Spooky doings at Gold Hill

Ghost stalker Richard Senate is looking for spooks on the Comstock.

The author of "The Ghost Stalker's Guide to Haunted California" plans a similar tome detailing spirits in the Gold Hill and Virginia City area. He and his wife Debbie stayed at the Gold Hill Hotel on Thursday night.

"We are staying in Room 45 and there is supposed to be a ghostly lady who haunts here," he said.

Senate proposes counting the ghosts on the Comstock.

"We are going to have a ghostly census," he said. "I'm going to talk to some of the oldtimers to try and pinpoint all the known haunted sites in Gold Hill and Virginia City."

The Senates will also be visiting Debbie's parents, Karl and Myrna Christensen of Carson City.

"We hope to come back here several times," he said. "Obviously, a project of this magnitude needs many visits to complete."

Senate said he was one of the first ghost hunters on the Internet. His site has been on the Web since 1995. The site is www.ghost-stalker.com

Victor Hyden took a break from moving to visit me at the Appeal and bring me a little present. It is a framed cartoon by J.R. Williams from 1953.

Victor says anyone who was alive in the '40s and '50s remembers Williams' work.

Hyden, a former Gardnerville Ranchos General Improvement District board member and his wife Barbara are leaving Northern Nevada for sunny San Diego.

Victor was one of my first magazine subjects. I wrote about him for the Carson Valley Almanac in 1991.

He had been on the board for 10 years when I interviewed him about his life in Douglas County's largest community.

Victor moved to the Gardnerville Ranchos in 1971, because Carson City was getting too big for him and his family.

"We had our house built at a time when there were no houses around us," he said. "We had a clear view of the mountains. You forget that now; it's totally built up."

At the time he was the state text book director. He retired from the state in 1988.

Over the past decade, Victor has been losing his eyesight and Barbara has had to drive him around and read the newspaper to him.

He served the Ranchos and Nevada well.

Phil Herback, director of facilities and governmental affairs for Harveys, called Wednesday to talk about the work that is being done behind the Governor's Mansion.

He wanted to thank TNT Construction for donating time and materials for the repairs.

The fountain was installed in 1969 by Harvey Gross and dedicated to the memory of Harvey's wife, Llewellyn Barkley Gross.

Workers are covering up the fountain area and installing deck flooring, so it can be used for dining, Phil said. "We're going to be enclosing the center with wood french doors and heating is so it can be used in the winter."

Phil said Harveys is working with first lady Dema Guinn on the renovations.

Lee Radtke called to say the Karson Kruzers and the Telephone Pioneers will be sorting the books donated in their book drop today.

"We've received 1,529 books and we expect to have at least another 200 books before Sunday," he said Friday.

The goal was to gather 1,200 books to distribute to homeless and disadvantaged school children.

"I'm really tickled with it. We got some really nice books," he said. "I think it was a good community effort. It makes you feel good to get the books all together like that."

I didn't talk to him but I spotted John Nickerson and the Nickerson Signs pink boom truck putting up the new sign for the Dairy Queen in the Long's Drug parking lot. I'm looking forward to picking up some ice cream on the way home.

Two Minden seniors participated in the Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills contest Thursday.

Dave Inmon and Chuck Paya are pretty much the only representatives from our corner of Nevada set to attend the competition.

Kurt Hildebrand is the assistant managing editor at the Nevada Appeal and gets goosebumps every time he drives through Gold Hill.