I thought it would be fun to reminisce, about our Elvis encounters.
I had been a fan of Elvis for many years. I live in the states, and made a few trips to Canada. I had the pleasure of meeting him, at one of the stops on his last tour. There was a meet and greet held, at Montana's restaurant. (Etobicoke,Ontario)My friend Connie & I were one of the first to arrive. I brought my Elvis book on the trip, just for Elvis to sign. I gave Connie a skating book, which she had autographed.
During the wait for Elvis, we met so many other fans. I must say, the Canadian fans are always so much fun!! Soon, a bus pulled up, and we dashed outside. We were so excited when we saw the skaters. And then...there he was Elvis. Connie & I tried our best to contain our excitement. But I must say we were feeling pretty giddy. We didn't even realize, that a line had formed to meet the skaters. We stood at the rear of the line. Ok, don't laugh...I had brought a dozen red silk roses for Elvis. All of the sudden, I was asked to go to the front of the line. Guess they felt, I had waited for this moment far too long. I met Rudy, Jose & Jeff first. Love these skaters, and it was an honor to meet them. Although I was nervous about meeting Elvis, I soon felt at ease. I gave him the roses, and mentioned I had a card enclosed. I made a silly comment, about the roses being a bit flattened from my suitcase. I remember telling him, that I loved his skating. And asked him to sign his book for me. I also asked him if I could kiss him on the cheek...and he said YES!! You'd have to know me..I am a very timid person. But, I felt like a silly teenager all over again.
My luck wasn't over with yet. I really wanted a picture with Elvis. Connie forgot her camera, and my old 35 mm wasn't easy to use. A super nice reporter saw my dilema. He got Elvis and I together, and snapped my greatest memory ever. I can still remember the feeling I had...."This is a dream come true."
My sister and I have met Elvis many times and every time he has been just so friendly and personable.
At one World's practice we, and a bunch of our friends, brought a birthday cake for him. We eased our way up near the boards, and plunked our bottoms in the seats to watch practice. We had actually sat right near Irene as we had a bunch of flowers for her, after all, she was there for his birthday too. She was quite pleased we had brought a cake and when practice was over she started yelling to Elvis to get over here, get over here! They have a cake for you! Well, he came over and was so gracious and nice to all of us. Irene kept pushing me to go down to the boards and give him a kiss or hug, but I didn't as I was pretty shy (then!).
The first time I met him I said to him "I'm so glad you finally got to meet me". He really laughed at that!
Our friends Danielle & Steve Hartsell were US Pairs Champions in 1999 and they met up with Elvis in the hotel elevator in Japan. Danielle said to him that my sister, Sandy, was one of his biggest fans, so she got out her video camera and he taped a nice long message to her, which was really cute and so nice of him.
I'm a Canadian living in Mexico, and a motorcycle rider as well. Riding here is amazing as I can ride 365 days a year! Every second weekend we try to get a group together to go riding, friends calling friends etc. Well about 2 months ago I met up with the group and guess who's sitting there on his motorcycle? Elvis friggin' Stojko! All the other riders there were Mexican (and one German) who don't really know him, but I know him, I used to watch this guy, he is the only reason I started watching figure skating. So trying to be cool and calm, I introduced myself and ended up acting like a little girl. Jeez. Anyway, we had a great time, such a nice guy. Very knowledgeable on biking, and my God, can this boy ride! We went touring the State of Zacatecas, which is very mountainous. No straight roads in that State. So anyone who has a preconception of what a male skater is like needs to think again about this guy. Again, man can this guy ride! This is why I was so excited to see him in the sport again, because I now know him. Can't wait for the next time he joins us. For any bike enthusiasts out there, Elvis rides a 2008 KTM 990 Adventurer.
I guess the most memorable would be as in a below thread meeting Elvis when a group of about 6 us presented him with gifts that we, the fans, had made up. We gathered over $1000 to give to Ronald McDonald children's charities, which Elvis was the ambassador of at the time, we adopted a star in the heart of the Draco constellation and named it for him. We also put together with a professionally bound fan book, that talked about our feelings about Elvis, our favourtie long program, short program etc.
