Retired G-AMS librarian captures spirit of ‘White Lady of Pond Bank’

Sandy Kendall first heard about the tale of the "white lady" of Pond Bank when she was on a date in high school, but she's never actually seen the legend herself.

Her first memories of the stories were decades ago, but she recently decided to put the story into print by publishing "The White Lady of Pond Bank."

"The book was written for our grandchildren to be handed down," said Kendall, who lives near Fayetteville with her husband, Gilson.

Kendall and nearly a dozen other area residents will be featured during a local authors night being held from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 12, in celebration of National Library Week at Lilian S. Besore Memorial Library in Greencastle.

 Legendary lady 

The infamous "white lady" or "white woman" has been the subject of many tales over the years.

"A lot of people who live in this area have a different story about the white lady," Kendall said.

The story of a ghost of a woman who roams the woods of Pond Bank looking for her missing child was even featured in a movie "Route 30," which won multiple independent film awards.

"This is a totally different story," Kendall said.

Kendall was a librarian at Greencastle-Antrim Middle School for 35 years before retiring in 2008. Prior to that, she was a desk assistant at the Coyle Free Library in Chambersburg.

This is the second book Kendall has published. Her first was "Drummer Boys of the Civil War" in 1998, which she wrote for her students.

She said she's heard many tales of the woman who haunts Pond Bank over the years, but she took the most credible one and sought background from family, including her husband, and friends like Margie Gacki and Michelle Bakner.

"I took notes on Michelle's spin of living there," she said. "The story wrote itself, I had heard it so many times."

Gilson Kendall, who grew up in Mont Alto and used to spend his boyhood days riding his bike around the area, said he heard many tales of the woman.

"Back then, everyone was superstitious and nobody wanted to go through town," he said. "I can't believe people still think of her."

Though Kendall's story takes a slightly different twist than other tales, Kendall said she's OK with that.

"I truly think there are a lot of white ladies," she said.

She said she hopes her story will be passed down through her family now that the tale is in print and she hopes others will appreciate her story.

"I hope people read it and enjoy it," Kendall said. “We love hearing all the stories of the white lady.“

For more information about local author night, call the library at 717-597-7920.