< Previous50 COASTMONTHLY.COM | OCTOber 2023 FEATURE brought nothing but good fortune to Smith and his husband, Jeff Reding, he said. “I would argue that if you have a black cat, the bad luck doesn’t apply to you,” Smith said. Stubs is a peculiar cat, but fits the mold of other black cats with big personalities that Smith has come across, he said. Stubs loves to fetch and is quite dog-like, Smith said. Stubs loves to parade around with a small retract- able umbrella in his mouth, Smith said. “They just seem to be very much a per- son,” Smith said. “He’ll just stand there and stare at something. I can usually tell when he wants his food refreshed, if he wants ice in his water — and he does — or if he just wants to go outside.” SALEM GOMEZ Like his fellow islander Stubs, Salem Gomez is a black cat with the personality of a dog. Salem, who is close to a year old, goes with his mom Kathryn Zimmerman to her downtown island women’s boutique, The Style Co., 2113 Postoffice St. “He’s an enigma,” Zimmerman said. “I’ve never had a cat like him who loves people so much.” Salem goes every Thursday to the store, where he’s the manager, Zimmerman said. “I was looking for a black cat because they’re always the last to get adopted, and I’ve never had a black cat,” she said. “And every black cat I have ever met has a great person- ality. My friend found Salem and his sister in a storage shelter way out on the West End.” edo and Maggie is a 5-year-old tabby cat, Zimmerman said. “Buttons is your typical cat; she’s a snob,” Zimmerman said. “She only wants you when she wants you. Maggie is the middle child, and she is very much like a middle child. She does her own thing and is very loving.” While Zimmerman was talking about the personalities of Salem’s siblings, he was busy displaying his by strutting around the store to check in on the patrons. Like any good manager would, Salem greeted every customer who walked into the store. “To me, his personality is more like a dog’s,” Zimmerman said. “He fetches, he greets everyone who comes in the door and he loves children. They just seem more per- sonable and outgoing and they always have a quirky personality. “I talk to all my cats like people, but I feel like he really understands what I’m saying,” Zimmerman said. Zimmerman doesn’t subscribe to the idea that black cats are bad luck. “Do we have a little bit of black cat magic going on? Yeah,” Zimmerman said. “But never evil.” Salem and his sister are the kittens of a feral black cat living on the West End, Zim- merman said. “So, he’s a BOI,” Zimmerman said with a laugh. For those who don’t know, BOI means born on the island. Salem is quite different from his two older sisters: Buttons is a 10-year-old tux- (Above) Kathryn Zimmerman holds her black cat, Salem Gomez, at her shop, The Style Co., in Galveston. (Below) The 1-year-old friendly feline can be seen perusing the racks at the boutique on Thursdays. PHOTOS: STUA r T VILLANU e VAMELISSAREKOFF BROKERASSOCIATE melissa@onyxrealtygrouptx.com mygalvestondreamhome.com 409-996-9838 ForEducators BuyingorSellingahomeisnoteasy,butIpromisetoeducateyouonthe process&setexpectationstomakethingssmootherandlessstressful. Getanexpertyoucancounton! 2527JackJohnson,Galveston5428AvenueR,Galveston 1106TreatyDr.,SurfsideBeach2811N.Houston,LaMarque 1816AvenueN,Galveston Victorian1900StormSurvivor,2bed2bath,4blockstothebeachSupporting Newspapers In Education 1K 5K 10K CONQUER THE CAUSEWAY REGISTER TODAY Scan the QR code with your smartphone or visit galvnews.com/pressrun SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28, 202354 COASTMONTHLY.COM | OCTOber 2023GHOST TOURS OF GALVESTON COUNTY Eddy Specter’s Ghost Tours of Gal- veston County launched the Haunted League City Tour on Sept. 8, the 123rd anniversary of the 1900 Storm that rav- aged Galveston Island and killed more than 6,000 men, women and children. Specter began hosting tours in Gal- veston about 13 years ago. The new walking tour through the League City Historic District is based on research and interviews