Long after the Halloween decorations are put away, the Croton/Hartford Investigators of the Paranormal Society (CHIPS) will continue to offer public tours of the former Hartford Elementary, where they've been collecting scientific data, trying to explain the unexplainable.

The eight-member society has left old classrooms with the blinds totally closed, only to return to find every other blind has been opened.

Some might rationalize that wind or another person opened the blinds, but society member Roger Bishop describes the window treatments as the type that can only be manipulated with the use of a key.

Last Monday evening, CHIPS member Matt Brown of Westerville found a baby blanket on the old auditorium stage.

He recalls leaving the blanket rolled in a ball, returning later to find it spread out on the stage floor. Brown takes digital photos of the blanket and its position, just to make sure his mind isn't playing tricks on him.

CHIPS member Justin Kibler said he experienced an unexplained phenomenon when he was a boy of 13, and he has looked for any excuse to look through anything abandoned ever since.

"It's something I wanted to educate myself on," he said. "We're trying to take a scientific approach. In total, we feel like there are a lot of spirits in here. They aren't mean and they're mostly children."

The society recently had a "psychic sensitive" tour the school that was built in 1921 and vacated in June 2008 as part of a consolidation plan of the Northridge Local School District.

"A psychic sensitive communicates through visuals and audibles with spirits," Kibler said. "The sensitive said there were 59 spirits living here."

Kibler doesn't necessary agree with that number, but he knows what he has experienced himself at the old school.

"It hasn't tried to hurt us," he said. "We've been touched. Something has rubbed my head. We have audio clips of someone saying hello."

He came face to face with something in the former teacher's lounge, but he didn't feel threatened by whatever it was.

Bishop, who's also a village council member, said he's a Christian believer and they're trying to use scientific data to "debunk" the unexplainable.

He says a prayer before entering the building, asking for protection and guidance.

"When I leave, I say, 'this is your house' and don't visit us," Bishop said. "I say, 'I don't care if you're here, stay here.'"

The psychic thinks one of the building's bathrooms is a "portal" for paranormal activity, according to Bishop.

"The doors of the stalls have slammed," he said. "We can get different readings with the equipment here, some explained and some not.

"We've also heard conversations transmitted through the duct work, but we can't distinctly make out the words," Bishop said.

The society's members each have different areas of expertise and pool their talents to try to understand what, sometimes, can't be explained.

In addition to what some would call "ghost hunting" at the old school, Bishop captured a digital image of what appears to be a spirit soldier at the Hartford Library.

The society also visited the old Johnstown jail in September, when members captured electronic voice phenomena with their equipment.

"I heard noises we didn't hear with our ears," Kibler said. "There was a raspy voice, telling us to get out."

The society uses equipment including a K-II electromagnetic-frequency meter that's believed to indicate psychic activity when changes occur in electromagnetic fields. Other gadgets include a night vision camera, various digital voice recorders and a temperature gun to check for cold spots.

Whether outsiders believe in paranormal activity or not, the society has almost booked enough tours to pay for the village's original investment of $6,000 it paid the Northridge district for the building and grounds.

Many of the society's members attended Hartford Elementary when they were children, and they're committed to helping transform the school's gym and cafeteria into a center for the community.

Bishop said funds have already been donated for kitchen equipment, and grants are continually being sought to help with the effort.

The Northridge Youth Athletic Association has already used the facility and movie nights are planned, as well as local 4-H meetings.

The society is charging $30 per person for a four-hour tour of the school that includes one-on-one attention from CHIPS members.

Anyone who's interested in taking the tour can schedule a date by going to the CHIPS Web site at chipsohio.com.