Stan's Bar.
Maryhill Road, Glasgow.
In the NEWS 1979...
A Sheriff in Downtown Maryhill...
The Saloon was busy, the buzz was all about the Jags' weekend win over Aberdeen and the monsoon weather we're having...
Then in walked the Sheriff. We're used to strange things happening in Maryhill, but this was the first time a real live sheriff had popped into the local, Stan's Bar.
Nice guy. Enjoys a pint. He's over for the Police Tattoo at the Kelvin Hall. Name's Roger Goad, a police captain back in San Mateo, California. That's him at the bar, chatting to the owner, Stan Balfe.
You could have heard a pin drop when he walked in. But it was soon back to normal when the regulars learned he wasn't on business.
Still, it'll be the talk of the steamie, a real live Sheriff in Maryhill.
DO YOU KNOW WHERE THIS PUB WAS SITUATED, if so please do get in touch, email me at john@oldglasgowpubs.co.uk
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Before Stan owned his pub....
In the NEWS 1975...
Stan Balfe greets hotel guests outside Glasgow's famous Albany Hotel 1975.
Stan's Old Pal said "Park It" !...
Although interesting things are always happening to Stan Balfe, commissionaire at Glasgow's Albany Hotel, a coincidence which occurred the other day stands out in his mind.
Stan was out front enjoying the warmth from a watery sun when a car drew up on the hotel concourse. He went forward as usual, and the driver jumped out and said: "Just Park it as usual, Stan."
Then both did a double take. For the driver was a regular guest at the Hartford Hilton, Connecticut, America, where Stan had spent the previous eight years.
At the Hartford the routine was that the American would drive up to the hotel, jump out, and Stan would park the car for him.
Of course, customs are different here. But, as Stan said, "Just for a moment we had forgotten where we were." In his brown uniform and distinctive brown top hat Stan, who lives in the South Side of the city is rapidly becoming one of the best known figures in Glasgow.
He's the first to greet guests on their arrival at the Albany and the last to say good-bye when they leave. And it's always with a cherry word and a smile.
His job which he took up last December meant a return home for Stan, for he was born in Glasgow. He has an affection for the city and knows it well.
Guests often ask him to take them on a tour of the interesting buildings and landmarks. "I take them in my own time," he said, "I like doing it for I like Glasgow."
While he was at the Hartford Hilton a millionaire guest offered Stan and his wife the joint post of butler chauffeur, cook on his Virginia estate. The house was seventeenth century colonial style with variations.
There was a chapel on the roof and a gambling casino in the basement. There were 70 horses in the paddock, and the estate had its own racecourse.
Stan said: "The millionaire flew us down to Washington, where a car was waiting to take us to his estate which was a fantastic place. But the job just wasn't for us, we turned it down."
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Stan Balfe behind the bar of his pub. 1979.
In the NEWS 1979...
Stan goes Stateside For the Trip of a Lifetime...
Stovies For The Danes...
Glasgow publican Stan Balfe has just received an offer which he has no intention of refusing, an all-expenses paid trip to Washington to attend one of the most prestigious dinners in the American social calendar.
And, to make it all the more irresistible, Frank Sanatra, Stan's favourite all-time entertainer, is doing the cabaret. Stan invited to the annual dinner of the Touchdown Club of America by Tom Marshall, a city businessman who is a director of an electrical company.
Govan-born Tom is the only Scots member of the Touchdown Club and he and Stan intend sparing the Americans nothing by attending the dinner on Saturday night in full Highland dress.
Stan, who bought his own pub in Maryhill Road seven months ago, is better known to many Glaswegians as the man who was commissionaire at the Albany Hotel in Glasgow for many years.
When Tom went to functions at the Albany Stan would park his car. The two men became friendly and Tom knew that the commissionaire had spent many years in a similar job at the Hilton Hotel in Hertford, Connecticut, and knew a great many showbiz personalities extremely well, Perry Como in particular.
In fact Stan got to know Frank Sanatra, jun., while he was at the Hilton. Although Tom Marshall will be in America for three days because of business commitments, Stan is staying on for 10 days to visit friends in Pittsburgh and Hartford.
Saturday's fling is in the Washington Hilton with an estimated 5000 of American's top businessmen sitting in the audience.
End.
