Guides celebrate 40 years of ghost hunting

Do ghosts grow old as time passes by? Who knows? My guess is that spirits do not conform to the timetables of our physical reality. They exist in a timeless dimension.
However, I do know that stories about ghosts and specters who’ve been haunting New Hope from the historic days of the American Revolution through the centuries that followed have been regaling visitors for many years – 40 years to be exact!
In 1981, my mother, Adi-Kent Thomas Jeffrey, founded the company Ghost Tours of New Hope. The popularity of her ghost books (“Ghosts in the Valley”; “More Ghosts in the Valley”) impelled my mom to start a new business venture. It was clear that many of her readers wanted to learn more about ghostly encounters. New Hope, with its heritage of history and hauntings, served as the perfect venue for a “walk with spirits.”
Mother took great delight in introducing eager ghost hunters as well as just plain curious participants to the mysteries and history of New Hope, Pa.
When my parents moved to Washington, D.C. in 1986, my mother passed the Ghost Tours torch to Adele Gamble. With her reverence for the supernatural and her own finely tuned psychic sensibilities, Gamble has been successfully operating the tour business for 35 years.

Although it wasn’t easy to survive last year’s pandemic, Ghost Tours managed to stay afloat. (Oblivious to Covid, plenty of ghosts were still floating around town.)
Tour guides whipped out their “Ghost Buster” masks and conducted private tours for small groups who had formed a bubble or a pod. After being cooped up for so long, people were eager to participate in an outdoor activity that was both safe and fun. At the end of May, when Pennsylvania lifted all Covid restrictions for group gatherings, Ghost Tours resumed as usual.
To commemorate 40 years of “Happy Hauntings,” Gamble hosted a dinner party on June 13, for the tour guides who have served so faithfully and enthusiastically for many years. The small group gathered at the Lambertville Station for a “spooktacular” evening of celebration and festivity. The celebration cake was baked compliments of Factory Girl Bake Shop, New Hope.
Undoubtedly, there were a few ghosts who joined in the merrymaking, too.
Lynda Elizabeth Jeffrey, a native of Bucks County, now resides in Washington, D.C. Lynda has edited and republished her mother’s trilogy of ghost books: “Ghosts in the Valley”; “More Ghosts in the Valley”; “Haunted Village and Valley.” For more information on Ghost Tours, visit ghosttoursofnewhope.com or call 215-348-1598.

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