with people who say they have experienced the sights and sounds of ghosts of children and adults. Specter collaborated with re- tired U.S. Navy journalist and historian Joyce Zongrone to create the script for the Haunted League City Tour. The Old Jack Rowe Funeral Home, which was built in 1904, is one of the stops on the Haunted League City Tour. The house was first owned by Dr. Thomas J. Carter and then by Dr. Orlando Patton. The doctors lived on the first floor and operated an infirmary on the second floor. After functioning for many years as the Jack Rowe Funeral Home and then the Emken-Linton Funeral Home, the house was purchased by the Wiard family in 1968 and became a private residence again. The Wiards are reported to have spotted the ghost of a young blonde-haired woman dressed in white with a blue sash and hat. She is said to have died in childbirth upstairs. At other times, the COASTMONTHLY.COM | OCTOber 2023 55 FEATURE HAUNTED SPACES AND PLACES Skilled guides scare up spine-tingling tours for every interest story by LAURA PENNINO P erhaps you’re drawn to explore mystical or paranormal experiences. Maybe you’re especially sensitive to energy vibrations around you. Or, you’re fascinated by people and events who have made their way into historical accounts. Whatever your paranormal proclivities, there’s a tour for you on the upper Texas coast. The T.J. and Mary Lelia Dick House in League City. The house is a stop on the Haunted League City Tour. (Opposite) Paranormal investigator Eddy Specter has been providing ghost tours of Galveston for years and in September launched a new haunted tour in League City.56 COASTMONTHLY.COM | OCTOber 2023 FEATURE family reported feeling cold air in one of the bedrooms. They later learned this was the room where coffins had been displayed during funerals. Another tour stop is the T.J. and Mary Lelia Dick House. Thomas Jefferson Dick was instru- mental in building the Galveston seawall. His son, World War II veteran Coy Dick, died mys- teriously in the home. The sound of a child’s marbles rolling down the staircase, shutters banging and footprints showing up on freshly mopped floors have been reported here. The spirits of a woman spotted at the top of a staircase and a small child spotted near a pond are said to haunt the Walter Hall Home. Walter Hall was a prominent business leader and philanthropist. The woman is believed to be Walter’s wife, Helen, who loved the house and did not want to leave it when she died. The child is believed to be Walter Gardener Hall III, who drowned in the pond on his grandparents’ property in late July 1950 on his second birthday. The toddler’s fishing pole was found lying beside the pond, and his death was ruled as an accident. Visit www.eddyspecter.com for information. GALVESTON ISLAND GHOST AND CEMETERY TOURS, SPECIAL EVENTS Known as the Ghostess of Galveston, Melissa Hall began leading ghost tours at the Grand Galvez, 2024 Seawall Blvd., about 11 years ago. It’s believed that the bodies of Catholic nuns with the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word and orphans who died in the 1900 Storm were buried on the property upon which the hotel is built. In the mid-1950s, Room 501 is where a young woman named Audra would stay while her fiancé was at sea. Audra was told that her fiancé and his crewmates had died when their ship capsized. Distraught, Audra climbed to the west turret of the hotel and hung herself. Several days later, her fiancé arrived in Galveston very much alive. Guests claim to have seen Audra’s ghost many times and Hall herself has experienced the pres- ence of spirits, she said. Hall reports sounds of children laughing and playing, spirits of nuns, images of Amer- ican Indians visible in windows, and visions of mobsters dashing through the hallways. She encourages guests to take photos and to be open to capturing images of spirits. Hall is hosting a spiritual medium tour and medi- um readings at the Grand Galvez on Friday, Oct. 13. To book a tour or to participate in the