The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
People tour sites plagued with spirits
Rich Petrillo navigates his Segway through Guilford’s historic neighborhoods and over 1,500dead bodies.
GUILFORD » Rich Petrillo navigates his Segway effortlessly through the town’s historic neighborhoods, but this fall, he will navigate it over 1,500 dead bodies.
As part of his Shoreline Segways business, Petrillo is offering haunted Segway tours, where he will take participants to sites plagued with spirits and ghosts. This includes the Guilford Green, where his wife and fellow tour guide, Eileen Petrillo, said about 1,500 people are buried as part of the former cemetery on the site.
“People that seek these things out love the spirits,” Rich said. “I believe we have energy and when there are ghosts, that energy goes somewhere.”
One of Rich’s favorite stories to tell is about a house from the early 1800s where a man named Charlie lived by himself. When he died, he gave his house to a female neighbor, who used to help care for him, Rich said.
The neighbor moved in, but only stayed for six months because she “felt his presence” and saw doors opening and closing mysteriously, he said.
“People go by these houses all the time and nobody knows there’s a story about them,” Rich said.
He said he spent many hours in the history section of the Guilford Free Library researching haunted town folklore, including the tale of the Town Hall. Many years ago, a jailwas brought into the Town Hall, and spirits were said to have come with with, Rich said.
Police officers used to say that when they would patrol the jail, they would hear doors slamming and feet moving around — even when the jail was empty, he said.
Many paranormal activities locals have witnessed include doors slamming, scents of tobacco, possessions breaking unexplainably or loud footsetps, Rich said.
“The best part is discovering the places where people are living have all of these different stories behind it,” Eileen said.
The tours are scheduled by appointment only, seven days a week, and last about an hour and 15 minutes, plus training time to use the Segways, Rich said.
His Segway tour business stems from his event specialist company, R.E.A.D. Amusements, which rents out interactive and inflatable equipment, he said. About 10 years ago, he was first introduced to the Segways at a trade show and bought them a couple years later when the second generation machines came out, Rich said.
After getting permission from the police department, the couple started doing historic tours in Guilford and Mystic. Though they came up with the haunted tour idea last fall, Rich said they didn’t promote it well and it never took off.
“It gives you another perspective instead of just driving past houses,” Eileen said. “People say they drive by these houses all the time but never realized how beautiful it was until they were up close to it.”