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Stirring up the ghosts
'Visitors' hang out at their favorite county haunts
Waukesha -- Haunted houses and all their manufactured horrors show up in the fall in many communities, much to the delight of those who visit.
But while the daring attend a Friday night fright fest, real people in Waukesha County say they are living with "real" ghosts and it isn't so horrible.
"If we hear footsteps and no one is coming or a door opens or closes with no explanation, we just say, 'Oh, that's Pinky,' " said Laura Feltes, box office manager at the Sunset Playhouse in Elm Grove.
Pinky is the nickname of local actor Lester L. Schultz, who died in 1968 of a heart attack as he left the stage after the first act - - the poker game scene -- of "The Odd Couple." He was playing the role of the mild-mannered Vinnie.
Schultz, 55, was a former Marine, salesman and prominent actor who had been with the playhouse almost since it had opened in 1960, Feltes said.
The people who work in the theater today at 800 N. Elm Grove Road say they have embraced his continued presence, as actors before them did in his life, as a wonderful gentleman who liked being the prankster, Feltes said.
"He's a very welcome part of the Sunset Playhouse and its history," Feltes said.
He had a habit of letting people know he was around in life, and now even in death, she said. On one occasion, a group of people was sitting in the boardroom and the doors suddenly slammed shut.
"No one is ever afraid," she said.
While the ghosts are friendly at Heaven City Restaurant near Mukwonago, some strange occurrences have shaken patrons and employees, co-owner Mandy Meyer said.
Some customers didn't return after seeing glasses floating in the air or a woman who walks through the dining...
