By Ken Hesselbacher
It was the autumn of 1967 in Inwood, a small closely knit neighborhood located at the northern tip of Manhattan. Good Shepherd Church, a magnificent building, rose up at Broadway and 207th Street. One block up the street is Good Shepherd School, a prestigious elementary school dedicated to character building and and the education of young boys and girls.
Also within the friendly confines of Inwood were bars and taverns, many many bars and many many taverns and, during the late 1960’s they all seemed to be thriving! In one of these establishments an extremely patriotic bartender was bemoaning the fact that, as many young neighborhood boys were away fighting in Vietnam, there were many people back in the United States protesting the war.
He suggested that someone should go to Vietnam and bring our boys a couple of beers and let them know that everyone back home supported them. Of course, everyone agreed. There was one guy who not only agreed but said that he would do it! The guy was Chickie Donoghue.
Chickie was 26 years old, had done a four year tour in the Marines in the
early 1960’s and was presently a merchant seaman. So began the saga that became The Greatest Beer Run Ever, a six month adventure during which Chickie did what he said he would do and somehow lived to tell about it. A few years ago there was a documentary titled “The Greatest Beer Run Ever” produced by Pabst Blue Ribbon which can be viewed on You Tube.
Then Chickie thought it would be a good idea to write a book about his adventure so he co-authored “The Greatest Beer Run Ever” with
JoAnna Molloy, a well known writer. The book is a great read that captured the true grit of Chickie and the young Inwood boys who found themselves in such a far away terrible situation.
And now, as they say, the plot thickens! Peter Farrelly is not an Inwood Guy and he did not have the benefit of a Good Shepherd School education. He would however, based on his background, fit right in with the Inwood of the 1950’s-60’s He is the critically acclaimed film director who most recently won two Academy Awards for the movie “Green Book”, a true and touching story of friendship between two guys on a rode trip through the South during the early 1960’s
The problem that Farrelly faced after this success was what would he do as an encore! Well, Chickie’s story was the perfect solution and Farrelly’s will be directing “The Greatest Beer Run Ever”. Cast to play Chickie is the actor Dylan O’Brien who has landed the role of a lifetime. Although production has been temporarily placed on hold due to the Covid pandemic, I see a
bunch of Oscar’s waiting to be awarded and an Inwood celebration up on The Steps!
And now an ironic twist of fate. Mrs. Ronnie Walsh has been the Assistant Principal of Good Shepherd for the past nine years. In 1958 Mrs. Walsh, formerly Veronica Woisin, graduated from Good Shepherd, Class of 1958. She was a prim and proper young lady and could well have been the poster child for a Good Shepherd Girl.
Chickie Donohue graduated from Good Shepherd, Class of 1956. If memory serves me correctly Chickie was neither prim nor proper and not likely not be the poster child for a Good Shepherd Boy! Nevertheless, all these years later, they are both working to keep the school going strong. And somehow today I think there might be a young boy and girl in Good Shepherd who will one day take their place. Somehow, I doubt that either will be named Walsh or Donohue. But you never know.
In closing, I recommend the you watch the documentary on YouTube. There is a second expanded edition of the book now available at Amazon. Once you have seen the documentary and read the book I am confident that you will enjoy the movie when it is released.
And finally, on Wednesday November 25th Thanksgiving Eve, Chickie’s
adventure will be highlighted on Andrea Mitchell’s MSNBC TV show at Noon. Andrea Mitchell was not a Good Shepherd Girl but she certainly looks like one. Although the bars of Inwood are long gone, we should all be Thankful that Chickie and his “boys” are alive and kicking.
