King Charles III’s coronation will take place on Saturday, May 6, 2023 at Westminster Abbey in London, where he will be crowned alongside Camilla, the Queen Consort. In honor of the monumental occasion, 77-year-old Patchogue resident Penelope Grippo, who grew up in Luton, England, is calling on the local community to come together to properly celebrate. In addition to participating local businesses, Grippo is looking to add to the volunteer pool she currently has lined up.

“I have lived long enough to see the death of a king, the crowning of my queen, and the death of the queen. And now the crowning of a new king,” explained Grippo. “So really, a lot of people are not alive to see this. And this is a very, very historical occasion.”

Grippo said she originally planned to throw a big party at her home—the old lace mill house, where she has lived since 1981. She then received a suggestion to extend the party throughout the town. Ideally, she’d like to model Patchogue with inspiration from The Mall in London: a road running from Buckingham Palace at its western end to Whitehall, near Trafalgar Square.

She aims to have British flags and bunting displayed along Main Street, decorated boats, the live crowning ceremony as well as old British films playing at the theaters in Patchogue, and some British-themed drink and food menu options at local restaurants. Grippo said she anticipates a great multicultural turnout amongst Patchogue’s diverse community, and that she has friends and family coming in from Australia, Japan, England, South Dakota, California and Connecticut.

Grippo is proud not only of her English heritage, but of the community she has called home for the last 40 years. She called the event a way of “saying thank you to America for what you did for England. But for America, I would not be here.”

“We only have a new king every once in a lifetime. So, we’ll see if we can do something to celebrate all those people with British heritage,” said Thomas Keegan, chairperson of Patchogue’s Cultural Heritage Committee, adding that sponsors will be needed to help support the event. “Our current relationship with them is a pretty important part of what America is about. I think it’d be appropriate for us to get those British people who are going to be our representatives of the monarchy, have a nice day, and try to make it an event to be remembered.”