Dear Fans and Friends:

How about this? I'm right on time!

The 4th of July was the date and the Seminole Casino in Immokalee, FL, the setting for the 2nd Annual Seminole Elvis® Fest. This year, the Casino offered a $10,000 purse and the competition was lively. Plans are already in place to have a multiple day contest next year. The heat is unbelievable down there - but - we were cool and comfortable. Winners were:
1 - Ted Torres
2 - Dwight Icenhower
3 - Jess LaJess
4 - GaryElvis Britt
5 - Maurice Sheps

The Horseshow Elvis® Fest was next. This is an invitational tournament and the casino takes wonderful care of all the ETA's. Each of them gets a minimum of $400.00 plus their rooms and meals. We had 15 wonderful contestants and the competition was fierce. Matt Joyce, last year's winner, gave a great concert followed by a fun jam session. The Change of Habit Tribute Band backed everyone up in fine fashion. We have exciting plans for next year...

The ETA's are going to judge each other! We will work out a plan whereby each contestant will be judged by a minimum of 7-10 of his peers. The guys have been telling me for years that they are the experts (true) in all things Elvis® and they resent uninformed judges making mistakes in their scoring. So - we're gonna try something new! It's going to be an interesting weekend!

Winners for 2009 were:

1 - Dwight Icenhower
2 - Ryan Roth
3 - Todd Martin

In August, we headed to Memphis. It was wonderful to see old friends and meet new ones! Of course, the less said about the Holiday Inn, the better. We understand it has been sold again - we can only hope conditions improve. There were some wonderful performances in addition to the winners - in particular - Jim Barone, Mark Anthony, and Todd Martin. Our dear friend, Nina Hoeksema, won the "Spirit of Elvis Award," and Bobby Simkins won the "People's Choice." We drove home through the ugliest clouds I have ever seen - but - ran into very little rain, thank goodness. Winners were:

1 - Jesse Aron
2 - Chris Conner
3 - (tie) Joe Hall & Cody Slaughter

The winners of the Ultimate Contest were:

1 - Bill Cherry
2 - Donny Edwards (something about "Always a bridesmaid....?)
3 - Kevin Mills

The month of September will be a busy one for us. We begin the month in Manchester, New Hampshire, at the New England Elvis® Festival. This weekend is being put on by the wonderful folks that do the Lake George Elvis® Fest. The contest is an invitational and will be great. There will be a free Gospel Concert and after-hours parties. Shawn Klush will recreate the Aloha Concert on Saturday night; Pete Paquette will open for him. The entire weekend will take place in a new and beautiful Radisson Hotel. Should be fun!

Two weeks later, we travel to LaCrosse, WI, for Ronny Craig's Elvis® Explosion. He has a huge list of contestants and it's always a really great weekend.

The following week, we fly to Dewey Beach, Delaware, for Elvistival ! Again, we have a huge list of contestants and are looking forward to this always crazy weekend. Our wonderful host, the Rusty Rudder, provides the ETA's with rooms and meals - a BIG help in this expensive tourist town.

Hope to see many of you next month. Join us for lots of fun and great Elvis music!

Nance