We published this story about Spirit medium Sandy Alemian after her first visit to Hull, in November 2007. She's been here several times since and will return for a Boosters' fundraiser Friday night. Ticket info is in the accompanying poster.

Audience was 'in the Spirit' for area medium
By Susan Ovans

Sandy Alemian wasn’t prepared for the enthusiastic welcome the spirit of the late Michael Russo received at Hull High School Friday night.
Alemian, a “spirit medium,” was describing the personality she was channeling to Michelle Kundzicz, Russo’s sister, who was intentionally sitting alone, near the back of the Doniger Auditorium. Seated nearby, members of many long-established Hull families were nodding their heads and affirming, “Yep, that’s Michael.”
“Do you guys all know each other?” Alemian asked incredulously. “’Cause he says he feels like this is his party.”
“This is Hull,” came the laughing reply from several sources. “Everybody knows everybody.”
Russo died unexpectedly on Dec. 26 last year, suffering a heart attack while working in Florida. Kundzicz said this week that she was particularly glad to have received a message from her brother via Alemian because she had not been able to speak directly to him on Christmas Day.
“One of my greatest gifts was that Michael did talk to my son, Steven, who was stationed in Idaho with the military,” Kundzicz told the Times. “But for the first time in many years, I hadn’t been able to speak to him [Michael] on Christmas.”
And not only did Michael Russo’s spirit come through to tell his only sister that he was fine, her mother came along, too, to impart her own message of love.
Alemian explained to the nearly 150 people attending the Hull Boosters Club fundraiser that, unlike other spirit channelers, she doesn’t see dead people, but she does hear them. 
“If I saw them, I’d probably be scared to death,” she said with a laugh.
The petite woman, who conducts workshops on topics like “Healing and Changing Your Life – From the Inside Out” and communicating with people who are “in Spirit,” as Alemian terms the dead, uses hypnosis to help clients tune into their own clairvoyant gifts. Alemian asserted Friday that all people can receive messages from deceased loved ones, angels, and/or spirit guides, if they are open to them.
“Each and every one of you can connect to spirit in your own way,” she said.
The first segment of what would turn into a 3-1/2 hour forum consisted of a discussion of Alemian’s own journey into the metaphysical world, which began in 1994, when a daughter, Thalia, died at the age of 31 days. 
In her book, “Congratulations… It’s an Angel,” Alemian describes how she began to “hear angelic whispers” and learned to tune into messages that she says provided comfort and healing, as well as a new line of work for the motivational speaker. A “certified bereavement counselor” who works out of East Bridgewater, Alemian’s private practice not only deals with the spirit world but also counsels people who are experiencing challenges like the loss of a job or divorce. 
Clearly, however, most of those in attendance Friday night were hoping to reconnect with their dearly departed, and it seems that many did receive a message that resonated with truth.
One woman was asked why a spirit kept invoking an unusual lullaby. She said that her mother, now deceased, had not only sung it to her while she was small, but had typed up the lyrics and hung them in her grandchildren’s nurseries.
A large contingent seemingly was moved to tears by messages from a young male relative who had committed suicide – “died by his hand” is the way Alemian put it – then laughed as he spoke about a game “Pig Will – or something like that” that he had played with some family members, one of whom tried to explain to Alemian what he was talking about. 
Mostly, the messages were meant to be loving and comforting, to reassure the living that the dead are safe and content –
“In 10 years of doing this work, I don’t know that I’ve ever encountered anyone who’s not okay,” she said – and that spirits remain with their loved ones to help out, if one knows how to interpret the lesson. 
Alemian clearly worked hard to translate messages accurately – “Make sense?” she asked again and again – sometimes diffusing tension with a small joke or encasing a message recipient in a warm hug. 
Having talked and worked the auditorium for more than three hours, she was still revved up when the clock struck 11 and Boosters reps reminded attendees that they had to vacate the auditorium. 
Alemian apologized to those who hadn’t received the message they’d been hoping for, although as Kundzicz observed privately, it wasn’t for lack of effort. The medium had been tag-teamed by competing spirits trying to make their way through a seeming throng inside Alemian’s head. 
“It’s like she was going up the escalator while everyone else was moving down, while holiday shopping,” Kundzicz said.
For more information about the spirit medium, visit www.sandyalemian.com.