Of all the buildings housing local veterans organizations, the Navy Club of Lake Ontario (Ship 1812) at 21 Clinton Street, Brockport, may be the most unique. Built in 1900, the humble and aged structure originally housed working mules that were nourished by the feed bins that are still attached to the roof.
In recent memory, its occupants included a YMCA, an auto parts store, and a day care. The Navy Club of Ontario has been anchored at the location since 1993 and has faithfully served a loyal but declining membership leading to the current roster of about 30 formerly served U.S. Navy Sailors and Marines.
In many ways, the Navy Club in Brockport is a relic. The years of settling and weathering has led to the natural warping of the bulkheads and decks (Navy parlance for walls and floors). Even without the added effect of libations served at the club’s bar, walking along the uneven floor evokes the sense of a gently rocking deck on a ship at sea. At the front of the club is a museum full of U.S. Navy memorabilia including old uniforms, models, ship’s plaques, and other tchotchkes related to the nation’s second oldest service. Perhaps the most interesting Navy artifact in the building is the ghost of a Navy Sailor affectionately referred to by the club’s patrons as “George.”
Of all the hardscrabble duties associated with keeping a veterans’ club going in a decade-long stretch of declining membership, Brockport Navy Club Commander Bob Currier never imagined a ghost would be part of the equation. Bob is a retired Navy Electronics Technician who also serves as the National Commandant of all 27 remaining Navy Clubs throughout the country. He is the saltiest of Sailors who graduated from the “University of NaCl” – which is a clever way of saying he spent a lot of time at sea. Bob and his ever-present Navy spouse, Sue, are tireless champions of the U.S. Navy and the Navy Club. They have devoted their retirement years to keeping the country’s Navy Clubs afloat, relying on volunteers to perform all duties such as bartending, cleaning, etc.
Although inexplicable occurrences such as moving objects and slamming doors had occurred before in full view of the volunteers and patrons of the club, the idea of a specter causing the disturbances gained much more traction on an October night in 2018. At around 2 a.m., after closing and lockup, newly installed digital cameras alerted Sue Currier’s phone that someone appeared to be moving about in the Brockport Navy Club. Suspecting a break-in, Bob drove from his house in Hamlin to the club and found all doors secured with no evidence anyone had recently been in the building. Even more interesting, the figure captured by the security camera resembled a person wearing a classic U.S. Navy Enlisted “Full Dress Blue” uniform. Affectionately known as “Crackerjacks,” the uniform is recognizable by the wide bell-bottom pants, a crew neck bordered by white piping over a white tee shirt, and the eponymous white cap known as the “Dixie Cup.” If the image on the video was a ghost, the patrons of the Navy Club were glad it appeared to be a fellow Sailor, perhaps a departed club member or a previous owner of one of the many uniforms housed in the club’s museum.
Pixie, the volunteer Wednesday night bartender at the Brockport Navy Club, says she has “communed” with the spirit and describes him as benevolently playful. She said that the ghost thought it amusing they were called George, yet would not divulge their real name. In one “playful” episode, a new volunteer bartender was alone in the club getting ready to lock up when she felt a tug on one of her ponytails. Turning around to see no one there, she left the building and wouldn’t go back in until Bob (making yet another drive from Hamlin) accompanied her.
In July, while sitting at the bar, a recently joined member of the Brockport Navy Club, retired U.S. Navy Commander Keith Harris, witnessed the top of a trashcan fly off for no directly observable reason. Commander Harris, who does not subscribe to belief in the paranormal, was captivated by the chorus of patrons saying hello to George and admitted he could not explain how the trashcan lid suddenly flew off. He adds that he didn’t look too hard either.
Whatever the explanations may be for the video image and other unexplained events, the Brockport Navy Club trudges on in a happy coexistence with an apparition the patrons genuinely believe to be one of their own. Whether it be a ration of rum in the days of sail, the camaraderie forged over months of arduous deployments at sea, or even a misnamed ghost of a Sailor, it is great to see the enduring Navy spirit living on in many places and many ways.
Members of a curious public will have an opportunity to talk to the Brockport Navy Club volunteers and to check out the club’s ghostly vibes at the upcoming Chicken Barbecue on September 28 at 4 p.m. In honor of the Halloween season, this event has been designated BYOOB – Bring Your Own Ouija Board!
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