I sensed 'Candy' Rogers' presence here
As the Tour Guide John was sharing about the smashing of entire trays of 'new chocolate recipe' candies at night when the new owners were making changes to tradition, I could see a middle-aged female in an antique white uniform lovingly tending to her ghostly window display over the tour guides shoulder. She looked at me and smiled, then looked down and went back to her work. It was Leah Rogers, I knew at once and felt it.
According to John, the kitchen was in the back, and the Rogers spent many long hours working into the night, often going to sleep in the small office upstairs. In the morning, all of their candy would sell out early in the day. And back to work again they would go.
Their son was not happy. Freddie Rogers was resentful of his parent's attention to the family business, and also felt trapped into carrying on the family work. Consequently, he started playing with dynamite at a young age. An accident blew off most of his hand. At age fifteen, he committed suicide. One week around the holidays strange handprints started to show up on the mirror high overhead, I believe, in the 1990's. Workers would go on a ladder to clean it, only to have it appear the next day. It wasn't a normal hand, either a child's hand, perhaps, or one that was grotesquely misshapen due to an accident. After a week, it stopped. It had to have been Freddie, I thought. He came to me later, wanting to explain that he was sorry for his behavior in life, and wanted his parents to know it as well, and how much he loved and cared for them. (ed--being a medium is a full-time job, when spirit talks, I listen!)
The damage from the 'new recipe' got so expensive, that the new owners had their first ever board meeting with the ghosts. A medium was present, and all the workers met in the back. It was discussed how 'times have changed' and the public's taste for chocolates now included newer varieties, including milk chocolate. In order to stay in business, the shop had to change to keep up with the times. The problem with the destruction of trays of merchandise stopped after that night, and never happened again. (It was also explained about expansion with a new kitchen at another industrial site to supply the many branches of the store that had been opened.)
When I went to the store, later in the day, to make a purchase, both Mr. Charles 'Candy' Rogers and his wife made themselves present to me. 'Candy' was huffing and puffing with pride at his work, saying things like, 'quality work goes on forever'. Leah was more friendly, and thanked us for our purchases. They really are fine quality chocolates. I have had the rum and the maple traditional ones, as well as an organic dark chocolate bar and some soft-center ones from the deluxe tin. Chocolate is my passion, and these are better than Sharffenberger, by far.
She is requesting me to share about her Haunted Chocolates for All Hallow's Eve. She thinks it might be fun for you to partake in it, to delight your guests with something that is genuinely haunted. She says it is good for sales this time of year, too.
Here is a link to their website:
http://www.rogerschocolates.com/our-story/history.php
Many Canadians and Natives of Victoria do not know about the haunting. Have fun letting them know!
Namaste,
Reiki Doc