We then got special passes to a gala being held, was it at Mariposa..that part is a little foggy. We watched the ice show (Elvis was flyingin from somewhere and the show started a bit late)that had proceeds going to an ambulance? and we went to the dinner after. We ate while taking little glances at Elvis. We noted how much his time was demanded as everyone wanted to talk to him. When we finally got to meet Elvis it was late and he was tired but very gracious. I presented him with the Ronald McDonald's gift certificate and others presented him with the other gifts. He took pics with us and then was on his way.
In the end Elvis left without our gifts in his desire to get home to bed, but before he got too far down the road he realized that he had forgotten them and they were picked up.
It was so much fun to have our meetings online about what to do for him and to meet each other and to share our feelings with Elvis. He is and was a gracious, caring champion.
That was a wild weekend in Richmond Hill over Mother's Day weekend! We had gotten such short notice to do this presentation, and most of us had to scramble to get tickets at the last minute!
Sharon, I'm the one who did the intro for all of us that night. Thank goodness Mrs. Stojko let us have her "boy" for a few cherished moments.
It was very, very special. As Sharon has described so well, it was a moment that I would treasure forever, really. What I really took back from everything was the focus Elvis gave to each one of us presenting. Mrs. Stojko had originally told me that we could have 5 minutes only...so I had to abandon my little speech, and speak from my heart, which I am proud to say, "bought us" an extra few minutes from Mrs. Stojko. She was very complimentary towards myself, and the group, and she said that after hearing what I said, we could have more time. So that was awesome. I can quote what she said to me, because I never forgot it. She said, "He is my son, and I want him to come home with me, as it is now Mother's Day". I smiled at her, and said, "Mrs. Stojko, I honour that. I am a mother too, and I have left my daughter at home to come here. If you say 5 minutes, then I thank you for giving us that gift, and your timeline will be honoured by all of us". She took my hand, she squeezed my hand, and she had tears in her eyes. She then said, "I like you. You may have the time you need; I can see there has been much effort made on behalf of my son".
And so, we had about 10 or 15 minutes. It was amazing. Getting back to Elvis - his focus was what I took away from that meeting. I'm sure all of us felt the same way. When we were speaking, he would turn his attention to us in turn I can't speak for others, only myself. When I explained the gift we were giving, and why, he looked me right in the eyes as I talked. He turned his body towards me, and looked right into my eyes. He listened - I mean, truly listened. He did not avert his eyes, he did not look away, or put his head down...he kept eye contact until I was finished, then turned toward the next person. It was truly amazing.
The following year, Elvis was in my hometown for the Nationals, and I happened to be walking in the large mall....right towards him!!! Of course he didn't remember me, however, I did an "about turn" and followed him!!!! He was with a friend, and they were at a bank machine....and, yes, I waited for him to finish his banking before I blurted out that I would love his autograph! He smiled, gave me an autograph on a scrap piece of paper, and turned to go, however I said, "I really wanted to get an autograph last time we met, but that wasn't the time for it, since we were giving you a gift that night". He looked at me, blinked....and I filled him in. He was very gracious, really, considering I had just imposed myself on his day!! But he did tell me that it was the most interesting gift he had ever received from a group, and that he had thought alot about it since then...and that it had meant alot to him. I shook his hand, and away he went. I pretty much leaped and frollicked the rest of the day!!!!!
So those were my experiences. Oh, before that, I did get my Elvis book autographed by him. But there were hundreds of us there. The other 2 times were much more personal. I really liked him.
I've read alot about how he is "snotty' and "detatched" and "arrogant", etc. I never believed that anyway, but he was nothing but honourable and gracious with me. He is a "private" person. He is "focused". And, he is "proud". Very much like that Dragon we honoured him with.
Thanks for "listening"!
Take care. Sharon, nice to hear from you again. I signed in as "Marion" during those days - my middle name. Do you remember me?