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Post by Jeremiah on Nov 9, 2004 11:51:19 GMT -6
Hey all! My name is Jeremiah and I grew up in St. Nazianz almost my entire life. I have spent alot of time at the JFK prep along with the woods around it. It is a awsome place and I go there quite often. I have permission to be in any building there wich is nice cause I know the buildings better then the owner. If you have any questions or would like to talk aboth this place or would like to set up a time to go there let me know and I will work it out. My e-mail address is Jeremiah_M_21@yahoo.com
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brad
New Member
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Post by brad on Jan 30, 2005 23:06:20 GMT -6
hey folks my name is brad and i worked at the haunted house back when it was in the school, it was 1997. we drove an unregistered van out there with a big group of people, none of which had a license, based on rumors of a job that paid in beer for underagers (i was 19) it turns out these rumors were true, and they let us pick out our costumes and gave us milk jugs to fill from the 1/2 barrels they had set up.
this was not the first time i had been to jfk prep, i think most teenagers back then made that pilgrimage numerous times, i think the funniest was when i made my mom drive there through half a foot of snow when i was 14 or so cause she didnt believe it existed.
i am knowledgeable of the history of the building in the 1990s, and the rumors that were around at that time, there was also alot of stories passed around among the workers at the haunted school(i also am aware of a basic listing of the structures at the site, and where further printed information is available, but nothing on the www which i am just learning), but im not going to sit here and write a paper on it unless i know someone here gives a nuts, it is my first time coming across this forum and all...
oh yeah, its been a few years since ive been there, but i live in manitowoc, just one exit north on the interstate...
to get there, exit I-43 on highway C and drive west till you get to st nazianz, i think the only stop sign is county A, but i could be wrong, either way it is the first and only stop sign in st nazianz... the "crossroads" as some would call it, you take a right, and its a mile or 2 outside of town, on the right hand side (keep in mind i havent been out that way since 97, not much reason to) the edge of town may have moved (i doubt it) but otherwise i am sure of my directions...
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Post by LadyOfTheLake on Jan 30, 2005 23:16:53 GMT -6
Hi Brad! and Welcome! For one, I would be interested in hearing more about the JFK Prep Haunted House....
I grew up near by, was familiar with the dorms and school when it was a school, aroudn early 1980.
And then I knew Dawn and her now ex-husb, Mark, who rented the place and were operating the haunted house. I knew her when I was in high school, and then lost contact (many years before the haunted house took place).
Please share your info? I know there are others out there, also who would love to read the info...
Thanks!
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brad
New Member
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Post by brad on Jan 31, 2005 0:30:06 GMT -6
alright, well... we got to spend alot of time in the school itself, it was very run down on the inside and the story i was told was that they either had some arrangement with the fire department, or that the fire inspectors kind of looked the other way at certain things that were unsafe, based on promises that noone would go into those areas, which nonetheless were open for anyone who cared to try and go there. it was the first time i had ever been inside of the school itself, though i had been on and around the property 5 or 6 times before...
i heard alot of stories at the time, mainly of unexplained power problems and strangely enough, and from people i grew up with and trust, of horseprints on the roof... now let me take a minute and explain that me and my crew were and remain punk rockers, those of us who arent dead or in jail that is, and none of us for a second would have considered ghost stories/whatnot, im just saying what they said they saw, and in a non-ironic way, there was no shock value attached...
anyways, ive been drinking a bit, and i dont want to tell everything in one night
but in my short research on this subject i have seen people say how they were interested in this "before" other people were and the police got involved, etc. like i said, me and my mom went there but i suppose these are kids who grew up with the internet or whatever and have good intentions but no clue as to the history of this place.
i first started researching it after my first visit back in junior high school, must have been about 1993, in the "vertical file" in the "wisconsin room" of our local library here in manitowoc, the nearest city of any size to JFK prep, or the salvatorian seminary, as it was originally called.
i should really end this with the message that i have way more to relate than i can possibly write in one night, and to say thanks, lake lady, i couldnt say i "know" dawn, but we did practice in her apt. with my old band, circa 1994, she had a coffin in her apartment, and i believe owned the now defunct hotel howard in manitowoc (across the river from the supposedly haunted hotel manitowoc [evergreen inn]) this was a rat trap 7 or 8 stories tall that i had fun exploring after it was shut down as a teenager, and getting ripped on the roof of.
other than that, i only know dawn from working at her haunted house, and getting kicked out, which is a story i may relate later, about jfk prep...
