“Bustin’ Makes Me Feel Good!” – Pt2: DeSoto County Ghostbusters

Jan06

by Lin on January 6, 2019 at 2:08 pm

Posted In: Blog

A couple blog entries ago I talked about the Memphis Ghostbusters. This time I’m going to talk about another local Ghostbusters franchise in the area I’ve become associated with, the DeSoto County Ghostbusters.

I got to first meet them at the Memphis Comic Expo at the Agricenter International this year. Picked up some DCGB pins from them, and gave them some of my MemGB stickers. Jack Johnson, owner of their Ecto-17, gave me a tour of the car. He said they had a lot of work to do to it still, but it looked pretty sweet- even up close.

They had the Ecto-17 on display at the con for the first time and it was parked next to the Bluff City Batman‘s Batmobile, and the DeSoto County Spiderman‘s bike.

Nicki and I had seen the Spider-Bike cruising down Church Rd. in Southaven a week or two earlier.

Enjoyed meeting and getting to talk to Jack, Cory Coffman, David Hailey, and Andrew Hylander (Spiderman- above center) and getting to know them at the show on Saturday.

I had a great time running around the con and cosplaying in my Ghostusters uniform on Saturday, but was disappointed that on Sunday the Ecto-17 and some of the Ghostbusters weren’t there when I went back to take better pics of the car without a lot of folks around. I did see that Cory Coffman was there- and this time as Ghostbuster Jason Voorhees..!

Apparently Coffman and I have a mutual friend- Eric Crimmins, who was set up there with his “Eric’s Secret Stash” toy booth.

On Saturday at the con they had invited me to join them at some of their upcoming events- of which there were many. The first one was closer to home for me in Hernando, MS just off of Elm Street at the Gale Center. It was the Superhero Trick Or Treat charity event to benefit the City Of Hernando Animal Shelter. The animal shelter is a favorite local charity of mine.

I had a lot of fun there, and they had a great turnout including lots of Junior Ghostbusters in costume. The kids got to trick or treat, make slime, play games, do arts and crafts, and enter the costume contest. I got to meet two more DeSoto County Ghostbusters- Jonathan Bigham and Derrick Patterson, plus some of the DCGB’s other family members who were running the booth as well.

The DCGBs were doing a raffle for a custom mini Ecto-1 and a kid sized Ghostbusters costume. The raffle was raising money to help with some needed repairs and improvements on their full-sized Ecto-17 which was parked out front.

The Ecto-17 does a lot of appearances and has a lot of miles put on her. Since it’s a hearse (and an ’02 Cadillac at that), many of her parts are heavy duty ones and tend to cost more to replace. I always dig seeing the various GB-Ecto vehicles each franchise does, and I love that this car looks like a cross between the older original 1984’s Ecto-1 ’59 Cadillac ambulance and the recent 2016 GB:ATC ’84 Cadillac hearse.

It can be seen driving all over DeSoto County and has definitely been a labor of love for these Ghostbusters. Like all of their online giveaways, they later delivered the mini in person in the Ecto-17.

I brought some supplies for the shelter- cat and dog food, litter, and some treats. I try to drop of some to the shelter when I can. At a recent city council meeting they found out that it’s new and MUCH bigger location in town had been approved. Right now they are in a small space behind one of the fire-stations off HWY 51 between I-69 and Nesbit Rd., but hopefully they will be breaking ground not too far from the skate park and dog park off Hwy 51. It’ll be within walking distance of my house and I hope to do some volunteering there when it opens. It’s very near a location that they had been denied earlier. Soon I’ll be selling Memphis Ghostbusters patches to help raise money for the shelter, and hope to do a charity art show and supplies fundraiser in the future.

The DCGBs are really busy this time of year, and Hailey, Johnson, Coffman, and Ecto-17 made an appearance that night at the Velvet Creme (AKA “The Dip“) just up the road from us on Hwy 51 near the square. Nicki and I stopped by for dinner. One of our first dates was getting some burgers and shakes from The Dip and going to Conger Park, where we later got married.

Thee Ghostbusters played games with the kids and posed for pics. The Dip featured a few new Ghostbusters inspired milkshakes and slushies. I tried the Slime-ade, which was actually really good! If you’re in the Hernando area I highly recommend The Dip for burgers, shakes, and onion rings.

The following weekend I also went to a Trunk Or Treat with the DCGBs at a church in Walls, MS (not too far from Horn Lake and Southaven, MS). They had a great turnout for this event, too.

I had met Hailey in Southaven earlier in the day and got to ride in the Ecto-17 to the event. It was a blast to watch surprised folks geek out a bit as we drove by. It was a huge event, and had moonbounces and other activities for the families. A couple times we did a skit with a live band who were playing “Ghostbusters” on stage as we chased a ghost past the audience and out of the building.

I also did a Halloween event with them and the Ecto-17 at Cedar Hill Farms that weekend. Coffman was there sans Ghostubsters uniform as a very convincing Jason Voorhees..! It was the first time I’d been to Cedar Hill Farms, but I’ve had a lot of ice cream at Area 51 that is made from produce grown there.

The latest event I did with them was the Hernando Christmas Parade– which was within walking distance of my house. I’ve watched the parade a few times since moving down here, but this was the first time I had actually been in it.

Hailey was behind the wheel of their Ecto-17. The car was a big hit, and everyone seemed to really love that famous siren. Andrew as the DeSoto County Spiderman rode atop one of the local firetrucks.

They had a pick-up truck pulling the DCGB float that projected ghosts on the front screen.

The “ghost projector” is usually inside the back of the Ecto-17 projecting a great ghastly green ghost effect in the back window of the car. Hailey toned down the scariness of the ghosts being projected this time and it really worked great for the holiday float as well. I got to do a little bit of painting on the float earlier in the week at Johnson’s workshop. We had some of the DCGB’s family riding on the float, and some walked along beside it and the Ecto-17. I walked the parade and definitely got my steps in that night!

Slimer road shotgun in the car as we handed out candy and some Twinkies to the crowd. It was probably one of the biggest crowds and parades I’ve seen since I moved down here. Folks were lined up down either side of Commerce Street for over a mile or so, and continued around the Courthouse Square and Hwy 51 intersection area. We even saw several parade watchers as we made it onto Commerce and then back down some side streets after the official end of the parade.

I was going to participate in the Southaven Christmas Parade, but it got postponed due to rain (it’s rained A LOT this past month), and then Nicki and I weren’t feeling great that next Saturday. It was cold and damp and we didn’t want to risk feeling even worse so we stayed home. The weather was been really wet and nasty this year. The DCGB were still able to get lots of toy and Twinkie donations at a few appearances before the parade. At their first Toys For Tots drive this year they collected 10 bicycles, 3 huge boxes of gifts, and $525.00 in cash donations!