MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Every couple wants their wedding to be beautiful. On Halloween yesterday, many also chose to make their ceremonies boo-tiful (ph). About a dozen couples got married in a once-booming silver mining town that many believe is haunted out in California's Mojave Desert. KVCR reporter Madison Aument reports.
(SOUNDBITE OF BIRDS CHIRPING)
MADISON AUMENT, BYLINE: Calico Ghost Town is nestled in dry, purplish mountains right off the freeway that connects California to Las Vegas. Walking down the bustling and dusty Main Street, the tall wooden and adobe facades of the saloon, general store and town hall cast long shadows. And then, at least yesterday, makeshift altars dotted the town.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: For richer or poorer...
MICHAEL GIBSON: For richer or poorer...
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: ...In sickness and in health...
GIBSON: ...In sickness and in health...
AUMENT: Michael Gibson and Susan Fletcher had eloped. They promised till death do us part in town hall as hundreds of pairs of eyes from turn-of-the-century black-and-white photos looked on.
SUSAN FLETCHER: We like skulls. We like scary movies.
AUMENT: Fletcher says they used to be part of a ghost-hunting team.
FLETCHER: We've been paranormal investigators. We both had experiences and stuff like that.
AUMENT: About 10 other couples join them in saying - yep, wait for it - I boo. In fact, Halloween is the second most popular day, next to Valentine's, to get married in San Bernardino County, where Calico is. So Chris Wilhite, the San Bernardino County clerk, says they decided to open this new venue for the day and give couples a little of what they get if they went one county east into Nevada.
CHRIS WILHITE: We're close to Vegas, but we bring Vegas to San Bernardino County with the marriages.
AUMENT: Wilhite dressed up as a cowboy to perform ceremonies. Many brides wore black gowns like the "Addams Family" matriarch Morticia. In fact, the day gave new meaning to having a case of wedding-day jitters.
MELISSA LACY: They do say that the church is haunted here. The Lane House is haunted.
AUMENT: That's Melissa Lacy, who grew up nearby and wore a skeleton sweater to marry her fiancé.
LACY: I mean, if you have the energetic feels about you, you can just walk in these buildings and feel the energy.
AUMENT: Some say the ghost of Lucy Lane, who ran the general store, sits at her window at night. Others say a teacher hangs around the schoolhouse. While the paranormal draws people to Calico, that's not why it's called a ghost town. Beahta Davis runs the San Bernardino County Parks Department that operates Calico.
BEAHTA DAVIS: Once they could no longer draw silver out of the mine, everybody picked up and left all at one time, leaving it empty and a ghost town.
AUMENT: That was in the early 1900s. Nevertheless, Lacy, who brought along some family members to her wedding, hoped a few more would join.
LACY: I'm hoping that some family members' spirits come through as well.
AUMENT: Probably one of the only places where wedding crashers are encouraged. For NPR News, I'm Madison Aument in Calico Ghost Town.
(SOUNDBITE OF MAREN MORRIS SONG, "GIRL") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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