STRANGE GHOSTS OF SIMI WILL COME TO LIFE IN HISTORICAL TOURS.

Byline: ERIC LEACH

Staff Writer

SIMI VALLEY -- The weird and wacky characters that make up Simi Valley's storied history will come alive again this fall, when the ghost tours return to Strathearn Historical Park.

"It's definitely a lot of fun and kind of takes you through the history of Simi. You have a night of entertainment and it piques your interest to come back," said Karla Hubbell, the president of the Simi Valley Historical Society.

The tours of two dozen-or-so people will be held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights between Oct. 12 and 28.

Colleen Janssen, a spokeswoman for the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District, which owns the historic park, said each ghost tour is a good tool for teaching history.

"It makes the history more personal," she said. "You learn about how individual lives were led in this community. Some were the fairly normal folks, and some were really interesting characters."

Take, for instance, Krishna Venta, who was killed in a bombing at his Fountain of the World cult in Box Canyon in 1958. Or Tuburcio Vasquez, a notorious bandit who commandeered a stage station in Santa Susana and was eventually hanged in 1875.

"They (the ghosts) are all tormented in one way or another, because they have unfinished business and feel they need to tell their story," said Jan Glasband, artistic director of Actors Repertory Theater of Simi, which produces the tour. "They are not at rest."

There are also ghosts of actor and movie-ranch owner Ray "Crash" Corrigan; Las Llajas Canyon cult leader Finis Yoakum; May Otis Blackburn, the leader of still another cult; and Bottle Village builder Grandma Tressa Prisbrey.

Another favorite is the ghost of Dr. Alfred Hirschi, who built a spooky-looking monument called a cenotaph in honor of his wife, Irene.

Other characters in the ghost tour include a Chumash Indian chief and some of the prominent Spanish settlers and ranchers who settled in Simi Valley in the 1800s.

Admission to the tour is $7, which benefits the Actors Repertory Theater, the Ventura County Cultural Association, and the Simi Valley Historical Society.

Glasband said the first ghost tour was in the late 1990s, and they were held both at the Strathearn Historical Park and at Sequoia Park, before they were suspended several years ago while the actors group took the time to reorganize and improve the project.

"We reorganized to make it a much better program," Glasband said. "It's presented like a play using real characters right out of the history book of Simi Valley. It's something the whole family can participate in. All ages just love it.

"There are parts that might be a little bit spooky, but it's really offset by a lot of humor. There is no blood, no guts, no violence."

If you go

What: Ghost tours at Strathern Historical Park.

When: Oct. 12-14, 19-21 and 26-28.

Admission: $7, which benefits the Actors Repertory Theater, the Ventura County Cultural Association, and the Simi Valley Historical Society.

Reservations: Call [phone] or go to www.simihistory.com

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