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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2015
Bigfoot believers gather in New York to swap stories
By CAROLYN
THOMPSON
Associated Press
CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. —
Bigfoot believers gathered
Saturday in western New
York, convinced the legend-
ary Sasquatch has left its
footprints all over the region.
About 100 people sported
buttons saying “I believe”
and swapped stories at the
fourth annual Chautauqua
Lake Bigfoot Expo.
Organizer Peter Wiemer
knows it may not be the ¿rst
topic that comes to mind in
the rural county, best known
for the Chautauqua Institu-
tion, a summer retreat devot-
ed to scholarly and artistic
pursuits.
“You say Bigfoot in a
room full of people and
watch everyone stop and look
to see who’s talking,” he said
with a laugh.
And while he may have
started the event as a way
to draw people to the tour-
ist-dependent region and his
family’s rental cottages, he
said he has since met doz-
ens of people who are cer-
tain they’ve seen one of the
ape-like creatures in the area,
far from the oft-cited Paci¿c
Northwest.
Wiemer is now enough of
a devotee that he’s tried to get
New York state to put Sas-
quatch on its list of endan-
gered species, alongside the
mud turtle, the golden eagle
and the cougar.
The Department of Envi-
ronmental Conservation isn’t
convinced. Its 2012 response
in part: “This mythical ani-
mal does not exist in nature
or otherwise. ... No program
or action in relation to mythi-
cal animals is warranted.”
Don’t tell that to Julia Ka-
ranasky, who was afraid she
had a peeping Tom when she
became aware of a large ¿g-
ure clearing his throat outside
her bedroom window on her
second night in her Niaga-
ra Falls home in 2009. Then
she heard the stories of reg-
ular Bigfoot sightings on the
nearby Tuscarora Indian Res-
ervation.
“I keep telling people, ‘I
think he came to my house
that night,”’ said Karanasky,
who sat in the front row for
the expo’s lectures.
Speakers included Steve
Kulls, an Adirondacks-based
Sasquatch detective who de-
bunks Bigfoot hoaxes while
seeking out credible reports,
and Ken Gerhard, a cryptozo-
Carolyn Thompson/AP Photo
Conservationist Tricia Bergstue from the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy and field biologist Jamie Haight display stuffed Bigfoot toys at the
Chautauqua Lake Bigfoot Expo in Chautauqua, N.Y., Saturday,. The Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy offered expo attendees the chance to
“adopt” a Sasquatch for a $25 donation to help protect the habitat of all creatures.
Carolyn Thompson/AP Photo
Plaster casts and framed photos line one of the display tables at the 4th annual Chau-
tauqua Lake Bigfoot Expo in Chautauqua, N.Y., Saturday. Believers and the curious
gather in the rural western New York county to swap stories and hear lectures about the
legendary Sasquatch.
ologist in pursuit of evidence
of mystery creatures including
the Loch Ness Monster, the ch-
upacabra and werewolves.
Dave Wargo said that
years ago he smelled the
pungent beast before he saw
it standing on railroad tracks
near the Allegheny National
Forest in Pennsylvania.
“People make fun of
you,” said Wargo, who has
appeared on Animal Planet’s
“Finding Bigfoot” series.
“But I know what I saw.”
Yeti, Sasquatch, Ape-Man,
Bigfoot. No matter the name,
sightings have been reported
in virtually every state, with
more than 100 listed in New
York and more than 250 in
neighboring Ohio. Washing-
ton state leads, with more than
600 reports, according to the
Bigfoot Field Researchers As-
sociation.
Numerous conferences
like Saturday’s take place
around the country each
year.
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Carolyn Thompson/AP Photo
Peter Wiemer delivers opening remarks at the 4th annu-
al Chautauqua Lake Bigfoot Expo in Chautauqua, N.Y.,
Saturday.
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