A Mint for a Ride: Gus the Ghost

A Mint for a Ride: Gus the Ghost

Centre College (Danville, Ky. : 1918- )—Anecdotes
Centre College (Danville, Ky. : 1918- )—Buildings
Centre College (Danville, Ky. : 1918- )—History
Centre College (Danville, Ky. : 1918- )—Students
Ghosts—Kentucky—Danville
Haunted places—Kentucky—Danville
Haunted universities and colleges—Kentucky—Danville

An oral history recounting paranormal activity in Grant Hall on Centre College's campus.

Blewett, Aidan

2021_01_18

Capps, Kyle

All Rights Reserved

MP4

English

Oral history (literary work)

Capps, Kyle

Blewett, Aidan

Grant Hall, Centre College, Danville, KY

[00:00]
Kyle: Hello, my name is Kyle Capps, and today I am interviewing Aidan Blewett, who is currently a sophomore at Centre College as of this recording. I am here with Aidan, and today is January 18th, 2021. We are recording this interview over Zoom. Today we will be discussing Aidan’s experiences during his time at Centre. So, Aidan, thank you for joining us. My first question to you is: what is your life like at Centre? What clubs, organizations do you participate on campus?
Aidan: My life [laughing] at Centre is pretty busy. I participate in the cheerleading team. I participate in theatre. I’ve participated in the Centre Singers’ choir previously, and I’m also in Beta Theta Pi on campus. And, I also am a part of the scene shop [01:00] at the Norton Center, where I work.
Kyle: Awesome, thank you very much. What is a typical day for you like on Centre’s campus?
Aidan: A typical day? I usually will just go to class, and then I will usually have work right after class. And then, go straight from work probably to lunch and then have more class, and then do some homework, possibly have a rehearsal. And then, I will go to cheerleading practice, and then I come home and do more homework, and then I will go to bed. [laughter]
Kyle: I see what you are saying, you are kept very busy.
Aidan: Yeah.
Kyle: But okay Aidan, so I kinda want to talk a little about your experiences with the paranormal, or ghost stories I guess. So, my first question to you is, [02:00] could you describe any ghost stories you have heard about or experienced while at Centre?
Aidan: Yeah, [laughter] so there was one time when my boss, Graham Posner, was in the Norton Centre elevator and he took a piece of candy from the phone box that’s in there. And, the ghost didn’t like that very much, so it stopped the elevator for a whole hour while he was in it, and trapped him. And, he had to call for help. Yeah.
Kyle: Wow, and how did he feel during that experience? Like Telling you about it, like how did he describe it to you?
Aidan: Well, how he talks about it now is much more comically and just makes sure [laughter] we don’t eat any of Gus’ candy, [03:00] “Gus” is the name of the ghost, and [laughter] he is spoken more comically but with a warning tone. And, you just always have to make sure that you leave candy alone, and, if you have, to maybe give it to him. Back when Cowan had mints, before [laughter] Coronavirus, we would always take one and just head to the Norton Center and put one in there.
Kyle: Okay, so have you seen anything that makes you believe or disbelieve in this story? Especially when it comes to this elevator?
Aidan: Yeah, I don’t know, I’ve been in the inner workings of the Norton Center for a while. I have been in the ceiling, in the roof, the elevator. I will say the elevator is the creepiest part, and the strange disappearances of the candy, from day to day [04:00], or even a couple hours, warrants some real belief [laughter] within a lot of people who frequent the Norton Center.
Kyle: Okay, and have you met a lot of other people who have talked about this story, or also talked about Gus, I guess?
Aidan: Oh yeah, I mean everyone who works in the scene shop mentions Gus probably once or twice a shift, if we ever have to use the elevator or go between floors. And, anytime you meet someone new, the idea of the paranormal at the Norton Center comes up. You always get to throw in that extra bit, “hey, my boss was trapped [laughter] by Gus in the elevator,” and it’s always funny to see their expressions, the shock on their face.
Kyle: Of course, and just an estimate on your part, how many people have you told this story [05:00] to?
Aidan: Oh, I have probably [laughter] told close to ten to twenty people.
Kyle: Wow! [laughter]
Aidan: It’s a fun story to tell, just relaying the fact that there is a ghost [laughter] in the Norton Center, that you could possibly end up on his naughty [laughter] list [Kyle-laughter] if you take his candy.
Kyle: Yeah, absolutely. Thank you very much, Aidan. So, kinda transitioning now, how has this story changed the way you think about Centre’s campus?
Aidan: You know, when you go on a tour with Centre, you are told a lot about the history behind it and the dates which each building was constructed and so on. And so, to think that there is this kind of history within Centre’s newest…newer building, is pretty interesting [06:00] when you think about the grand scope of the story of Centre.
Kyle: Absolutely, and you bring up a really interesting point with like how Centre presents itself on tours and stuff. When you were a perspective student, or when you were considering Centre, did like ghost stories come up in how people described Centre?
Aidan: Not really [laughter], I went on a tour my senior year. Centre was my last school that I toured in the middle of the polar vortex that happened [Kyle-laughter] that year, and [laughter] we were just trying to get inside every building so that we could get to somewhere that was warm. And, we didn’t really go through much of the Norton Center because [laughter] there wasn’t a lot to tell except the right angles, [07:00] or the lack thereof of right angles, and how many theatres there are, but I think it would be an interesting thing for tours to tell perspective students.
