Happy Spring to All!

The grass is turning green and my crocus are peeping their little faces to the sun - it's almost Spring! 2007 has been a great year so far and promises to be even better.

In January, we left on our annual Elvis® FANtasyFest Cruise. Kathy and I flew from icy Chicago to warm and sunny Miami. We joined Ronny Craig, Quentin Flagg, Irv Cass, Dwight Icenhower, and Robert Washington aboard our beautiful ship and headed into the Caribbean. Our first stop was in Grand Cayman. We had a wonderful time visiting "Hell" - an unusual rock formation in the middle of the lush island. We toured the Turtle Farm and even got Patti Parry to hold one of the "teenage" turtles. Our next stop was Jamaica. We were lucky to find a cab driver who had relatives in the rain forest so that, as part of the tour, we sat on their terrace, high above the city, and enjoyed a beautiful view. Hundreds of butterflies fluttered around us as we looked across the rain forest to see our ship nestled in the harbor. What an experience! The ETA's, as usual, put on 2 great shows. The ship has their own show and we contributed lots of talent to that too! Quentin did Ricky Martin, Robert did James Brown and Dwight cracked us up as Elton John. The trip was wonderful!

Kathy flew down to Pigeon Forge in February to help Lou Vuto put on his great contest. It was her first solo trip and, from all reports, she did a great job! Both Rob Langford, last year's winner, and Demi Downing, our pretty Elvis® diva, added to the fun with their performances. Lou entertained on Saturday afternoon to a full house! Winners were:

1 - Matt Cordell
2 - Jamie Roberts
3 - Mark Gagnon
4 - Greg Dennison
5 - Elvis E

The following weekend, Irv and I flew to Lake George, NY, for their Winter Carnival. They had gotten a ton of snow on Valentine's Day and the entire town looked like a winter wonderland. Terry Collins, Joe Ramsey and Irv put on a fabulous show on Saturday night. The crowd was standing room only and the guys did not disappoint. It was a wonderful evening. The trip only reinforced our feeling that Lake George is a beautiful town and the people are terrific. Irv and I walked to a yummy Italian restaurant called Mario's the first night. The owner, yes!, the owner, insisted on driving us back after letting her car warm up so that would be comfortable! Where else would that happen???

February 24th brought us to the Empress Casino and "Elvis® Meets Rod Stewart." This show was to benefit the Marine Corp League of Joliet. I can honestly tell you that at 5:00 PM, Kathy, Ronny and I looked at each other and wondered if anyone would show up. It was snowing and sleeting and raining and the roads were just terrible. Luckily for us, Irv and Steve Bobbitt (Rod Stewart), Marty Bilecki (Performance Sound) and the Exspence Account Showband had arrived early. Around 6:00 PM, a few of the Marines began to arrive to set up the raffle tables and we all kept shaking our heads and worrying. At 6:30, we looked up to see the fans pouring in the doors! Although a few fans who had ordered tickets could not make it, the room was full and the show was a huge success. I even won car washes for a year in the raffle!

Friday, March 16, I went to help Ed and Annette put on their show, "Elvis® for Animals." Ed and Annette run a wild animal rescue and have lots of interesting creatures including a boa constrictor, a tarantula, a mountain lion, 3 monkeys, an adorable fox, and many others. Sara Derfler and I worked the raffle table and delighted in being able to enjoy the show without the pressure of putting it on. The performers included Ed "the monkey man" Parzygnat, Dennis Stella, Dwight Icenhower, Quentin Flagg and Doug Church. Ronny Craig was, of course, our wonderful MC. It was great fun!

Some interesting information! Doug Church is representing Hershey's Chocolate. He brought us a new candy bar that will be released this summer. It's called Reese's Elvis® Peanut Butter and Banana Creme. Wow! Is it good! Congratulations, Doug!

The beginning of June will bring us to wonderful Lake George Elvis® Fest. June 1-3 are the dates. If you haven't been to Lake George, this is the year to do so. It's a wonderful place to visit in the New York Adirondack Mountains - a resort town nestled around beautiful Lake George. The people are welcoming and friendly and it's a fun weekend! This contest is a preliminary for EPE's Ultimate Elvis® Tribute Artist Competition. Along with the contest, Dwight Icenhower and Doug Church will perform on Saturday night in a show I like to call "The Voices of Elvis®!"

We have added an exciting new contest to our roster. On June 21, 1977, Elvis® performed one of his last concerts at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center in Rapid City, SD. In honor of that performance, the Center will present the "Ultimate Elvis® Tribute and Festival" to be held June 22 & 23 of this year. This contest is a preliminary for EPE's Ultimate Elvis® Tribute Artist Competition to be held in August in Memphis. Along with the contest, Matt King will recreate that June 21st concert backed by the Change of Habit Tribute Band. Rapid City is close to Mount Rushmore and Deadwood. Make your plans now to join us.

We look forward to seeing all of you during 2007.

Nance