THE LEGEND OF MAXINE


The Gelch family began selling moonshine in 1920. Most of the liquor was transported by Selmer Gelch, a rude angry man in his mid 40s. Selmer was often suspected of various crimes but no formal charges were even pressed. Many believed this was because Selmer's family practiced an obscure form of voodoo that protected them. Whatever the truth, Selmer Gelch continued running bootleg whiskey across the county long after prohibition ended in 1933.

In 1958, Selmer purchased Maxine, a shiny black Plymouth Fury. The salesman noted that Selmer seemed unusually alert and agile for an 83 year old man. Selmer paid cash for the car. They say some of the bills were blood stained, and people noticed Selmer laughing oddly as he drove away.

For many years, Selmer lived quietly on his family's small farm, growing corn and brewing moonshine. He was the last living member of his family and had few friends. But at night folks would hear Maxine thundering down the road, and those who caught a glimpse of the car often reported seeing a mysterious red or green glow filling the interior of the vehicle. They say Selmer loved that car more than anything, and some claimed the vehicle was actually sentient, a type of evil 'witch's familiar' that guarded it's owner.

Eventually, strange rumors began to spread. Local legend warned against making Selmer mad, because if you did he would sell you a 'special' jug of moonshine, which would leave you very ill and might even kill you. Worse still, there were claims that people who had perished after drinking Selmer's moonshine were sometimes glimpsed a few days later, confused zombies working in Selmer's corn fields. This was apparently what outraged the Fendart family enough for them to decide to kill Selmer one evening in 1971.

Eleven male members of the Fendart family piled into three rusty pickup trucks and headed for Selmer's farm. They had discovered a recently departed uncle shambling through one of Selmer's corn fields earlier that evening, and were intent on killing the 96 year old moonshiner. They were never seen again.

When local police investigated the Gelch farm two days later, they found Selmer's body inside. The coroner estimated Selmer had been dead for at least 13 years.

Blood stains were noticed on the front of Selmer's car, so the vehicle was towed to an impound lot behind the police station. Maxine vanished sometime during the night. The car was considered stolen but Harley Stumpert, the town drunk, insisted otherwise, saying “It weren't stold or nothin', Selmer just come back to get her is all.”

Since that time, there have been numerous sightings of a shiny black Plymouth Fury tearing down the road at midnight, an unearthly glow filling the interior. Is Selmer Gelch still out there, running moonshine in the night? Or perhaps eternally fleeing from his enemies?