- May 3, 2024
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Meeting Troy and Fern Reins the other day was a good reminder: Every home in Palm Coast has a story to tell.
Reins greeted me at the door with an old copy of the Palm Coast Observer, in which they were pictured on the front page, in masquerade dress. As good as that is, it’s not even the best part of the story!
When Troy Reins was a young employee at Columbia Pictures years ago, he often spent time on the TV show lots. One day, he bumped into the newest recruit for a TV show. That young recruit was Davy Jones, who ended up being a lifelong friend. “We just started to talk, and we kept talking for 46 years,” Reins said.
The show, featuring Jones and three other unknown actors, was “The Monkees.”
At his home in the F-section, Reins also has photographs of himself with Mr. Ed, the talking horse. Sylvester Stallone shows up next to family photos. Then there’s the Rolls-Royce that he drove every other day for seven years — formerly owned by Frank Sinatra. He was in the Rose Parade 17 times. He has a ceramic frog sculpted and signed by Moe, from The Three Stooges. He even had a brief appearance on horseback in Roman Polanski’s classic crime film, “Chinatown.”
He then showed me a copy of a CD that had some writing in marker across the front: “‘Amore,’ Davy Jones. New record to Troy & Fern XOX.” It was a new song that Jones had written; he wanted Reins’ opinion.
If you follow entertainment news, you know that Jones died recently, Feb. 29. Including the Reinses, there were 32 people at the funeral, Troy Reins said.
The Monkees were a sensation, selling more than 65 million records worldwide to date. Reins has a box set of every episode of the TV show and, he says, it’s the only set in the world that has the signature of every one of the band members. He got the signatures at a rare appearance of the band together after they split up.
Reins, who is also a 32nd-degree Shriner, summarized his own story like this: “In a little one-horse town like this, there is a resident very close with a person who’s known throughout the world.”
What’s your story? Email [email protected].