readings, visit www.facebook.com/Ghostessofgalveston. ••• Gin Keel, founder of Spooky Galveston and new owner of Dash Beardsley’s Ghost Tours of Galveston, is hosting a special Some say room 501 at the Grand Galvez is haunted by a bride-to-be named Audra, who hanged herself in the west turret of the hotel after she believed her fiancé’s ship went down and all crew members were lost. Built in 1893 and designed by acclaimed architect Nicholas Clayton, the League-Kempner House is one of the few remaining “Broadway Beauties” in Galveston. Efforts are underway to restore the historic mansion. FIL e PHOTOS: J e NNIF er re YNOLDS COASTMONTHLY.COM | OCTOber 2023 57 G aido R eal e state G Roup Carolyn T. Gaido REALTOR ® CLHMS, CRS, RSPS, SRS 713.851.3377 CarolynGaido@SandNSea.com CarolynGaido.com Sand `N Sea Properties, LLC Top Agent Since 1999 Michael J. Gaido, III REALTOR ® 409.457.4900 MichaelGaido.com Kimberly A. Gaido REALTOR ® , SRS 713.498.2020 sandnsea.com A trusted name with over 50 years of real estate experience 3823 PERIWINKLE $1,199,000 21019 W. SUNSET BAY DR. $245,000 4203 BARATARIA $1,147,000 13730 SAN DOMINGO $710,000$729,000 3303 LANYARD PLACE $2,395,000 2 WESTWIND LOT $399,000 4116 AVENUE T $529,000 1214 103RD $1,195,000 event on Friday the 13th (Oct. 13). Spooky Galveston teamed up with Intuitive Insights to produce “A Night of Psychic Medium Gallery Readings” at the League-Kempner House and The Lucas Terrace Apartments on Broadway in Galveston. Admission fees include free tarot card and oracle readings for guests as well as tours of these histor- ic properties with a spiritual medium. A portion of the ticket sales proceeds will be donated to the League-Kempner House nonprofit to support renovations and re- pairs at the house, Keel said. Visit www.spookygalveston.com for information about the event and ghost and cemetery tours. ••• Jay Lackey, owner and tour guide with Galveston Tour Co., who previously worked as a therapist, leads historic ghost tours in The Strand District and at Broadway Cemetery. Lackey also works with Ghost City Tours. Family-friendly tours are offered nightly. The Haunted Pub Crawl for adults includes stops at four bars. Visit www.galvestontourco.com for details. A monument in the Trinity Episcopal Cemetery marks the grave of Gen. John Magruder, a Civil War major general who fought in the Battle of Galveston, at the Broadway Cemetery Historic District in Galveston.Compassionate Guidance in Your Time of Need. E. R. Johnson Family Mortuary has been serving Galveston County and surrounding areas with empathy and reverence for several decades. Our roots are deeply ingrained in the community by standing side by side with families as they take their first steps towards healing. During this time, you will seek guidance from someone who understands the needs of families in celebrating the life of their loved one with dignity. Making sure that we take all precautions in maintaining a safe environment to ensure the physical and emotional well-being of everyone. E. R. Johnson Family Mortuary has always been at the forefront of making sure the families we serve receive our utmost attention and care. We look forward to being your source for compassionate care and exemplary service. We stand ready to help you honor your loved one by keeping the tradition of offering “Quality, Distinctive and Professional Service”. 3828 Ave O | Galveston, TX 77550 409.762.8470 E. R. Johnson Family MortuaryExquisite Homes Laffite’s Cove, Galveston TX 3422 Eckert | $2,950,000 3502 Muscatee 3235 Lafittes Point | $2,000,000 4003 Warchest | $799,900 For Sale For Sale For Sale For Sale 281.773.3477 bjennings@greenwoodking.com Chase Jennings, Associate chasejennings@greenwoodking.com BET JENNINGS 2022 Real Trends America’s Best Real Estate Pros in Galveston & Texas Specializing in the Pirates communities: Laffite’s Cove, Pirates Cove, Pirates Beach & Pirates Beach West A long-time resident of Laffite’s Cove Director of Laffite’s Cove Board Pirates POA & UTMB Development BoardNext >