This Saturday, Meet Some of Charlestown's Ghosts

Present-day Charlestown residents can meet some of the neighborhood’s former residents during the “Ghosts of Christmas Past” tours offered Saturday, Dec. 1 during the Holiday Stroll.

MaryLee Trettenero, a psychic medium, professional intuitive and 25-year resident of Charlestown, will lead three walking tours—one geared for children and two for adults—during the community’s holiday kick-off event this weekend.

Trettenero started doing intuitive readings for people about 15 years ago and also runs a spirit message circle and provides other counseling and healing through her business, Boston Intuitive.

Recently, she began reading places as well as people.

“In 2005, I was sort of drawn to the City Square Park as a historical site, and I thought that if I could read people as a living that maybe I could read locations or read land,” Trettenero said. “So I went to City Square Park and went into a meditation and starting recording what was going through my mind, just like I do for readings. I got this very rich history.”

Trettenero has since worked with a paranormal team, investigating a total of eight locations, including four buildings, in the Charlestown area. She also began working with a spirit sketch artist to come up with images of the ghosts she has identified at the sites. So far, she has collected about 45 sketches of spirits from the 1700s and 1800s.

She is working now to compile these notes and sketches into a book, tentatively titled “Spirits of Charlestown,” that she is hoping to publish by next fall.

In October, Trettenero offered a Halloween tour that started in City Square Park and followed the Freedom Trail, ending at Warren Tavern.

“I got a lot of good feedback,” she said.

The Christmas tours will reveal more about the spirits Trettenero has uncovered.

“The Halloween tour talked more about what the spirits want you to know. This time, I’m actually going to be unveiling who the spirits are, the ones that I can identify,” she said.

The first tour, geared toward children around ages 8-12, will depart from Preservation Park at 10:45 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 1, following a visit from Santa Claus. The tour costs $5 per person.

The 60-minute children's tour will be at least one stop shorter than the adult tours and will include some singing, Trettenero said. The tour will conclude at Olivia Browning, where participants can enjoy cupcakes.

Two 75-minute adult tours will be offered as well, with the first leaving at 1 p.m. and the second at 3 p.m. from in front of the Warren Tavern. The adult tours cost $10 per person.

All proceeds from the tour will benefit the Breezy Point Disaster Relief Fund, which helps residents of Breezy Point and Roxbury in New York City rebuild after Hurricane Sandy.

Trettenero used to live in Queens and said the cause felt close to home.

“I wanted to do something for the hurricane victims for the holidays,” she said. “I used to be close to that area, so I thought I would choose something that would help them. After the tours, I’d like to take a trip down there and personally bring them the money.”

Learn more about Trettenero's work at bostonintuitive.com.

The Holiday Stroll will run from 10 a.m. until around 4 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 1. Visitors can pick up a stroll map and mark off businesses on the map to be entered into a drawing at Preservation Park at 4:15 p.m.