Berthoud Weekly Surveyor October 24, 2013 Page 3

Photo by Heidi Kerr-Schlaefer

Clothing, lamps, mirrors and much more can be found at Simply Shabulous. The store is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Find them on Facebook or call them directly at 970-2180005 for more information.

Paula Laine captures her image reected in a mirror hanging on the wall of Simply Shabulous in Berthoud. Laine used a special camera for the image that also captured what appears to be a little boy peeking from behind a planter. At the time the image was taken, there was no little boy in the building.

Photo courtesy of Chris Gischel

A Simply Shabulous haunting

By Heidi Kerr-Schlaefer

The Surveyor

When Chris and Don Gischel bought the oldest commercial building in Berthoud and opened Simply Shabulous, they didnt know that the building came with a few playful spirits. Thats right, the building located at 315 Mountain Ave. is lled with an energy that may be coming from beyond the grave. The town of Berthoud was founded in 1877 along the Little Thompson River, but soon thereafter the Colorado Railroad urged the town to move because the climb from the town out of the valley put stress on their locomotives. During the winter months of 1883-1884, the buildings of Berthoud were loaded onto skids and pulled by teams of draft animals the one mile to the towns present-day location. Simply Shabulous is located in one of those relocated structures. The building, tucked between City Star Brewing and Subway, has undergone several transformations over its 130-plus years in existence. It has been a restaurant, a boarding house, a tack shop, a photographers studio, an antique shop, a pottery shop and, for 35 years, it was a shoe shop owned by Mr. Jake Zoller, who lived in the back with his wife and daughter. Chris and Don have been antique dealers for 28 years and have lived in Berthoud for the past 21 years. Its been their dream to open an antique store in downtown, and they saw this dream come true in June 2012. Bafing events started happening on the day the Gischels started cleaning out the building. The rst incident involved Chris hearing a mans voice urgently calling from the front of the store, but her husband hadnt said a thing. I thought Don was trying to hurry me up because he wanted to leave, recalled Chris. From that day on we started referring to whatever it was in the building as Jake. They also immediately noticed that doors in the building would often open and close on their own. It took three weeks to prepare the building for the opening of Simply Shabulous, and once Chris started moving inventory into the store, new mysterious things began to occur. Over a three-day period a string of vintage glass Christmas beads were moved from a box to the oor or some other random place in the store. Each time Chris put them back, they would soon appear some-

where else in the shop. I dont want people to think Im crazy, laughed Chris. Until now Ive been pretty selective about who Ive brought this subject up with. Once, at the very same time, Chris and Don saw the reection of a man in the shops door window. He was wearing black pants, a black vest, a white shirt and bowler cap. There used to be a tree out back, and it looked like he walked right out of the tree, said Chris. We both looked at each other and said at the same time, Did you see that? However, its not just Chris and her family whove experienced strange events in the building. One day, a woman started to come into the shop, but stopped on the upper step and looked at Chris. Your building is haunted, said the lady, who turned out to be a real-life psychic. With Chris permission, the psychic came back to the store with a friend and ghost-nding equipment. They spent two hours seeking out paranormal activity in the building and came away with more than a few ndings, including recordings that seem to have captured voices. Most of the stuff she told me, I already knew, said Chris. To date, three separate psychics have visited the store as customers who just happen to stop by to do a little shopping. Each one has conveyed to Chris their intense feelings about the spirits in the building. The energy of a happy little girl seems strong in the back part of the building and just outside. Interestingly, this energy arrived soon after Jake Zollers daughter passed away at a ripe old age. Several different individuals have felt the presence of this ghost, and many of the stores haunted activities seem to have a childish air. Once I found an old, old toy animal covered in dirt lying in the middle of the oor at the back of the store, said Chris. I dont know, but there are lots of things unexplainable here. While the lights may icker and doors may inexplicably close and open, and bobbles may move from shelf to oor from time to time, Simply Shabulous is an inviting shop lled with colorful antiques such as clothing, lamps, mirrors and much more. Perhaps the spirits who may play there nd it as intriguing as Chris customers.

Fall Fest
Tis

the season to be scary!

To advertise in the Fall Fest special section contact Diane Wells at 970-532-2252.