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Smithtown bar hosts party for resident ghost

BY STACEY ALTHERR | stacey.altherr@newsday.com

January 15, 2008

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Katie's bar threw a party last night - with a ghost as the guest of honor.

Smithtown town board members Edward Wehrheim and Patricia Biancaniello and about 200 patrons joined paranormal scientists from Pennsylvania State University who had come to the bar last year to investigate and film the Smithtown bar for "Paranormal State," a spooky new A&E show on ghosts that premiered last night.

The only one without a glass in hand, it seems, was Charlie Klein, the apparition in the middle of the celebration.

"It's probably one of the biggest nights we have ever had," said bar owner Brian Karppinen before the party, "and it's a privilege to put Smithtown in the limelight."

Charlie Klein, whose specter supposedly haunts Katie's bar, was a Smithtown resident who worked down the street from the bar during the 1920s.

After a series of personal devastations - including the death of his wife and accusations that he served alcohol as a hotel bar worker in the days of Prohibition - Charlie shot himself in a house across the street.

According to Karppinen and others who work at Katie's, Charlie has been hanging around the bar since it opened eight years ago. He makes his presence known by smashing glasses, walking through walls and naughtily slamming down toilet lids in the ladies' room.

Michelle Wehrheim, 25, of Kings Park, believes in Charlie. She said she has a picture someone took of her singing karaoke at the bar. The picture, she said, shows a white fog beside her.

When he first bought the bar, Karppinen said, he felt there were bad spirits around that were hurting the business. Two psychics agreed, and told him he should have the place spiritually cleansed.

Karin Marcello, who said she had seen Charlie one night while doing psychic readings at the bar, held a cleansing. Since then, said Karppinen, business has been good.

Marcello now blesses the place regularly. The negative spirits have left, said the owner, but Charlie still hangs around.

A&E producers told Newsday last year that Katie's Bar was a perfect place to film. "There was definitely a paranormal feeling, and the crew definitely felt there was something there," said A&E co-executive producer Alan LaGarde.

Although they never were able to film a ghost, the crew pointed to other spooky things they had seen. For example, talcum powder put around wine glasses left on a table showed they were moved six inches and then back.

All the ghost talk has brought curiosity seekers to Katie's Bar, as well as regular patrons.

Lauren Smith, 32, from Miller Place, came to the party because she's a big fan of the show.

"They come from Penn State," she said, referring to the scientists, "which makes them more legit, I hope."

Charlie, it seems, has indeed been good for business.

SPIRITED HAPPENINGS

Here are some of the haunted sightings reported at Katie's Bar in Smithtown:

Shattered glass. Bartenders Jennifer Keenan and Debbie Satalino said they were behind the bar one day when a glass flew out of the rack and past them, smashing into the wall. Both said they suddenly felt the sensation of cool water on their backs.

A helping hand. Owner Brian Karppinen said he felt a hand "push me back forward" when he almost fell backwards down a flight of stairs.

Step by step. Employees say they often hear footsteps and the sound of glass breaking.

Odd noises. Women patrons have told Karppinen they have heard noises in the ladies room, such as the toilet seat in the next stall being slammed down, only to find no one else in the bathroom.

Whiskered stranger. Karin Marcello, a psychic, saw a bearded man in a top hat and coat standing over her colleague at one of the bar's psychic fairs.

Walk this way. Another bartender, no longer employed at Katie's, told Karppinen that he thought he saw someone walk through the wall at the bar. That spot on the wall, Karppinen said, is where the front door of the building was during the lifetime of Charlie Klein, the bar's resident ghost.