Hundreds turn out for spectral sightings

Roughly 1,300 people came out to the Spirit of the Caverns event last Friday and Saturday, according to Florida Caverns State Park Ranger Billy Bailey.
Down the Haunted Legends Trail,  a new offering this year in the annual Halloween weekend event, visitors saw the ghostly Bride of Bellamy Bridge, played by two actresses from Chipola Collage Friday and Saturday.
Bailey took two major roles himself. One night, he played Andrew Jackson, who marched his troops through Jackson County in 1818 on the way to Pensacola, in a battle against Spaniards for control of Florida.
The Civil War’s Battle of Marianna was also re-enacted, with the local Sons of the Confederacy playing soldiers skirmishing in the woods.
Bailey also played the role of Edward Barnes, a project foreman with the Civilian Conservation Corps unit largely responsible for developing most of the Caverns facilities and preparing the touring cave back in 1938. The unit, No. 2415, was made up of veterans from World War I. Caverns assistant manager Ferlain Hoover built a replica of Bellamy Bridge out of iron, and propane was used to set it on fire, to spotlight the Bride of Bellamy Bridge as she searched for her husband in the night.
Along with beauty came the beast, as Florida’s version of Big Foot, the “Skunk Ape,” put in an appearance. Skulking through the woods, he was “wounded” once by a Confederate soldier Friday, but got away to live another night in local legend.
Members of the local chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution were also on hand, dressed in period clothing and offering visitors information about history and their organization. The Florida Division of Forestry and Smokey the Bear participated in the event as well, with foresters explaining the benefits of prescribed burns and the importance of fire safety.
Bailey said the weekend was a success. The Friends of the Florida Caverns and all the other volunteers played a big part in making it so, he said.
Other volunteers included people who displayed and talked about old-time quilts and cast iron implements at a rural life station near the visitor’s center.