getting hit by a car goes well beyond the ghost walks. How about the woman in the SUV that almost hit two people jay walking on Baltimore St while talking on her cell phone? I know it sounds cliché, but it happened around 8:00 last night. Or what about the three kids on their bicycles riding in between the parked cars and the moving traffic heading south on Baltimore St at 9:45 last night while I was trying to get into my car after my tour? The one little rascal almost hit me.

And as to that whole thing about the trash being caused by the ghost walks. People who go on ghost tours are not the only ones that litter in Gettysburg. I am sure that some littering is caused by a few people on a tour every once in a while. But litter finds its way onto the ground all the time. Go look at the college neighborhood on a Saturday or Sunday morning after the kids have been partying all night. Did the ghost tours leave all of that trash?

Ghost tours aren’t the only things causing problems.

Hopefully all of this will create enough awareness that many of these problems can be solved in a manner that all can agree upon.

Being as safe as I can...

"Rick Saunders"