Azure West
Jefferson Jimplecute
An estimated 125 paranormal enthusiasts joined the “History Haunts and Legends’’ (HHL) event this past weekend at the City’s Visitor’s Center.
The bi-annual Spring and Fall conference has continued its ongoing attraction for the past 19 years.
Founded by Jodi Breckenridge, who also conducts the Historic Jefferson Ghostwalk, rounded out the symposium with an array of speakers from not only the paranormal community but historical as well.
After welcoming in doughnuts and coffee, local Jeffersonian, Mitchel Whitington, kicked off the day’s speaker line up.
While the author has several books, “The Grove” and “Haunted Jefferson” are just a couple which have been fan favorites.
“Over the years you make friends with speakers or even people who are not speaking here,” Whitington said. “I look forward to seeing people that I will only see here at this event. This is our chance to visit and get caught up.”
As one of the original speakers since the event’s inception, the proprietor of The Grove stated, “I’ve lived here for over 20 years. My life is kind of funny because I live in a place with a lot of supernatural activity and I was writing about the supernatural world even before [Tammy and I] bought The Grove. So to me it’s just a natural thing, but a lot of people are shy about it or don’t want to tell anybody.”
Another long time HHL presenter, Greg Lawson, expressed his love of Jefferson’s architecture.
“The history here is always something… I learn something new every time I come here. I’m very, very fascinated with Jefferson,” the author of “How To Be A Paranormal Detective” explained.
Lawson said he enjoys bouncing ideas off like-minded people throughout the day and having time to decompress for the weekend.
“It wasn’t intent, this is who I am,” he said. “This is who I am… it wasn’t a choice. Let’s put it that way.”
In the vending area, Victoria Mundae, set up her books and teas as a second time attendee. This time, the author and award-winning paranormal podcast host brought two of her friends into the HHL community.
Mundea delved into her thoughts as she echoes a number of attendees.
“One of the things I love the most are the connections that are made. It was exciting to see my friends from the last HHL again,” she said. “We’ve managed to stay in touch through social media and then when you see each other again, it’s like a family reunion.”
Mundae has experienced supernatural activity since an early age.
This has gained her the nickname of “The Paranormal Perfect Storm.”
“I feel one of the best things about History Haunts and Legends is the fact that we’re a growing community,” she said. “It is fantastic to see the Paranormal Community growing here; Texas seems to be left out of a lot of the ParaCons (I don’t know why… we have the best ghosts!) and it’s fantastic to see so many of our communities representing our area of the world.”
The next History Haunts and Legends will be the weekend of Nov. 4.
For more information you can visit ‘History Haunts and Legends Paranormal Conference’ on Facebook, the Jefferson Ghost Walk website, or call 903-601-3375.