Happy Birthday Elvis

On January 8, 2010, Elvis Presley would have been 75 years old.

Although Turner Classic Movies had a film festival marathon of Elvis movies for viewers and fans to enjoy, not much else was said about Elvis’ birthday, except brief reportings on some local news stations.

However, it was a different story for Elvis Presley fans in Sterling Heights, Michigan. The local Elvis Presley Fan Club of Sterling Heights Michigan hosted an Elvis Presley birthday party on January 8, 2007.

I had the privilege of being invited to the birthday party. Although I didn’t know what to expect at first, it turned out to be a very festive occasion. When I got off the plane, I was greeted by local fan club spokesperson, Gloria Norton. Ms. Norton was wearing her fan club hat and coat, and provided me with a hat, and windbreaker jacket, with fan club logos all over it.

The small group of people who greeted me for this festive occasion created a little commotion from quite a bit of people at the airport, not to mention a little attention from airport officials. It was all in good fun. I was chauffeured to the airport hotel and settled in for the afternoon and prepared for the evening’s occasion.

When I arrived at the local Lions Club Recreation Hall, I was surprised to find how elaborately the celebration was decorated. Not to mention the great crowd of people present to celebrate Elvis Presley’s birthday. Wow. They didn’t even know Elvis personally, and they went to all this trouble.

There were several tasty birthday cakes and finger foods available. There was a large-screen television showing highlights of Elvis movies, and live performances recorded in the 1950s, in 1970s. The people played games and shared their personal Elvis belongings to include photo albums, knickknacks, and small Elvis trinkets.

There was also a contest drawing, were the winner received a very nice Elvis painting along with a double CD set of Elvis songs from RCA records.

Although I did not win the contest drawing, I enjoyed the reaction from the couple who won the painting and CD set.

The highlight of the evening was a local Elvis impersonator who sang about a dozen songs, which included Heartbreak Hotel, Treat Me Nice, Can’t Help Falling In Love, Love Me Tender, Blue Hawaii, and many more. The entertainer had a very impressive set up. He had a karaoke machine and PA system that sounded surprisingly good. He wore a white jumpsuit, reminiscent of the performances Elvis gave at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas back in the early 1970s.

The Elvis impersonator also sounded surprisingly good. I enjoyed watching him give away several scarves to the women in the audience. But the highlight of the evening was when he provided three senior citizen women with scarves. He sang songs to these ladies, gave them scarves, and brought tears to their eyes as he sang songs to them and spoke some kind words to them. Needless to say, it made their night, and mine as well.

The performance lasted about an hour, and the birthday party continued until a little after midnight. I was a little embarrassed to be called up to the front of the recreation hall and introduced to all of the Elvis fans as a reporter documenting the event. Oh well, it’s all in the day’s work. I enjoyed the cake, and snacks, and drinks provided by the festive occasion.

I was then given more gifts then I could squeeze in my suitcase to remind me of this occasion and new friends I had made this evening.

I had some trouble squeezing in all of the Elvis trinkets, memorabilia, and good luck charms that I was provided with from the good people of Sterling Heights. When I checked through security at the airport to go back home, an interesting thing happened.

One of my carry-on bags got some attention from the Department Of Home Security people. They asked me to step aside an open up my bag. One of the Elvis memorabilia gifts given to me was a small container of shampoo shaped like Elvis. The security people informed me that I was not allowed to carry this piece of memorabilia on the plane as it was against regulations. I had to leave my small Elvis shampoo holder at the airport. I wonder what would become of it?

If the airport security people are Elvis fans, no doubt it’s probably sitting in their bathroom today.