LOS FRESNOS — Elvis is alive!
He exploded onto the stage yesterday at the 23rd annual Little Graceland Elvis Presley Festival wearing the guises of 11 impersonators, including Luis Salazar Jr., Eddie Carson and Danny Lee Garza.
“Yes! Yes! Oh, my gosh!” shouted Luis Barrera, 9, as Garza dashed onto the stage in a glittery gold jacket and sang an early Elvis favorite.
“Well, that’s all right, mama, that’s all right for you. That’s all right mama, just anyway you do,” Garza sang, his body gyrating to the song in an eerily close imitation.
Throngs of people of all ages, most of them from the Presley era, had converged on Little Graceland at 701 W. Ocean Blvd. in Los Fresnos. Little Graceland is a museum dedicated to the late King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. The museum is owned by Simon Vega, who knew Elvis while serving with him in the U.S. Army in Germany.
He saw Elvis quite often but was apprehensive about introducing himself.
“I was scared to say hi to him,” said Vega, 80. “I was scared he would ignore me.”
However, one day he saw Elvis in the chow line about 10 people ahead of him.
“I went and patted him on the back,” Vega said. “He turned around and I said, ‘Hi, Elvis.’ He said, ‘Hi, Vega.’ I said, ‘Let me be your friend.’ And he said yes.”
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