Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 11, 1994 TAG: 9401110154
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Kathleen Wilson
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Then I moved to Roanoke and learned that there are Elvis parents, too. But this isn't the place to admit that I've never much liked Elvis. Them's fightin' words.
But last week, for The King's 59th birthday, reporters and photographers were dispatched right and left to cover all sorts of hoopla at the Roanoke Valley History Museum in Center in the Square.
Might it be possible, I felt the need to ask the Powers That Be In The Newsroom, that just maybe it could be possible we might be "over-Elvising" things a bit?
The Powers were horrified that I could even suggest such a thing. There is, evidently, no such thing as "over-Elvising" in this town.
So when the history museum threw The King a party, a couple hundred Elvis worshipers turned out to sing happy birthday and blow out the candles.
The party was held in conjunction with the museum's new kitschy Elvis exhibit. It contains everything from "Love Me Tender" shampoo and conditioner to "Always Elvis," a fronetenac blanc d'oro Italian wine.
A giant pink alarm clock with an Elvis face was set at 4:34 a.m. - the exact time, I was told, that Elvis was born.
Small wonder signs asked visitors "Please do not touch or kiss the artifacts."
Local public-relations exec Lin Chaff - who garbed her entire family in vintage '50s glad rags for this event - thinks Roanoke ought to become the site for some sort of permanent Elvis exhibit.
Roanoke is, after all, kinda on the way to Memphis.
"It could increase tourism," she declared. "It would be a big tourist attraction!"
The best part of the party was the fun food catered by Murphy's Of Course. Junk food never looked so good.
It was soda shop fare - hot dogs, burgers and even grilled peanut-butter-and-banana sandwiches, just like the ones Elvis ate. Only smaller. (Somehow I don't picture Elvis chowing down on sandwiches daintily cut into triangles . . . )
Four-year-old Danielle Rassette brought her Elvis doll - a gift from Santa last year - all the way from North Carolina for this event.
Roanoke Mayor David Bowers brought one of those fancy city proclamations with the gold seals that declared this Elvis Presley Memorial Week.
And, get this: he sang!
It was sort of reminiscent of the late Democrat Tip O'Neill, who could burst into "Rose of Tralee" at the drop of a derby.
Bowers reminded the crowd to think of "Love Me Tender" as a political anthem, as he crooned, "love me tender, love me sweet, NEVER LET ME GO!"
As we waited for the birthday cake ("with Priscilla icing," caterer Ed Murphy pointed out), Danielle Rassette's 10-year-old brother, Nicholas, who swore he knew the words to six Elvis songs by heart, got the chance to prove it.
Once Bowers handed Nick the mike, this freckled kid stole the show by not only belting out "Heartbreak Hotel," but also by doing a mean Elvis impersonation.
Margie Terry of Danville was 15 when she met Elvis in Memphis on the property where Graceland was being built. He was 22. Margie met him sitting on a tractor. She even took his picture.
She took me out to the parking garage to show me the time-worn black-and-white photo. She kept it in the trunk of her car.
"I was afraid if I took it in there, somebody might have stolen it."
Elvis doesn't look much older than 15 in this old photo.
What Margie remembers most is the beautiful brown color of his hair.
The real queen of this ball was Kim Epperly, whose undying devotion to Elvis is immortalized on her Riverland Road yard in the form of Miniature Graceland. The exhibit was made up in part of her own memorabilia and artifacts, to which she will add the city proclamation once the show closes.
Some leftover Bar Talk:
Saturday night at Billy's Ritz, Troy Lenderking's observation of three women sitting at a nearby table: "They're definitely trollin'. They just haven't figured out what bait to use."
by CNB