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Dear Friends and Fans!
Hope everyone has had a great summer! I have decided that grass was
invented by the Marquis de Sade! Every time I left for a show, it rained
and the sun shone. My lawn welcomed me home each time by gracefully
waving and demanding to be mowed. My tractor and I are "best friends."
First of all, congratulations to
Jim and Donna Barone on the birth of their son, Vincent James. The
Barones welcomed their new baby on July 7th.
The Horseshoe ElvisŪ Fest was July 14-16 in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Our
dear friend, Johnny Ray Gomez, has hosted a wonderful contest at the
Bluffs Run Casino for years. Bluffs Run has now expanded onto the
Horseshoe Casino and our friend, Johnny Ray, is no longer with them. The
new entertainment director decided to continue the tradition and we
helped her produce the 1st Annual Horseshoe ElvisŪ Fest. There is a
wonderful area in the new Casino called the Whiskey Roadhouse where we
held our contest. It has a great sound system, stage, and seats 750 (we
had it packed!). The Horseshoe provides lodging, meals, and a minimum of
$400.00 to each ETA in the contest. We limited the contest to 15 great
ETA's! Winners were:
1st - Dwight Icenhower
2nd - Ben Kline
3rd - Robert Washington
4th - Justin Edwards
The contest was so much fun and such a success that the Horseshoe has
already invited us back for 2007, The dates will be July 13-15 and the
Casino wants to make it bigger and better than ever!
Collingwood was next. We are pretty proud of our EEN members:
Early Years
1st - Pete Paquette
2nd - Mike Bravener
3rd - Justin Edwards
Concert Years
1st - Irv Cass
2nd - Paul Ross
3rd - Marcus Wells
Our own Paul Ross also won the Inspirational Gospel Competition.
And...speaking of congratulations - we are so proud of Irv Cass who was
chosen to co-headline the first ever Elvis Presley Enterprises sponsored
Tribute Artist concert. Irv, Shawn Klush, and Donny Edwards wowed the
audience and, we hear, EPE too!
Before we knew it, Ronny and
Kathy and I were on our way to Memphis! As usual, Memphis was hot and
humid - but - the air conditioning in the Holiday Inn was working well
this year (unlike last year!). It was so great to see old friends and
meet lots of new ETA's. Crowds were down this year - but - I think many
fans are saving up for the 30th next year. Images proved itself to be an
international contest this year. Winners were:
1st - Elvis Jr - Belgium
2nd - Gino Monopoli - Canada
3rd - Kjell - Norway
Kathy Hood, Marie White and I shared a room and had a great time!
Lots of excitement coming up this Fall. The ElvisŪ Explosion is
September 9-11 in beautiful LaCrosse, Wisconsin. Ronny Craig and the
Children's Miracle Network put on a fun show. It looks like a big one
this year as we already have over 30 entries.
Two weeks later, we travel to Dewey Beach, DE, for Elvistival! This
contest is held at the Rusty Rudder - an open-air restaurant right on
beautiful Rehobeth Bay. The crowds are huge and the boats pull up to the
dock and their owners dance on board to the great ElvisŪ music. The
Rusty Rudder provides lodging and meals for the lucky contestants.
Two weeks later, Branson, MO, and the Lodge of the Ozarks will host the
ElvisŪ Explosion II of Branson. Young singing sensation, Cody Slaughter,
will be our special guest. Everyone will want to se this talented
teenager - he has a HUGE future!
Hope to see all of you soon!
Nance |
