Dear Fans and Friends:

 As usual, time got away from me.  Sorry...

The Animal Welfare League Show was their most successful ever!  Irv Cass as Tom Jones, Dwight Icenhower as Elton John and Elvis®, Steve Bobbitt as Rod Stewart, and Ryan Pelton as Elvis® rocked the house.  There was even a surprise visit from Tina Turner!  Best of all, we all got to meet Dwight's lovely wife, Vicki.  She is very nice and gorgeous!  Dwight hit the jackpot!

The end of May found us flying to Lake George, NY.  This gorgeous village lies at the foot of the Adirondack Mountains and is nestled next to Lake George - one of the most beautiful and clear lakes in the world.  It's a wonderful place to visit!

Thursday night, the opening ceremonies took place at Shepherd's Park.  This beautiful shell sits on the bank of Lake George and offers the audience not only a great show - but - the gorgeous view in the background.  The weather was not wonderful; however, it didn't seem to bother the fans.  The Park was packed with screaming fans and colorful umbrellas.

This year the Festival moved to the Painted Pony Fairground.  It's a beautiful  rodeo fairgrounds surrounded by forested hills.    

The contest this year had 63 contestants - so - we were kept hopping all day Friday and Saturday.  Terry Collins has worked out a wonderful system whereby the contestants all sing one round with the fabulous Change of Habit Tribute Band and the second round with CD's.  He also uses over 20 judges and rotates them through so that each session has a different group of  judges.  Each of the contestants gets his own chance to shine.

Friday night's show was called "The Great Pretenders."  Tom Jones, Ricky Nelson, Elton John, James Brown, Rod Stewart, and Elvis® kept the crowd at a fever pitch.  What a great show!

Saturday night's show was called "Opening Night at the International."  After Ted Torres and Gino Monopoli, 2008 Professional Early Years Champion,  opened the show with a demonstration of Elvis'® early years, Dwight Icenhower recreated the rehearsal as Elvis® prepared to open his historic run in Las Vegas.  After a break, Dwight, in the authentic 2-piece black outfit, showed the audience what the glittering open night at the International Hotel was like.  There were many songs that fans don't often get to hear and the show thrilled all.

Sunday morning, the sun came up into a glittering blue sky for the Gospel Concert.  Many of the talented ETA's showed up  to pay homage to Elvis'® glorious gospel music.  Garyelvis Britt led us all in prayer.

Elvis® Bingo followed in the Painted Pony Restaurant.  Debbie Russell, who did a great job as scarf girl, called the bingo.  After several happy winners walked out with prizes, the action moved back to the main stage for the finals.

All the areas not covered with the permanent roof had been covered with a giant tarp and the dressing rooms were large comfortable tents.  As the afternoon progressed, the day got windier and windier.  All of a sudden, with a huge crack, the tarp began to fall.  Everyone moved into the permanent structure and safety.  After a few minutes, it was obvious that nothing would keep the tarp up and the tents also began to blow down.  Everyone, volunteers, fans, and ETA's jumped in to help.  Within the hour, the band was back on the stage and re-opened the show with a lovely rendition of "Sleepwalk."    It was an amazing example of teamwork - no-one was hurt and the show went on.

After hard-fought finals, the winners were:

Youth Division

1 - Brenen Katolinsky
2 - Matthew Boyce
3 - Jackson Begley

Non-Professional Early Years

 1 - Carl Brandon
2 - Brycen Katolinsky
3 - Sean Rowan
4 - Wayne Curtis
5 - David Korotkov

Non-Professional Jumpsuit Years 

1 - Anthony Carbone
2 - Kevin Hupka
3 - John Cigan
4 - E-Rock
5 - Tom Gilbo

Professional Early Years

1 - Matt Joyce
2 - Larry Tschekalin
3 - James Begley
4 - Bruce Herron
5 - Drew Polsun

Professional Jumpsuit Years

1 - Kevin Mills (also representing Lake George in EPE's Ultimate Contest)
2 - Robert Washington
3 - Rick Huntress
4 - Bryant Scott
5 - Steve Mitchell

Peoples' Choice

 E-Rock

It was an exciting weekend and we urge anyone who has not been to this beautiful area to consider joining us next year!

Coming up on the 4th of July, the Seminole Elvis® Fest will be held in Immokalee, Florida.  This year, with $10,000 in prize money, it will be a fun contest!

Two weeks later, we travel to Council Bluffs, Iowa, for the Horseshoe Elvis® Fest.  July 18 & 19 are the dates of this invitational contest where the hosts provide all the contestants with rooms, meals, and a minimum of $400.00.  The people there are friendly and we enjoy this weekend a lot.  Join us!

In August, we travel to Memphis for Elvis® Week.  We always look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones.

Hope everyone is having a great summer.  We are finally getting some warm weather here in Chicagoland and my Topsy-turvy tomatoes are happy. 

Best to everyone!!!

Sincerely,

Nance