By Kenneth Hesselbacher

Nov. 4, 2025: This is a story not to be confused with the famous novel, “The Sun Also Rises” by Ernest Hemingway. Our tale takes place within the bucolic village of Bronxville, New York. On a gorgeous fall afternoon, I decided to take our two youngest grandchildren, Eric, almost 4, and his sister Caroline, almost 2, on a tour of the village. Grandy would stay home making marmalade for sandwiches. When we returned we would all watch our favorite movie, “Paddington”. To add a learning experience to our tour, I would take the kids to the Sunset Hill monument, located just south of The Gramatan, commemorating where the Indian chief Gramatan sold the land known as Eastchester to the settlers in 1666.

However, upon arriving at the site, we were surprised to discover that the commemorative plaque was missing! We quickly put on our crime stopper hats and headed south to the Bronxville Police Station to report the theft. At the police station Police Officer Cheryl informed us that the plaque had not been stolen but had been removed by town officials. We were directed to Bronxville Town Hall for additional information. We quickly removed our crime stopper hats, put on our investigative reporter hats, and walked to the Town Hall. Jim Palmer, Village Administrator, explained that the plaque had been removed based upon extensive research done by the highly respected former Bronxville Historian, Eloise Morgan and other historians who had determined that there was no historical basis to substantiate the claim. Jim advised that the plaque was presently stored in the Archival Room at the Bronxville Public Library under the supervision of the present Bronxville Historian, Ray Geselbracht.

Yes, we then quickly put on our archivist hats and met with Mr. Geselbracht who verified that the plague was indeed in a secure storage room. He escorted us to view the actual plaque. Eric and Caroline carefully examined the plaque, carefully read the extensive documentation and, after conferring amongst themselves, agreed with the historians that although the plaque was real, the information on the plaque could not be historically verified. Ray mentioned that prior to his present position he worked at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library in Independence Missouri for 26 years. At the mention of Harry Truman I thought that I had been just slightly older than Eric when he was president. Looking back, I thought what a decent person and a good president he was.

With the mystery solved and the case closed, we were homeward bound. We passed Sunset Hill, and although the plaque was no longer there, the sun was still setting. Suddenly Mayor Mary Marvin appeared and she just wanted to thank Eric and Caroline for all the work they had done this day. And since a picture is worth a thousand words, we quickly took a photo of Mayor Marvin and the Hesselbacher children.

And soon we would be enjoying Grandy’s marmalade sandwiches, putting on our Paddington Bear hats, and once again, watching “Paddington”. It just does not get any better than that!

Note: The Eric of this story is the same Eric that was featured in a previous Bronxville Bulletin article “ Eric and the Miracle of the Ducks”.