Historic Rugby’s annual “Ghostly Gathering” celebration will take place on Oct. 21 and 28 (Saturdays) this year at 6 p.m.
The yearly Halloween-season celebration is a favorite among village visitors, who enjoy a homemade chili dinner with dessert at the Historic Rugby Community Building, followed by a ghost movie, then candle and oil lamp tours of several historic buildings dating back to the early 1880s.
During the tour, guests meet the “ghosts” of some of Rugby’s earliest residents and hear their stories, along with stories about the village’s numerous other ghosts (what would a Victorian English village be without a few good ghosts?)
This is followed by hot cider around a bonfire, with more spooky stories provided (Stories move inside to the Rebecca Johnson Theatre in case of rain.)
Reservations are required and it is suggested that they be made early since the event usually sells out. Cost, including dinner, is $20 for adults, $10 for students ages 6 through high school. The event is not suitable for children under 6.
For reservations, visit the online store at www.historicrugby.org, call 423-628-2441. For visitors needed lodging, Rugby offers three choices with an authentic appeal. The restored Pioneer Cottage can accommodate up to eight people in a rustic atmosphere. Thomas Hughes stayed at this very spot on his first visit to the colony. Nearby is the rebuilt Percy Cottage that can accommodate up to five guests. For those interested in a bit more elegance, the restored Newbury House inn offers six Victorian furnished bedrooms, a large guest parlor, verandah and sunroom overlooking a pond. Newbury was Rugby’s first boarding house when it was built in 1880.
Rugby, founded in 1880 as a British-American utopian village, is just off State Scenic Hwy. 52, 16 miles southeast of Jamestown and 35 miles from either Interstate 40 or I-75 in western East Tennessee. To learn more, visit historicrugby.org.