Gracedale Haunting Part 1: Myrtle's TV

We’ve heard about some strange goings-on in the buildings at Gracedale, Northampton County’s nursing home. A few months ago we got to hear about Scott Moro’s personal experiences while working at Gracedale during college in the early 1990’s.

Between 1991 and 1993, Scott was going to college at Moravian and working at Gracedale to earn some gas and spending money. His job was a “Special Services Helper”, which basically meant he fed the residents who could not feed themselves and transport residents throughout Gracedale. While the first few weeks Scott spent his time wherever needed he eventually got assigned to the North West 2 wing which is in the oldest part of the building.

Scott liked the nurses and nurse’s aides he worked & as he got to know each one better they began to share stories with him, many of which dealt with strange occurrences: strange noises, shadow-like figures, mysteriously misplaced or moving objects. So for the start of the Halloween season we thought it was time to share some of them on WeirdNazareth.com.

Part 1: Mytle’s Television

Scott Moro: One night, just after Christmas in ’91, I was doing the normal feeding and moving of residents. It was well after dinner and getting to be bed time. Bed time at Gracedale was very quiet. TV’s were off, radios off. It was as silent as silent could be. Well, I tucked in an elderly woman named Myrtle. She was a rather large woman, as were most on the floor and had little to no mobility. The head of her bed was propped like normal, which made it more comfortable for her. As I finished with Myrtle, I made my way down the rest of the hall, following the same tucking routine. Upon making my way back towards the nurse’s station so I could gather my things to go home, I heard a TV playing. Shocked, as this was extremely abnormal, I looked to see where it was coming from. It was coming from Myrtle’s room.

Confused, I walked in to see if Myrtle was awake and needed anything. She was sound asleep, as was her roommate, who was across the room and who did NOT have a TV. This was obviously a strange occurrence for a number of reasons: 1.) Myrtle could NOT move on her own, she needed someone to reach the remote control or a book or anything. 2.) The table where the remote was located was tucked against the wall, about 5 feet BEHIND Myrtle’s bed!

I switched off the TV and left the room, figuring I either didn’t turn off the TV completely the last time I was in the room or someone in a nearby room had used their remote and somehow the signal worked on Myrtle’s TV too. It’s not abnormal for garage door remote, TV remotes or other electronic devices to have this ability, so I didn’t think anything of it...EXCEPT that for the next three nights, at exactly the same time, in the exact same room, the same thing happened!

After the 3rd night, I shared the experience with my friends at the nurse’s station. They shook their heads and one of the aides, Eva, told a story about how she experienced something similar a few years back. They had electricians come in to check the wiring. Myrtle’s family was notified that maybe her TV was on the fritz and they may need to purchase another one.

A year went by, and I continued to do my job on North West 2 wing, without incident. No other TV issues, not from Myrtle’s room, not from any other room. We just laughed and shook it off as a weird electrical thing. Right after Christmas in ’92, however, on the same dates in late December...what happened in Myrtle’s room in ’91, happened again! This time, Eva was with me! We just stared at each other and then bolted back to the nurse’s station to share our experience. The others were amazed!

The women tried to see if there was something with the room, or a former resident who stayed there. Nothing. It was amazingly strange...and cool. Again we thought that there was something with the TV. We played with wires, cables, plugs and outlets. Nothing. Someone commented that maybe another resident’s remote was causing the trouble, just as I’d thought a year before. So we searched each room, only to realize, no other residents in Myrtle’s wing had a TV!!! She was one of the wealthier residents, who had a larger room and a cable hook-up. Other residents had TV’s on that floor, but nowhere near this room and none with a mega-powerful remote control.

To this day, I have no idea what happened, how it happened, or why it happened, but the women I worked with and I are convinced, it was paranormal.