Monthly Meetups
2024
During this year we focused on some of Elvis' lesser known accomplishments. Most fans know that Elvis received three Grammy Awards, ALL for his gospel music. The event of the Grammy's only started in 1959, though, honouring the musical accomplishments of performers in 1958. As Elvis' heydays were in 1956/57, he missed out on some important opportunities for recognition. That said, however, 11 of Elvis' songs - covering some of his favourite music genres, namely R&B, Country, Gospel, Pop and Soundtrack titles - received a total of 16 Grammy Nominations.
2023
2022
The following question made us think: If you could pick a different opening song besides 'Blue Suede Shoes', 'That's All Right' or 'See See Rider' for an Elvis concert, what song would you choose? Our members had plenty of ideas, all which made for an excellent fantasy music program series for the year. Had Elvis taken notice, he might've gone back to the drawing board!
2021
The year of the bio-weapon release, the repercussions of which are still reverberating throughout humanity, and of which ultimate judgement belongs to our Heavenly Father. Re Elvis: Have you ever noticed that Elvis' 33 films received award nominations? We had a closer look. These nominations were for ASCAP, Golden Globe, Writers Guild of America, Grammy, Laurel, and National Film Registry awards. All in all about a third of Elvis' film output were nominated for awards. Of these nominations in the above categories, 5 of Elvis' films got multiple nominations and 4 received five 1st Place Wins, namely Jailhouse Rock, Blue Hawaii, Tickle Me and Elvis On Tour.
2020
Brazenly nefarious characters unleashed drummed up fear and hospital malpractices on to the whole world. We see you, and we say, never again. We will not comply. NO. As could be expected our clueless leaders followed the orders of their masters and fell in line with the senseless stay-at-home, do-not-pass-go rules. And so we did our meetings online, concentrating on Elvis stories, music programs, discussions and trivia quizzes.
2019
An election year for South Africa. Who would get our votes? We fantasy-proposed to consider Elvis Presley! He's a hero who loved his country, his would be a campaign with a history, he had the backing of and connections with other presidents, presidents continue to pay respects to the king, Graceland is the White House of rock 'n' roll, no need for Air Force One if you have the Lisa Marie and, together with Elvis, we all dream of a better land!
2018
A few years ago Alan Hanson, author of the excellent Elvis History Blog posed the following intriguing question: What If Elvis Had Made Only One Movie Per Year? What an excellent topic for discussion. How might that have influenced the quality of his filmmaking and the rest of his career? MUCH to discuss here. And we did. Hmm, since Elvis were 13 years in Hollywood (minus 1959), which film of each year would be YOUR favourite to complete a list of Top 12 Elvis Films?
2017
What is more fun than to watch your favourite Elvis movie in the company of fellow appreciative fans? With popcorn and Pepsi in hand we remembered Elvis, vibrant in life, as we watched him move through story after story on the big screen - in a sense, literally growing up before our eyes. What a generous gift he left us with. We, the next generations of fans, call ourselves lucky to have these full length captured-on-camera moments in time, which - in addition to available live concert footage - provides us with a visual glimpse into Elvis' unique talent, wit and charm.
2016
Some Elvis songs - not necessarily our favourites - bind us to moments in time of profound emotional impact on our lives. This made for an excellent spotlit music program series, Elvis Take Five. Another huge highlight on the year agenda included the much-loved, and always fun (and funny) Teddy Bear Hunt, our version of an Elvis-related scavenger hunt. Planned to perfection, the friendly contest kept boisterous, rivalrous teams on their toes.
2015
It is 60 years since 1955, a year in which Elvis was out on the road constantly, hopping from one town to another, honing his craft, trying to make it in the entertainment business, all the while being able to mingle freely with his fans. What experiences he had! Imagine performing while the floor beneath the audience collapses or on a baseball field in sweltering heat to ... a measly audience of 20. Those were the days. As the year drew to a close, we topped off a magnificent Elvis-related year with a delightful sensory journey of discovery at the lovely Spice Route destination in Paarl.
2014
Elvis had a sharp sense of wit. Luckily it's out there on record and film for us to enjoy. As such we started the year with the aptly named program, Are You Laughing Tonight? ... and that is just what we did. Laughing is good for body and soul. More over, we welcomed in our midst a special guest speaker, dear friend, member of the club and toast master par-excellence - all the way from Bloemfontein - John Webb, who took us on a magical photo tour to Hawaii. Aloha Oe!
2013
Everyone can learn a lot from Elvis, even, and maybe especially, from his mistakes. So this year was marked with a slew of guest speakers, with no less than a medical doctor, fitness guru and award-winning author who taught and/or showed us a more excellent way to be in health - mentally, physically and spiritually.
2012
We celebrated 10 Years of Taking Care of Elvis in Cape Town. What magic times we had! New on the agenda was our Elvis Women's Day event, which was savoured by everyone in attendance in pure festive and feminine style. With much laughter, a quiz or two, a few lucky draws and a beaut of a PowerPoint presentation, fresh insights were acquired, inspiration for a new book was born and novel friendships were forged.
2011
In the category Audio-Visual Overviews, we zoomed in on Elvis in 1971, widely known as a "Lost Year", following closely, amongst others, his valiant attempt at a folk album. Also, during our Annual Elvis Weekend - in the hands and voices of guest entertainers Johan Swarts and Jacques Van Zyl - a selection of heavenly Elvis gospel music received some invigorated interpretations, with lyrics and melodies once more becoming rich in significance.
2010
What an exhilarating year filled with all kinds of events and festivities, of which Elvis Festival Africa in Storms River, Tsitsikamma, was quite the crowd pleaser. Fans from all over the country could for the first time meet up in one central place to celebrate Elvis, the man and the music.
2009
We delved deep into Elvis' musical legacy during informative and soul-satisfying music afternoons. While getting up close and personal with the Country Side of Elvis, it came as no surprise that our man covered all the main country genres during the course of his career. No minor feat! Besides, have you ever noticed which songs Elvis liked so much that he performed them throughout all 3 decades? You'd be amazed!
2008
After fierce Battles of the Minds we could unequivocally crown our very first Ultimate Elvis Expert. Congratulations to Jackie Van Schalkwyk of Somerset West! Also, during our Practical Skills Enhancement Program, enthusiastic members booted, scooted and boogied to the energising beat of Elvis music in a most memorable Line Dance Teaching Session.
2007
During August four of our members toured America, taking in all the activities surrounding Elvis Week and followed in Elvis' footsteps from his birthplace in Tupelo to his home town in Memphis.
2006
On the serious side, we had a closer look at Elvis' pivotal year, 50 years ago, from the drama behind his first album through to how his voice developed. On the lighter side we've had some real fun and games with our rip-roaring Elvis Amazing Race, brilliantly designed and organised by our indomitable, x-generational vice-pres.
2005
For our year end function fan club members and their families had to oil their joints and stretch their rusty limbs, 'cause we went Tenpin Bowling. It was an enjoyable day of laughter for the many gutter kings and queens and applause for our Flaming Star Award winner of the day, Arrie Van der Schyf.
Library Displays
Rock 'n' Roll Dance Evenings
These evenings of fun with fellow Elvis fans, family and friends, were often times accompanied by live entertainment. An added myriad of prizes and lucky draws have enhanced the success of these fetching events that were a favourite amongst the fans and public alike.
