Here’s another fun local history lesson
(Editor’s Note: Well, he’s done it again. Former resident Kevin Childs has provided The News with a fascinating story … a bit of a mystery, actually, about days gone by in our little community. Read and enjoy! MJP)
This is a story about a Princess and a gallant Prince, on a “date” as they attended a football game at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
It was a typical autumn football Saturday morning in Highland Falls, as the stream of cars slowly made their way toward the parking area next to West Point’s Michie Stadium. A few cars trickled through the Lee and Washington Gates, and quite a few entered through Thayer Gate at the end of Main Street; but the steady stream that dominated the influx of cars entered through Wilson Gate … right at the end of little Redoubt Street at the North end of the village.
On Saturday mornings, if it were an Army football game day, the short one-hundred-yard length of Redoubt Street was filled with cars from end to end, traveling at a steady 1-2 MPH. As entrepreneurial kids, we would sell the slowly passing visitors hot cocoa or hot chocolate on the colder days, but some kids would always have Army pennants to sell to the fans, as well as a few pennants for the opposing team.
I was twelve at the time, and took advantage of every money-making opportunity that came my way. I then stuffed a few Army Pennants under my jacket, and made my way to Michie Stadium, and the “special” no-ticket entrance that kids tended to use. Not having an “assigned” seat (or even a ticket), I wandered around the stadium until the game was about to begin.
The VIP box was located on the West side of the field, and the special visitors on this day happened to be newly wedded couple Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco. I made my way to the seats just below the VIP box, and peeked over the railing. Grace Kelly, who was now a Princess, was sitting a few feet away, and I asked if she’d like to buy an Army pennant. She nodded yes, reached for the pennant, and then looked to her left where her Prince was sitting. A bit of confusion ensued, but a uniformed officer then stepped up and handed me a dollar. The officer was probably General Garrison Davidson, who was superintendent at that time.
It’s taken a while to get to this point in my story; but we’ll now switch back to the village and to one of the wonderful characters who populated my circle at that time. In a storefront that was the second one as you travelled in the “downtown” area of the village, a barber pole greeted you at the doorway, and Joe the barber greeted you within. In the corner of the front window, the following words were written; “Joseph Grimaldi, Proprietor”. Joe was my first barber, having been first trimmed at age four or so; and I was quite surprised when the barber shop was suddenly closed in early 1957.
Looking back on the two, seemingly unrelated occasions, namely the football game, and my barber closing his business, I can only look to the surname or family name of Joe the Barber, and Rainier the Prince. The name Grimaldi, is the surname of both; and is it not curious that the royal visit preceded our barber’s exit by a few short months?
http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/f13/the-late-princess-grace-part-iv-12275-6.html
(Note (as always): Perhaps others of my era know of this actual event in greater detail, and perhaps my memories are clouded a bit by suppositions or conjecture; but I’ll always treasure my life as well as my haircuts in the village. -KC)
