Windsor Elvis Fest ETA Radio Lady Luck Music

Kudos to contest winners: Jesse Aron, David Muggeridge, Lance Dobinson, and Brenen Katolinsky. Kudos to finalists: Marcus Wells, John Loos, Kevin Bezaire, Daryl Burwash, Steven Pelleriti, and Brycen Katolinsky. Special congratulations to David Muggeridge who earned the overall highest point score over the course of the weekend....and thanks to all ETA’s who participated and helped to make the inaugural Windsor Elvis Fest the success that it was.

Some of the festival highlights for me:

The friendly volunteers in their “Jailhouse Rock” shirts - What a difference it makes to be met and indeed “greeted” with friendly smiling faces on the part of the volunteers, who were also extremely courteous and treated everyone with respect. I think the Windsor Elvis Fest volunteer team deserve a special award – and you wouldn’t believe how many other fans and ETA’s mentioned the volunteers, who are usually the unsung heroes of any such event. This time the volunteers were indeed noticed and appreciated!

The great location - Outdoor parks, indoor theatres, hotels, and good places to eat were all within walking distance of each other so fans and ETA’s didn’t have to spend hours traveling long distances between venues/eating places/their hotels. Dieppe Park certainly has one of the most impressive “backdrops” I’ve seen with the sparkling waters of the Detroit River and the mighty Detroit skyline rising across the river........and the beautiful Chrysler Theatre was about as nice a venue as I’ve seen at ETA Festivals.

The feeling of “community” - This Festival displayed the ETA and Elvis Fan “community” at its best. Everyone was there to do their best, to support the festival, and to support each other. From the top down, and from the bottom up, there was an atmosphere of respect...for the ETA’s, for the fans, for the judges, for the organizers, for all the contest winners and contestants, and for Elvis Presley. And how nice that was!

Well priced shows and events - The events in the park and the two big shows at the Chrysler Theatre were well priced, as were the meals in the nearby restaurants. The nearby hotels all offered an “Elvis” rate. There was also a weekend package price. Fans could enjoy the weekend but also not have to take out a second mortgage!!

Organization - I’m sure there were some people running around frantically behind the scenes as there always are, but everything ran extremely smoothly for a first time event and if there were any behind the scenes glitches they certainly weren’t noticeable to the public or the fans.

And although it’s not possible to mention everyone’s name, some of the “ETA” highlights for me, from the various events over the weekend, included:

- John Loos’ beautiful rendition of “Miracle of the Rosary” which isn’t a song I’ve heard often at Elvis Fests.

- fans from North Carolina squealing with delight when David Muggeridge, from North Carolina, was introduced - they had no idea there was an ETA from their area in Windsor.

- Gino Monopoli, with his Elvis-like resemblance attracting lots of attention from autograph seekers who were also hoping to have their pic taken with him and who were shouting “Gino, Gino, Gino” when he was up on stage singing. As I’ve said before, Gino looks more like Elvis each time I see him!

- Garyelvis Britt from Florida doing a fantastic job as host/MC, setting just the right tone for the whole weekend and adding his brand of (duck) humour and flair which put the audiences into a good frame of mind all weekend as they eagerly waited to hear what happened to the duck!!

- Ottawa’s Pete Paquette demonstrating his exceptional “Elvis-like” voice during his early years and movie years sets.

- Michigan’s Irv Cass, in black leather at first, and then resplendent in his beautiful Peacock jumpsuit, delivering a truly professional and “Elvis-like” performance which was much appreciated by the audience . Of course, by the end of the evening the women were lined up for scarves and kisses from Irv (who, by the way, was mobbed in the lobby after the show by fans seeking autographs and pictures).

- “first time” ETA James Gibb, with his beautiful smile, demonstrating some great potential as he sang “Baby Let’s Play House” and “You’re Right, I’m Left, She’s Gone.” I’m sure we’ll be seeing lots more of James.

- nine-year old Steven Pelleriti in the youth contest wowing the crowd as he sang “Heart of Rome” - and it was great to see all the youth competitors who are developing into the next generation of Elvis singers and fans

- Kevin Bezaire from nearby LaSalle, making it to the finals and being elated to be competing in front of a home town crowd

- the performances of, among others, Fred Wolfe, Mark Stephan, John Kevin Hupka, Curt Lechner and Don “Tulsa” McLean whom I hadn’t seen before

- the on-stage wedding ceremony as Diane Lessard and Ian Hibbert tied the knot at the Chrysler Theatre.

