Ghostbusters Cloverdale hunt ghosts, put smiles on faces of community

If there's something strange in your neighborhood, who you gonna call?

Ghostbusters,.

And if you live in Cloverdale, you will call Ghostbusters Cloverdale, a group of volunteers who serve by volunteering with services such as paranormal investigations, charity work, fundraisers, theater appearances and more. 

For Matt Collett, who is with Ghostbusters Cloverdale, ghostbusters is an "obsession" of his.

"I was born about a week before the movie came out, and for as long as I can remember, they've been my heroes. One day a few years ago, at a 5K we did for Halloween, we saw some real life ghostbusters that were there to guide us through the path for the 5K and I talked to them, asked about all the charity work and paranormal activities they are involved in, and thought, I could do that," Collett told The Putnam County Post. 

Collett, who has done paranormal investigations for the last 20 years, said he enjoys both the ghost hunting aspect, but also the charity aspect that comes with Ghostbusters Cloverdale. 

"That is something we do, but the whole charity aspect is something that really grabbed my attention. There is a lot of community outreach out there, and we need people who care and people who do that kind of work. I found some great volunteers to work with my group that does that," Collett said. 

He said his organization likes to help anyway it can, and has been helping to keep the doors open at the Cataract Lake Community Center in Cunot. They also participated in the recent Putnam County 4-H Fair Parade. 

"I honestly just enjoy helping people. People who need help and cannot find it anywhere else, I offer, if nothing else, to do it myself personally. We had a first Ghostbusters Cloverdale Movie Night at the Cataract Lake Community Center in Cunot. Someone had not cut the grass, and I went out with my push mower and cut a little patch of grass so we could have our movie night. We made more than enough to help them keep the doors open for that day. I drove by there one day, and I grew up in the area there and went there for a lot of things. They had a lot of services back then, and they are trying to get it back to what it used to be. They are trying to get the food pantry going, and that is another effort I am working with them on, getting that started back on. We are throwing around other events we can do to get donations to them. We want to have some sort of car show for them, It feels great knowing you are making a difference," Collett said. 

When it comes to the paranormal, Collett said there are numerous opportunities for investigations in Putnam County. 

"We have so many things here in the county. Most of them are old wise tails and urban legends. I've investigated the Collins Bridge for five years. There's countless cemeteries around here. We've got a lot of really neat stuff out there. There is the old jail on the square. We want to investigate out there," Collett said. 

If anyone wants to learn more about Ghostbusters Cloverdale, they can find them on Facebook. 

"This is a passion project. This is not a hobby for me. It started with me and some of my friends, and we will keep it going until we are the ones you are talking to in the middle of the night. All of our links are there, and our website has a lot of great information and how to become a member. There are also countless opportunities to get involved without being a member. There are always ghosts out there. If you pay attention, you will see and hear some things," Collett said.