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brad
New Member
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Post by brad on Jan 31, 2005 22:27:07 GMT -6
first, let me say that neither me, nor any of my friends ever entered any of the buildings without permission, nor did any of us vandalise or in any other way damage the property... secondly, i was wrong on the directions, when you get to the stop sign, you take a LEFT, and the school has now been placed inside the city limits, which have been apparently moved, tho not to any new development... the reason i know these things is because, as weird as it may seem, i worked 2 houses down the road from the school today, its the 1st time ive been in that area since 1997, and seems quite a coincidence... im going back tomorrow to finish the job and may bring my camera and try to snap a few pics from the road to share. i urge anyone interested to do some research on "the society of the divine savior" which, apparently is the salvatorian offshoot that started the city of st nazianz. now, onto the grounds. it has been a long time since ive had the "file" i put together as a teen, and the library seems to have hidden away the original information (or maybe it was stolen?) anyways, right by the street is the power plant, which, if i remember correctly, also provided the heat for the entire complex. behind it is the church, and a building i belive the nuns lived in. there also is a lake behind there if i remember correctly, and tennis courts/garage nearby. to the left, behind a circle drive, is the school itself. and to the back of that is the cemetary. i did used to have a map, and overhead view, but as i said, that was a long time ago. i notice that my memory is fairly accurate, after looking at this picture img196.exs.cx/img196/4222/nazianz9za.jpgfor background on the place, i also suggest interested folks read this website salvatorians.com/archives/Isidore.htmok gimme an hour or so to gather my thoughts on this...
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brad
New Member
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Post by brad on Jan 31, 2005 23:14:02 GMT -6
ive been looking at stuff on this now for a while, and i must say, i am disgusted with the vandalism that has taken place here... almost speechless, it is a desecration that makes me almost physically sick, but i think it is a result of having the location advertised by the haunted house, and impotent teenagers coming back to impress their girls that god himself couldnt stop them from throwing a brick or using a can of spray paint, it certainly didnt look anything like that back when i went there as a teenager, seeing this kind of pointless destruction (and that is not to say i never vandalized anything as a kid) of such beauty almost makes me physically ill...
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Post by Einstein2 on Feb 1, 2005 16:05:14 GMT -6
Hi, that was a nice report you did..Very nice pictures..It reminds me of the place in ILL, It had Elm trees both sides of the road all the way up the drive way,but they got elm sickness and started to die. So many memories!So little time. Good work! You should get an A+. Also ,You are right..No-one should destroy someone elses beautiful work...No-matter what it is! That place looks like a beautiful scluptured painting and the people who reside there now should be in peace not infested by criminals.
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Post by LadyOfTheLake on Feb 2, 2005 12:17:17 GMT -6
Thanks for the info, Brad!
I remember the days when JFK Prep was an active school (this probably makes me sound old). I did not see the damage, the vandalism until this past October 2004. I went there, to see the Passion Play, when I was in high school -- it was a huge production. So I do remember some of the student suicides during that time. And I had been at the chapel for service, and remember the unique-ness of the building... it was like a land of it's own.... and I was always mesmerized by it. And lucky enough to have a few friends who went to school there, that I could be a visitor.
October 2004 I left Camp Sinawa, and took the scenic route back to my city, and drove past JFK Prep, with my children. The baracades were open. And we stopped. I met the new owner, Jerry, and talked to him for a bit. He said I could go into the chapel to check out the condition of the building. I had inquired about doing some volunteer work at the place, and when he heard I did stained glass, he asked me about my knowledge on window repair. My children and I walked into the building (and yes, I was armed with my camera, as well as a can of mace) I saw teh damage. The windows with shattered areas, bullet holes, the spray painting, and so much more. I was very sad that some vandal did this, not just to a church, but to anyone's property.
In the 90's, I knew the palce was open for the haunted house. I even knew the gal who rented the place, and her now ex-husband. Still, hearing this place was run down and vandalized, I chose to not go, just to want to remember more of the positive things about the Center. So until recently, I had not seen anything but the pics from the website, and then 2 bldgs.
