Fans still can't stop loving Elvis
  Posted by the Ocean County Observer on 01/22/06 BY JESSICA STENSTROM STAFF WRITER TOMS RIVER - Elvis has not left the building. At least not yesterday, when 10 different incarnations of Elvis took the stage at the Elks Lodge to help raise money for the Arc, Ocean County chapter, and to celebrate Presley's Jan. 8 birthday. The room was filled with excitement as the first performer took stage. "We want Elvis," one fan screamed from the audience. "Here he comes, he is beautiful." Some of the impersonators had been performing for a majority of their lifetime, while others took stage only recently. All had one thing in common - their love of Elvia and their ability to make the crowd go wild. Samuel J. Formica, Philadelphia aka Sammy J, said it wasn't easy to be an Elvis fan while growing up. "My father was Elvis's number one enemy," he said, with a chuckle. Formica said his mother was a diehard fan though and they would watch him perform while his father worked swing shifts. "My mom is thrilled that I do it," he said. "It's her birthday today, even though she's not here," Formica added. He noted that as a general manager of a restaurant for 15 years he would bend over backward trying to please customers and never receive a thank you. "You sing one song and the fans are going crazy thanking you," he said of his Elvis career. Formica said he had been performing for a little over three years now. "It all started with a goofy karaoke competition," he said. "I didn't win, but I was hooked and have been performing since then." Gene Dinapoli of the Bronx, N.Y., has been performing a little longer - 26 years in March, he said. For him it all started at his uncle's restaurant when he was a teen. "I got up there and sang," he said. "I made a couple hundred (dollars) in tips that night." He said he has been a fan since he was 6 or 7 years old, so he loves performing for other fans. "That's the best," Dinapoli said. "They are starving to see what it was like. As long as they keep coming, we will keep playing." Men aren't the only Elvis fans, though. Two years ago Barbara DelPiano of Millville, N.Y., aka Barbara B Elvis, decided to step onto stage and show the men how it's done. "Some people think it's a disgrace that a woman impersonates Elvis," she said. "But for the most part I get a lot of "That's fantastic' and "You go girl.' " Though she had been singing for years, she made her first public appearance two years ago at a church supper where she sang "The Wonder of You"' as a tribute to her pastor. She began belting out the Elvis tunes years ago when she was 12, said Della DelPiano. "My next door neighbor would have pig roasts and they would blast Elvis," she said. As a young girl she would sit outside with her father's microphone and speaker and practice getting her voice to be just like Elvis'. "I never showed my parents though," she said. "Not every mom would want to hear their daughter say, "Hey, look I can sing like a boy.' " Her mother is very supportive of her performing. "I love it," said Bee DelPiano, also of Millville, N.Y. "And she takes me with her." The Elvis careers of Michael T. Marchitto, Monmouth Beach, and Ray Kaminski, Toms River, started similarly with a win at a competition. Marchitto said that ever since his win, he hasn't stopped. "It's a lot of fun," he said. "I do it to keep his memory alive among us." Unlike Kaminski, Marchitto said he has been a longtime fan. "I used to stand in front of the mirror pretending to kiss all the girls," he said. Kaminski said he wasn't a huge fan when he first began, but he had the look and voice to win a competition 15 years ago. Now he performs all over the world when he is not busy with his other job. "I was the fan," his wife Carol Kaminski said. "He really didn't care for Elvis much, but he started singing him." She said the past years of her husband's performing has been exciting. She said they have met Elvis' drummer, manager, many people who sang with him and more than 150 other Elvis impersonators. The impersonators weren't the only fans. Camille Blume of Medford said she has loved Elvis since she was a little kid. "My cousin was a huge fan," she said. "I became one too." Bunny Smith, also of Medford, said she has been a fan since the '90s and she has been to many shows, including conventions in Memphis. "We are going back to Memphis in 203 more days," she said. Both Blume and Smith got in on the action, joining Kaminski on stage while he performed. Frank Sinatra made a special appearance as the show's organizer, Andrew Howard. He said this was the third year the Friends of Elvis Fan Club and Arc, Ocean County Chapter have paired up to perform the benefit show. He said tickets were $5 for Arc clients and $10 for the general public. The room at the Toms River Elks Lodge was standing room only with about 300 guests, Howard said. Robin Collins, family support program coordinator with the Arc, Ocean County Chapter said the show is a major fundraiser for the nonprofit organization. The Arc's mission is to advocate and provide opportunities and support for citizens with developmental disabilities. State funding is provided for the group homes and work vocational training, but no money is provide to support the Arc's recreational and medical programs, Collins said. She said the money raised yesterday would be applied to both those areas.
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