- contest highlights included those performances given by the ETA’s who placed first in their divisions....Jesse Aron definitely captured Elvis’ majesty with his performance and his voice; David Muggeridge has progressed by leaps and bounds in only 3 short years; 18-year-old Lance Dobinson, whom I’ve seen performing since he was 9 years old, has developed into a very fine ETA, and Brenen Katolinksky in the youth division gave a terrific performance.

- the nicest looking trophies I’ve seen in a long while

- Dan Coursol’s “Amazing Grace” in the gospel competition, along with Shon Carroll’s “I’m Gonna Walk Dem Golden Stairs”

- Garyelvis’ “umbrella drill” – as it started to rain part way through the gospel contest Garyelvis had all the fans sitting in front of the judges raise their umbrellas over their heads in unison as part of a “drill” to determine whether the judges could see over them!

- Roy Leblanc and Anthony Von demonstrating their charisma and showmanship with crowd-pleasing performances...Roy, always dressed to kill, turned heads just entering the park, and Anthony, a master showman, soon had the women up hula dancing!

-Windsor’s “Simply Praise” gospel singers who were so good I hope they perform on stage at the theatre during next year’s ElvisFest.

Congratulations to the Windsor Jailhouse Rock Elvis Fest organizers, including “ringleaders” Honourary Chair, Police Chief Glenn Stannard; Chair, Chris Edwards; Ellen Hope, Executive Director of Centres for Seniors Windsor; the Centres For Seniors Windsor Board; Festival Director, Edie Curtin; and Entertainment Co-ordinator Richard Rosenthal -- in addition to many, many other fantastic volunteers and hard-working assistants. Congratulations also to ETA Garyelvis Britt, who played a big part in the success of the festival and was a wonderful weekend host, and to organizers of other festivals, most noticeably the Brantford, Collingwood, and Michigan Elvis Fests who lent their support also.

Details: www.windsorelvisfest.com

Organized and presented by the Centres for Seniors Windsor, The Jailhouse Rock Elvis Fest had been in the making and planning for well over a year with a team of professional and dedicated organizers, advisors, and many supporters. Festival Director Edie Curtin reports that much research and consultation was carried out over the year – investigating other festivals, seeing what worked and didn’t work, and getting advice from those who have been involved with similar endeavors in Canada and the US. This was definitely not a haphazard affair. To everyone’s credit, the Windsor Jailhouse Rock Elvis Festival was also endorsed by EPE. Not bad for its first year!

As Mayor Eddie Francis stated in his program booklet remarks, Elvis himself had ties to this area as he performed across the river in Detroit a number of times. In fact, I enjoyed talking and reminiscing with other long time fans who, like me, had fond memories of seeing the real Elvis in his Michigan concerts.

ETA’s from both Canada and the US came to Windsor to support this Festival. In addition to hundreds and hundreds of local fans and residents, there were also a number of staunch fans from other parts of Canada and the US who had traveled long distances to attend and show their support also. In fact, I saw so many people I knew that it was almost like a family reunion. As ETA Gino Monopoli put it when I was talking to him early on the weekend, “It’s great to see so many ETA’s and fans coming out to give their backing to this ‘seedling’ festival.”

The weekend started on Friday afternoon with informal outdoor performances in the sunshine at beautiful Dieppe Park down by the waterfront, where fans could also browse the memorabilia tables provided by various vendors. On Friday night, the crowds moved into the impressive Chrysler Theatre, just steps away, for the headliner show featuring weekend host/performer Garyelvis Britt, Pete Paquette, Irv Cass, the singers of Memphis Motion, and the ExSpence Account Band (who backed the ETA’s all weekend). After the show and a meet-and-greet in the theatre lobby, fans and ETA’s congregated at nearby hotels for after-hours karaoke and camaraderie.

On Saturday, it was back to Dieppe Park for more sunshine, a great vintage car show, and the contest preliminaries which were all met with great enthusiasm by the large crowds. The 1200-seat Theatre was completely sold out for Saturday night’s contest finals, which also featured a wedding ceremony conducted by ETA Greg Jaqua (who is an ordained minister) and lots of excitement before the winners were announced. Again, there was more after-hours karaoke, celebrating, and mingling with friends at the hotels.

Sunday was another great day at the park, this time featuring a gospel competition and Windsor’s awesome “Simply Praise” gospel singers. By this time, ETA’s Roy Leblanc and Anthony Von had arrived to entertain the crowds also. By late afternoon, with the announcing of the winners and the presentation of trophies, the weekend came to an end all too soon. But seeing the smiles on the faces of the fans and ETA’s and hearing remarks such as “congratulations,” and “it was wonderful”...I know they’ll all be back next year.