Local News

<< Previous   of   Next >> Courtesy of Danny Holiday  (click to enlarge) Danny Holiday, a retired radio disc jockey who lives near Stanwood, sent this photo of Elvis Presley with Vancouver, B.C., disc jockey Red Robinson. “It was taken in Vancouver, B.C., during the Elvis performance on Aug. 31, 1957, said Holiday, who describes Robinson as his mentor. Holiday said the Vancouver show lasted just 20 minutes because the crowd rushed the stage, and that Robinson still has the teddy bear “wrapped in plastic." Courtesy of Diana Woodall  (click to enlarge) Diana Woodall, of Everett, says her mother, Arlene Dinsmore, took this picture of Elvis Presley while working at the Seattle World´s Fair in 1962. Presley was there to make the movie “It Happened at the World's Fair. Shown with the photo is Dinsmore's statement about the scene. Dinsmore had the statement and photo notarized. Courtesy of Mark Hibbert  (click to enlarge) Mark Hibbert of Marysville says this photo of Elvis Presley and an unidentified hotel maid, dated September 1966, was taken at Seattle's Olympic Hotel. Hibbert´s late grandmother, Wynn Barry, worked at the hotel as a beautician.   ADVERTISEMENT   Share Elvis photos Have your own Elvis photo? Send it to webfeedback@heraldnet.com.   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Friday, April 25, 2008 Local fans still have vivid memories of brushes with Elvis By Julie Muhlstein, Herald Columnist In the wonderful world of Elvis Presley fandom, there's always more. Unflagging interest in all things Elvis means that even 30 years after Presley's death, there are more stories to hear and more images to see. In that sense, the King is definitely not dead. Two weeks ago, after reading an Associated Press story about newly discovered 1972 Presley concert photos, I shared a picture I have. It shows Presley in the 1950s, when he apparently visited the Dallas radio station KLIF. My late father-in-law David Muhlstein, a radio news director there, is standing right next to Elvis. Seeing that was all it took to coax a few Herald readers into sharing their personal Presley pictures. I also heard from far-flung Elvis fanatics, who sent theories about my photo. A Danish gentleman, Brian Petersen, is such an Elvis aficionado he believes he can precisely pinpoint the date of my picture -- Aug. 10, 1956. Another e-mail directed me to a message board where Elvis fans guessed at the timing of my photo based on Presley's sideburns. My goal was to find other candid shots. Diane Woodall's snapshot may be the fuzziest of the bunch, but the Everett woman has a good story to go with it. Her mother, Arlene Dinsmore, worked at the 1962 Seattle World's Fair. She was there while Presley was filming "It Happened at the World's Fair." Along with the picture her mother took -- Presley flanked by police officers -- Woodall sent a statement her mom wrote about the scene. Dinsmore wrote that during the time Presley was at the fair, "September Fourth to the 17th, 1962," he was walking to the Seattle Monorail one day with two police officers. "I rushed up to him and grabbed his arm and told him I had two daughters who would like his autograph. He very kindly signed two World's Fair postcards for me," she wrote. In 1999, Woodall's mother went so far as to have her statement, with the Presley picture attached, signed and stamped by a notary public. The story behind it may be a riddle, but the photo Mark Hibbert sent looks to be a sharp-looking Elvis posed with a hotel maid -- to me, that maid looks pretty nervous. Hibbert of Marysville said the picture was taken by his late grandmother, Wynn Barry, who was a beautician at Seattle's posh Olympic Hotel. Describing Barry as quite a character, Hibbert said she lived an elegant life in San Francisco before divorcing and moving here. At the Olympic, she once styled the hair of opera star Maria Callas, among other famous clients. During the Seattle filming of "Cinderella Liberty," Hibbert said, his grandmother landed his brother, Scott, a role as an extra in the 1973 James Caan movie. About the Presley photo, though, Hibbert is short on details. Searching the Internet, where Elvis Web sites trace an almost day-by-day history of Presley's life, I could find no mention of him being in Seattle in 1966 -- the year marked on the photo's border. Along with his 1962 World's Fair visit, Presley sang at the old Sicks Stadium and in Tacoma on Sept. 1, 1957. HistoryLink.org, an online encyclopedia of Washington state, puts Presley in Vancouver, B.C., and in Spokane on Aug. 31, 1957. Perhaps Elvis made an unreported Seattle visit, or Hibbert's grandmother photographed him on her travels elsewhere. "If my grandmother saw Elvis, she would have pinned him down," said Hibbert, who runs a Marysville music studio, Whiskey Ridge Recording. In the mid-1960s, Hibbert played bass guitar in a successful local band, Axis Drive. The band was a regular at Seattle's Warehouse Tavern, and once backed up Bobby Sherman. It was hardly Elvis fever, but Hibbert recalls girls throwing jelly beans at the band. Retired KJR disc jockey Danny Holiday, who lives near Stanwood, sent me a picture of Presley taken with Holiday's mentor and close friend, Red Robinson. Taken at Vancouver's Empire Stadium on Aug. 31, 1957, the day before Presley played Seattle, it shows a 22-year-old Elvis with Robinson, then 20. Robinson, who emceed the Vancouver concert and is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, is still heard on Vancouver's CLEAR-FM, 104.9, every Saturday night. A half-century ago, Holiday said he went with his parents to Vancouver to see Elvis. "The Vancouver show only lasted 20 minutes because the crowd rushed the stage," Holiday said. In the summer of '57, Presley's "Teddy Bear" had been a No. 1 hit. With the smoldering look of a star at his peak, Presley posed with the fresh-faced Robinson while holding a cute prop, a plush toy bear. "Red still has the bear wrapped in plastic," Holiday said. Columnist Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlstein@heraldnet.com.

1. Sale of bills mocking Obama cut off at GOP fair booth 2. Motorcyclist dies after crash on Whidbey Island 3. Rescue effort for stranded teens could take days 4. UPS uses USPS, so should you 5. Tribal casinos switching to Vegas-style slots 6. Boeing sweetens contract offer for Machinists 7. Rescuers searching for boys lost on Three Fingers overnight 8. Lynnwood teen serial burglar pleads guilty 9. Short week tough on depleted Seahawks 10. Excitement for 2010 Olympics builds on both sides of border 2 - Top 10 Stories Most Talked about 3 - Top 10 Stories Most Emailed

• ‘Oh, how they wiggle and squirm’ • 'Thrill of a lifetime' for Mill Creek bunch • Community conversations to begin city's visioning process • Dream ends for Mill Creek • Shoreline welcomes a new pastor • Olivia Thomas: from novice to champion • Top ten seniors to watch • Swing wider and longer, not harder • Rain City Rotary earns provisional club status • Mary Burns, Owner - The BookWorks • (No heading) • August 1998: Leisure trips include sailing on the Cutty Sark; relaxing a ... • Haggen Pharmacy robot fills prescriptions — safely • $45 million expansion underway for Arlington’s Cascade Valley Hospital, ... • Alternative health care options proving worth, moving from fringe to mai ... • Boeing new 777 freighter makes its first test flight from Paine Field • New Wine Styles shop in Marysville offers wine tasting, lunches and a vi ...