7 I’m part of the security force and as I walk the halls every night on my security check, it’s not unusual to see lights icker, locked doors open and close and bang, and hear strange sounds coming from the rooms. And I can never nd the source. One Sunday night in 2010, while the auditorium was being renovated, when I came around to check, I heard noises coming from inside. All the doors were secured, but when I unlocked one and went into the dark auditorium, I could hear somebody playing on the pipes. I checked carefully—and the noise went on—but nobody was there. On a Saturday night in the 80s, John Flynn, a Sergeant with the Rochester Police Department, was helping us with security. On that night, he called to tell me that when he entered the locked building, he was greeted by a friendly German shepherd who then disappeared. When John checked the auditorium, all the doors were locked, but there was light coming from the stage. John unlocked a door— and up on the stage, there was the German Shepherd. How did the dog get there—through the locked doors? When John asked, I had no explanation. Back in 2013, after an Aquinas play concluded, my security partner, Roger Sadler went to secure the rst- oor doors of the auditorium where he encountered Jen, who was the stage manager. I heard her voice with Roger’s in the transmission. I was standing in the Art Center entrance—a long way from Roger—when suddenly, the South corner exit door of the auditorium popped open—and Jen came walking out of the Ladies Room. How could she be in two distant places at once? And why did I then hear unexplained pops and ashes coming from the chorus room near me? I documented those experiences to le. And nally, although this is an Aquinas legend, I’ve had a personal experience that gives credibility to it. Before I worked here, Nazareth Academy girls acted in Aquinas plays and before one performance, one of the student actresses was killed in an auto accident. Although the school elected not to tell the other actors about the accident, many of them said they saw her sitting in the auditorium that night watching the play from one of the front row seats. For a time after that night, that seat was always left empty for her to sit in during performances. One night, many years later, I was walking down the hall when an auditorium door popped open; all the doors had been locked. When I went into the dark auditorium, there was a single light shining stage right to the seat very close to the one once reserved for the actress who was killed in the accident long ago. It wasn’t a footlight, spotlight, or any other physical light. It had no source—and no explanation. The rst couple of times I encountered an unexplained situation like that, it freaked me out, but now I just realize nobody physically is there. Nobody is going to hurt me. So, the only question is: do I believe there are ghosts at Aquinas? Based on what I’ve experienced, yeah, I do. I’ve been associated with Aquinas for about 60 years, and I believe ghosts haunt the school at night. The Ghosts at AQ By Larry Ansini ’70, as told to Bob Gibbons ’65
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