By Mark Shaffer
The Ironton Tribune

Tan overalls. Check.
White vehicle with an iconic ghost logo. Check.
Proton pack. Check.
Must be the Ghostbusters! Right?
Not exactly, it is a group called the Eastern Kentucky Ghostbusters, fans who love the 1980s movie “Ghostbusters” and dress up in costumes to express their love for the film and to help out the community.
The group started in 2021 and is now run by Bishop Saylor and Josh Williams.
“We dress up as Ghostbusters and we normally run a charity of some sort. Kids get to come by and check out the costumes, check out all the equipment,” explained Saylor. Each member sticks with the basic costume but personalizes it to reflect their personality.
The number of events the attend changes year to year.
“We do fundraisers for our local Shriners,” Saylor said. Sometimes, it is feeding one of the drivers on their route to Shriners Hospital or giving money to pay for the transport of a sick child. “We do other events for the goodwill of it. We do parades, when libraries show movies. We recently collected school supplies and handed them out at an event. Anything we can do to enrich the community.”
The group is a non-profit organization and picks events that they support and have enough members to show up for it.
“From there, we are pretty much game,” Saylor said.
They have been to a couple events in the Tri-State recently including a Touch a Truck event put on by the City of Flatwoods in July and at a Greenup Public Library event.
Both Williams and Saylor got into Ghostbusters cosplay because of their childhood.
“I grew up in the 90s and watched “The Real Ghostbusters” cartoon. I really didn’t get into the live action movies until I was a little bit older,” Williams said. It was a trip to the store in 2021 that lead him into cosplay. “I was at Walmart and they had a ghost trap and it was so cool, I gotta have it.”
But he walked away from the replica from his childhood. However, his wife convinced him to go back and get it. “I got it. And then the next thing I know, I got the PKE meter, I had the goggles. Then I bought a proton pack and souped it up. Bought my suit.”
He found out about the Eastern Kentucky Ghostbusters and joined up.
“It wasn’t until the past year, that we’ve got the membership up and started going to more events,” Williams said.
Saylor said he can’t remember a time in his life when he didn’t love the Ghostbusters. His family attended a lot of comic conventions and at one, he encountered the Indiana Ghostbusters.
“I had no idea that was a thing,” he said. He enjoyed that not only were their people portraying his favorite group, but they were helping out by raising money for kids to get school supplies.
“I was so amazed they did this. Everyone knows who the Ghostbusters are, everyone loves it. People come over to see you and you get to turn that into something positive,” Saylor said.
He added that a lot of people think it is just putting on the costume and taking pictures with fans, but there is more.
“More than anything, it is outreach,” Saylor said. “Ghostbusters just make people comfortable and gets them into your table a lot quicker than if you just have a donate sign.”
Williams said the best part for him is seeing the reaction of the kids.
“They are intrigued, they come in and see the gadgets all lit up,” he said. “To see the kids enjoy the fandom we all grew up with is a joy. And the adults, their faces just light up. I think it is the wave of nostalgia.”
The Eastern Kentucky Ghostbusters will be at Mystery Market on Broadway Square in Ashland, Kentucky, 4–8 p.m. on Saturday, at the Flatwoods Harvest Festival on Oct. 19 and at the Midland Branch of the Boyd County Library on Oct. 26 for a special showing of “Frozen Empire.”