Elvis Fest big for Special Olympics

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Updated: November 21, 2011 10:12AM

What a fun weekend, with 20 Elvis impersonators vying for the chance to perform at the Ultimate Elvis Contest in Memphis in March.

In this 19th year of the Elvis Fantasy Fest in Portage, each performer sounded as great as the one before. I can’t imagine how hard it would be to judge each singer and cut 20 down to 10, then five, and finally choose the winner.

This year’s top Elvis was Tom Torres of Florida. It always amazes me how many impersonators come from as far as Canada.

Sunday’s finale always is the march of the athletes, followed by a Special Olympics thank-you to the special people who give of their time and talents to organize this super event, and to the audience.

This year, our athlete, Michael Byerly, sang the thank-you. When he began “You Raise Me Up,” the walls at Woodland Park shook with well-deserved applause and a standing ovation. Everyone — man or woman, young or old, impersonator or spectator — was inspired by this young man’s beautiful, God-given voice.

It was the perfect end to a perfect weekend by an athlete thanking his friends, including all those who enjoyed fantastic food and concerts, the Portage Parks & Recreation staff, and the sponsors of this most important fundraiser.

Next year marks the 20th anniversary and will be even more special, so mark your calendar for the second weekend in October and join us.

Many among the thousands of runners in the recent Chicago Marathon raised money for not-for-profit agencies, such as the Opportunity Enterprises team.

However, I doubt if anyone ran another 26.2 miles — or 52.4 total — that day as Eugene Robinson, 50, of Lowell did in his quest to raise $50,000 so children in Africa could have something we take for granted — clean water.

Water is a life necessity, and these little ones rarely — if ever — have clean water. Normally, the best they can find is from mudholes.

It makes me think about something I frequently waste, and makes me feel a bit ashamed of the other things I waste besides water.

I hope and pray that Robinson reaches his goal.

If you would like to help, visit his website at www.three50s.org. Thanks.

After reading about the panic millions of people felt when their Blackberrys failed, I was glad I’m not hooked on any technology, and still know how to communicate the old-fashioned way, such as telephone conference calls and talking to and hearing real voices.

Maybe there should be an annual one-day, worldwide moratorium declared on technology, just so people would interact with one another by some means other than computers and smartphones. I’m sure 98 percent of you think I’m nuts, but it might be fun to try.

Then, I hope you have a great day because you deserve it.

Thanks for reading.

Fly your flag.