Almost six decades have passed since that fateful day, but Bob Levy recalls vividly the events of Nov. 7, 1951.

That was the day Levy's friend, Frank Sinatra, was to marry Ava Gardner. It would be Sinatra's second marriage; Gardner's third and last.

The ceremony was supposed to have occurred in the home of Levy's parents, Leon and Blanche. But, when members of the media and fans of the famous couple got wind of what was set to take place in the Levy house at the corner of Henry Avenue and School House Lane in East Falls, chaos ensued.

Today, that house serves as the admissions building for Philadelphia University. But in those days, it was known as one of only a couple places the late, great singing sensation known as "Ol' Blue Eyes" would hang his hat when in Philly for a visit.

"It's a great story," Kathryn "Kit" Levy Feldman, Leon and Blanche's granddaughter, said about the infamous wedding. "They set up a booby trap for the press."

Feldman, who today lives in Bryn Mawr, laughed when asked by a reporter if she was told the story of the Sinatra-Gardner wedding growing up.

"You need to talk to my father," she said.

Her father, Bob Levy, now 78 and also living in Bryn Mawr, didn't need his memory jogged any. He recalled the events of that day as if they just happened.

"You remember things that happened sixty years ago, but you don't remember what happened yesterday," said Levy by phone from his office in Ardmore. (Yes, he still goes to the office).

Levy was around 20-years-old the year of the famous wedding. He recalls that the nuptials were actually supposed to have taken place at his parents' house, but plans changed when word leaked of the occasion.

The wedding was then going to be moved to his uncle Isaac's house, located across the street, but that was too close for comfort.

"The press found out about it, and they're crawling all over our property, his property, everything," Levy said.

Sinatra and his bride-to-be wanted an under-the-radar type of wedding, Levy said, something that couldn't happen with all the cameras around.

"They didn't want any publicity at all," he said, "although today they probably would have."

Eventually, the decision was made to relocate the wedding to the home of Lester Sacks, the brother of Manny Sacks, who Levy said was Sinatra's "best friend" in Philadelphia.

Lester Sacks was a well-known dress manufacturer living in nearby Germantown.

Still, given that word had already spread about the wedding, reporters surely would have learned of the Germantown location. That's where Levy stepped in, against the advice of his parents.

"The last thing my parents said was, 'don't get involved,'" Levy recalled.

Of course, when his folks, who were vacationing in Europe at the time, picked up the paper in London and read news of the famous wedding, they knew their son went against their better judgment.