July is for Joking at Montreal Laughs Festival

Who doesn’t need a laugh about now? Montreal’s 28^th edition of the Just For Laughs Festival will run July 6-17, with the eclectic lineup of Cheech & Chong, Pamela Anderson, John Leguizamo and Nick Cannon, host of NBC’s America’s Got Talent.

Afterwards, the free Urban Arts street fair will take to the bricks July 17-25, with parades of more than 1,000 pairs of twins, plus triplets and quadruplets from around the world. Magicians, clowns and yes, even mimes will add to the frivolity.

Halloween’s Horror-Rama Roundup

You can’t have too many frights for Halloween. Here are a few heart-pounding possibilities, as well as some gentle family events.

Winnipeg, Canada, has launched its first Ghost Walk, a 90-minute trail led by experienced ghost guides. What was found hidden in the walls of the old Masonic Temple? Where did the first executions in the province of Manitoba take place? How is the Burton Cummings Theatre connected to the worse maritime disaster in Canadian history? Find out Thursdays and Saturdays through Oct. 31.

• Ohio’s Hale Farm & Village in Bath will kick off a family-friendly Halloween with storytelling by candlelight at 6 p.m. Oct. 30. Adults and teens can try to conjure up spirits at 7 p.m. with “Western Reserve Paranormal.” This group, well attuned to “listening,” will lead a program and discussion on the art of discovering spiritual activity in homes and historic places. Then, a one-hour exploration of three Hale Farm historic buildings will try to uncover any lurking “activity.” This haunted lesson is for ages 16 and older. Reservations are required.

• Ohio’s Salt Fork State Park Resort in Cambridge will start with trick-or-treating from cottage to cottage in a traffic-free area at 6 p.m.  Oct. 31. Hay rides will leave from the lodge parking area, and families can warm up with hot chocolate. A costume-judging contest, along with games and crafts, will wrap up the evening at the lodge.

• Across the pond in Wales, spirits are stirring. It might be the long-dead souls at Llancaiaich Fawr Manor, a living history museum that’s set in 1645 and considered one of the 10 most haunted buildings in Britain. It’s said that eight former residents, including soldiers, children and a maid, roam the house and gardens. Or maybe it’s the sight of Robin Drwg, half man, half beast, at Maesmawr Hall in Powys. Or could it be Sir John Wynn on the spiral staircase at Gwydir Castle in North Wales? Plan your own ghost hunt here.

• England’s Alton Towers is celebrating Halloween Scarefest through Nov. 1, with indoor and outdoor scare attractions. The theme park will be open until 9 p.m. every night. A Superbreak package costs $327/£199 per family of four based on two adults and two children sharing a family room at the three-star North Stafford Hotel, including a full-day ticket to the park for all the family. Breakfast is included for the adults, children pay locally. Valid Friday to Sunday in October; Monday to Thursday costs from $391/£236.

• The National Trust of England, Wales and Northern Ireland and its American affiliate, Royal Oak Foundation, have gone ghost hunting in their own properties.

• Better than a pink elephant?

Lift a glass with your spectral friends at Belfast’s Crown Liquor Saloon on Great Victoria Street in the city center. The pub was a stop for travelers on the Great Northern Railway years ago, and one visitor recalled sitting with three ghostly men and a woman in one of the famed booths—a snug– while waiting for her friends to arrive for cocktails.

• Kennel Club Fur-ever

Ham House in Surrey was just too nice a home for one King Charles spaniel, who refuses to leave. The dog’s portrait hangs in the gallery, and the four-legged ghost often wanders the halls. A recent investigation by the Ghost Club, a paranormal research organization based in London, concluded that there may be as many as fifteen ghosts living at the property.

• SOS

The medieval Old Post Office in Tintagel, Cornwall, now a converted manor house, is famous for its flickering lights. One clever researcher used the antique Spagnolli receiver, a precursor to Morse code, to decode the message: “Noah,” it said, over and over – the surname of a previous resident.

• Anne Boleyn in the hall

Blickling Hall in Norfolk has every right to be haunted. This was the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII, the husband who had the lady beheaded.

In one incident, two delivery men returned a painting to the home and when asked about the authorization, said, “Oh, the lady signed for it… the lady in the Dining Room.”

The house administrator was supposed to be the only person living in Blickling Hall at the time, so it’s assumed Anne wanted the painting returned.

She may wander at her leisure, of course, but it’s pretty certain that Anne appears on the anniversary of her death each year, May 19. The Grey Lady, her nickname because of her long grey dress with lace collar, has been spotted looking across the lake and riding up the drive in a coach drawn by a headless horseman.

Ahoy! Ashley Gets Her Sea Paws!

Ashley the Traveling Teddy has taken the helm of several boats recently, and captain and crew all lived to tell about it!

Ashley with Capt. Nick Manuel on the Silva Tall Ship in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Betsa Marsh photo

Ashley travels for the third-grade class of Meredith Schroeder at St. Joseph Consolidated School in Hamilton, Ohio. The Traveling Teddy program is a geography outreach of the Society of American Travel Writers.

This summer, she helped Capt. Nick Manuel take the tall ship Silva out of her Halifax harbor for a breezy tour of the Narrows. She sailed past

George's Island Lighthouse, Halifax. Betsa Marsh photo

George’s Island Lighthouse and met a new friend onboard, 19-month-old Bri Hurlbut from Nova Scotia.

Bria Hurlbut didn't want to give Ashley up. Betsa Marsh photo

Recently, Ashley toured the Bluegrass region of Kentucky and helped another captain steer his ship.

At Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, Ashley joined Capt. Richard Herring in the pilot house of the paddlewheeler Dixie Belle for a trip down the Kentucky River.

She got to see the palisades and waterfalls, but she knew the Captain was joshing when he talked about piranhas in the river and snakes on board the Dixie Belle! Eeuuw!

Ashley  with Capt. Richard Herring on the Dixie Belle.  Betsa Marsh photo

She went under the High Bridge, which was once the highest railroad bridge in the world

and got to see the Kentucky flag snap in the breeze. 

Prince Edward Island Teddy-Made for Bears

The Traveling Teddy has been on a fabulous cruise through New England and Canada aboard the ms Maasdam–boy, some wild adventures! On Prince Edward Island, he met Steve Parsons, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, just as he left the ship in Charlottetown. Traveling Teddy globetrots

for the third-grade class of Meredith Schroeder at St. Joseph Consolidated School in Hamilton, Ohio. The students will name the Teddy when classes resume in fall. Traveling Teddy is a geography outreach program of the Society of American Travel Writers.

With his new pal Grant MacRae of Prince Edward Island, Ted visited the Anne of Green Gables house and discovered a buggy-full of children, 

then went to the PEI Preserve Company and

tasted some fabulous jams–yum! Percy

Gougan helped Ted with his choices.

Outside, Ted tried his

paws at the bagpipes and

then got to eat lunch at Carr’s Oyster Bar. But not

before nearly losing his life in a lobster trap.

HELP!!