Irwin Ghost Walk canceled by covid-19 concerns

The popular Irwin Ghost Walk usually held during the Halloween season is another in a long string of events canceled to prevent the spread of covid-19.

Instead, those interested in Irwin’s Ghost Walk can take a self-guided walk around the downtown business district during the last two weeks of October to read about the ghosts from posters placed at businesses spread around the area, said Michael Pochan, a member of the Irwin Business & Professional Association, which sponsors the event.

“Because of uncertainties with restrictions on public events due to the pandemic, the IBPA made the decision months ago to cancel the Ghost Walk event for 2020.” By holding the event as a self-guided tour, “we can spread it out and keep the social distancing,” said Brian Jovan of Irwin, a volunteer with past Ghost Walks.

There will be between 15 and 30 posters, sponsored by businesses, that are placed in the downtown area, Pochan said.

Information from the posters was gleaned from ghost investigators over the past several years, Jovan said.

Ghost Researchers in Pennsylvania investigated buildings in downtown Irwin and their observations of the ghosts — at least 31 — were written by the paranormal investigators, Jovan said. The ghosts were observed in time periods ranging from the late 1800s to the 1970s, Jovan said.

“They had a sense of the spirits and described them as they saw them,” Jovan said. “They described their clothing, their hair and what they were doing.”

Seven members of the Original Characters Writers Workshop of the Norwin Public Library fleshed out the ghostly characters and created fun limericks for the IBPA to feature on the posters, Jovan said.

“They’ve added a story element,” said Jovan, who has always had an interest in ghosts and paranormals. The limericks the writers created “are like something that might be seen on tombstones” of old, Jovan said.