Kyle: Yeah, I was just thinking that. If someone had told you, when you were a perspective student like, “we have this ghost who occupies the elevator in Grant Hall,” do you think that would have been like…how do you think you would have responded to that as a perspective student?
Aidan: I think as a perspective student, it’s kinda cool that story can keep getting passed down. It shows a great amount of storytelling on the students and faculty’s part.
Kyle: Yeah, absolutely. Okay so moving forward, how has this story affected the way you view the Centre community, either your boss or the students who also know this story?
[08:00]
Aidan: I think it sort of brings us closer with the idea that stories can change, and they can evolve and they can include different elements, but the fact that it has stayed relatively similar for so long is fairly interesting, and it shows a lot about the Centre community is. We’re a pretty tight knit group, and there’s not a lot of embellishment [laughter] of this story because it’s just a really cool fact that we have, and you don’t really need to embellish a cool thing.
Kyle: Absolutely, so can you imagine like ten years from now, when you’re an alumni, do you think Centre students will still be talking about these kind of ghost stories?
Aidan: I hope so. You know, I think ghost stories of any place [09:00] are a fun thing to do, whether they are true or not, but I do think there is a certain level of community building that it brings, and I think if Centre lost that, I think that would be a pretty tragic loss.
Kyle: Okay, so how has this story changed the way you think about yourself, either in respects to you being a Centre student or perhaps in a more complicated way?
Aidan: You know, I’ve always been told a lot of ghost stories about it…a lot of them were always hard for me to believe, and I might believe in ghosts but it was always very difficult for me to believe without any proof. So, seeing these candies disappear when maintenance [10:00] or someone hasn’t been in there all day, and to hear these firsthand stories of [laughter] actual proof, it’s sort of changed the way I believe in the supernatural.
Kyle: Okay, awesome. So, I guess, changing gears once again, what does Grant Hall mean to you specifically?
Aidan: Oh man, Grant Hall’s one of the happiest places at Centre for me. I mean, the amount of memories I have made there… I have met some of my best friends there. I have had some classes with some amazing people and some amazing professors, and I have… I’ve spent a lot of time in that building. It’s always very exciting to step in whether it’s the third time that week or the third time [laughter] that day [11:00] because I’m always excited for what’s in store for me [laughter] when I enter Grant Hall.
Kyle: Thank you, and how does this ghost story fit into your perception of Grant Hall?
Aidan: It makes me really happy that there’s more than the story of its construction and the stories we tell there and construct there, whether it’s through dance, theatre, or a certain class. There’s sort of a mystery and wistfulness about it that not a lot of places can recreate.
Kyle: Yeah, I really liked that. Kinda going off that, how do you think like the amount of time [12:00] you have spent in Grant Hall has impacted the way you think about the ghost story?
Aidan: [laughter] I think it gives me a relationship with Gus almost. I’ve been in that elevator countless times, and I’ve given candy to him [laughter] countless times. And, sometimes when I’m in the elevator, I’ll press a button, and I’ll say: “alright, Gus, don’t stop me now!” [Kyle-laughter] Even if he wasn’t real, it’s just a fun little thing to have in the back of my mind.
Kyle: Absolutely.
Aidan: Someone’s watching me even when I’m on the [laughter] elevator.
Kyle: Yeah, I like that, and you talked a little bit about the personal element, like almost building a friendship or something with Gus. Do you think of him as a malevolent force or like maybe a neutral [13:00] force? How do you personally think about Gus?
Aidan: I probably feel warmer [laughter] towards him than my boss might [Kyle-laughter]. My boss might [laughter] be a little more fearful of his power, but I just like feeling that someone is there. I feel like he could be more of a neutral force. Where, you know, you give him candy, and he doesn’t do anything. And, if you take candy home, he’ll stop the elevator on you.
Kyle: Okay yeah, and to ask a question that has kinda been on my mind: since we can no longer get Cowan mints due to the pandemic, how do you think that or like the COVID pandemic more largely has impacted the tradition of leaving candy in the elevator?
[14:00]
Aidan: Yeah, it’s a lot harder, to you know, to give him this offering when they don’t have Cowan mints and when not a lot of people are going into Grant anymore. And, I’ve heard people say they’ve started leaving fruit in there because maybe [laughter] that will be close enough to candy. I’ve seen bananas in there, but I think now that this pandemic has hit us, we’ve stopped using the elevator as much and started using the stairs more. And, I feel like it’s a little more respectful of Gus like we’re going to use the stairs rather than the elevator because that’s his place. And if we don’t have anything to offer him, why should he offer us a ride?
[15:00]
Kyle: Really good points. Well, thank you so much for your time, Aidan, and thank you for being so responsible and giving us your perspective and your stories. So, thank you very much.
Aidan: Thank you.
[15:15]
END OF INTERVEIW

MP4

15:15