My son and I were going to be volunteers, but then I heard word of a former accused pedophile living near by in one of the buildings. And I did not want to be aroudn that type of person, or have my child near by. So I have not volunteered, and I had hoped to. Oh well... we are busy ppl the way it is, but I like to volunteer with different things on occasion.
One night last week, at work, I was telling my co-worker about this site. I don't have internet privilages (and that is good, due to addiction at times) so she had brought up the site. Strangely, she said her boyfriend was interested in buying the JFK Prep buildings and land... a few years ago. I forget why he did not. Small world.
So in this community, there is one who used to do security there, and one who used to help with the haunted house. And then those of us who have walked the land and stared and wondered...
carpe diem, all! *waves*
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Post by crazydave on Feb 12, 2005 11:15:46 GMT -6
Thats a good report on that. I have never heard of this place until i came here. my sister lives in two rivers wi and it not far from ther so i went up to see it when i was by my sisters . must say its neat looking place and hope its all fixed up and is being used for something. It didnt seem haunted to me but who knows maybe i didnt notice anything but i do plan to go agian sometime for a full tour by asking the owner.
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Post by paulstamser on Feb 25, 2005 11:51:33 GMT -6
Very interesting history that St. Nazianz has founded as a religious colony in the 1850s by Herr Oschwald! I wonder if any of the original colony buildings still exist?
With the religious fanaticism and sexual repression that accompanies such "utopias" I wouldn't be surprised if there is some lingering psychic phenomona imbued in this locale. I have only been there once, many years ago, and didn't explore or do any local research as it was outside of my line of travels. But I can see why others have been drawn to Oschwald's communist/religious colony for a little ghost hunting:
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Post by paulstamser on Feb 25, 2005 11:54:41 GMT -6
And where was this chapel located? Doubtful that it still exists, but it would be nice to know:
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~Leapin~
Junior Member
WWW.WIGHOSTS.COM
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Post by ~Leapin~ on Feb 27, 2005 15:47:29 GMT -6
It sounds like the Loretto Shrine that your talking about. If so, its located in back of the grounds of JFK Prep, in St. Nazianz. It would be the small churchlike building, behind Rev. Ambrose Oschwald's crypt, in back of the cemetery.
[glow=green,2,300]~Leapin~[/glow]
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Post by paulstamser on Feb 28, 2005 12:32:56 GMT -6
It sounds like the Loretto Shrine that your talking about. If so, its located in back of the grounds of JFK Prep, in St. Nazianz. It would be the small churchlike building, behind Rev. Ambrose Oschwald's crypt, in back of the cemetery. [glow=green,2,300]~Leapin~[/glow] If the Loretto Shrine is the original dating back to Father Oschwald's day, then it would be one of the oldest artifacts in the St. Nazianz area. It would be interesting to know, altho it sounds like it is off limits and on private property. I could be going by there this summer.....
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Post by paulstamser on Feb 28, 2005 12:35:21 GMT -6
It sounds like the Loretto Shrine that your talking about. If so, its located in back of the grounds of JFK Prep, in St. Nazianz. It would be the small churchlike building, behind Rev. Ambrose Oschwald's crypt, in back of the cemetery. [glow=green,2,300]~Leapin~[/glow] If the Loretto Shrine is the original dating back to Father Oschwald's day, then it would be one of the oldest artifacts in the St. Nazianz area. It would be interesting to know, altho it sounds like it is off limits and on private property. I could be going by there this summer.....
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Post by pr1ncezz2034 on Apr 23, 2005 23:19:42 GMT -6
The one and only time I ever went here I went into the school and got a bad vibe about the place so I went into my car as my other freinds went into the church. While I was sitting out there (I was parked behing the church) I looked up a hill and noticed that it looked like a cemetary. I got a very bad vibe and so I tried to calm myself by turning the radio on. I somehow started minding my own buisness when out of the corner of my eye I saw a shawdowy glimpse and when I looked I noticed a figure wearing a black nun outfit slowly creeping down the hill. I looked away shook my head and it was gone. I was so scared that I almost literally pissed my pants and had to hold it for almost an hour until they came back so I could finally get the courage to get out of the car and go. [/color] [/size]
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