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24 | January 19, 2017 | The Mokena Messenger LIFE & ARTs
mokenamessenger.com
Mokena Library remembers Elvis’ 82nd birthday
Amanda Del Buono
Freelance Reporter
At 4 years old, Olive
Schlieske already has developed
a taste for the wholesome
music of the 1950s.
Entranced by a performance
by Dave “Elvis”
Thomas at the Mokena Community
Library District, Olive
was ecstatic when Thomas
sang Elvis Presley’s “(Let
Me Be Your) Teddy Bear”
and handed Olive her very
own teddy bear to take home.
“My husband is a big Elvis
fan,” said Carla Schlieske,
Olive’s mother and an Oak
Lawn resident.
Carla’s husband, Tom, said
that Thomas’ performance
was one of the best Elvis impersonations
he had seen.
“I was blown away,” Tom
Schlieske said. “He really
captured the moment in an
hour. … He’s probably one
of the best I’ve seen.”
As part of the library’s
Saturday Music Program, it
hosted its annual Elvis performance
Jan. 6, which attracted
nearly 60 attendees
from Mokena and nearby
communities.
“We always do this program
around Elvis’ birthday,
which would be tomorrow,
Jan. 8. He would have been
82,” said Nancy Baker, the
library’s head of circulation.
Baker said that Thomas has
performed the Elvis program
for quite a few years, and it
has been one of the library’s
best-attended Saturday Music
Program performances.
“They love ‘50s music, and
they love Elvis,” Baker said.
Additionally, Thomas has
developed a fan base in the
area, which helps bring in
more community members,
Baker said.
“He’s become family to
us, too,” she said. “And the
patrons enjoy his performances.”
In fact, Mokena resident
Evelyn May said that she
has been attending Thomas’
Elvis shows for more than a
decade.
“He sang at my granddaughter’s
16th birthday,”
she said. “… He’s very good,
and he’s got a good heart.”
May said that she was not
an Elvis fan during his heyday,
but as she’s gotten older,
she’s come to appreciate
his music.
“I didn’t like The Beatles
either, but now I do,” she
said.
For Thomas, playing at the
Mokena Library is always a
great opportunity, he said.
Although he’s performed for
crowds of thousands, he said
that the crowd at the library
is special.
“This is a wonderful
crowd, and they get into the
show,” he said.
Having recently retired,
Thomas said he’s dedicating
himself to his Elvis performances.
“I love doing this,” he
said. “… All I’m trying to
inspire is music.”
Olive and May’s granddaughter
aren’t the only
young people that have been
touched by Thomas’ music.
His 11-year-old grandson,
Drake Thomas, performed
alongside his grandfather at
the library.
Drake Thomas has been
performing with his grandfather
since he was 2 years old,
and he now sings and plays a
handful of instruments.
“Elvis inspires me because
he was himself; he didn’t care
what everybody else thinks,”
the junior Thomas said.
Dave “Elvis” Thomas performs during a tribute on Jan. 6 for
Elvis Presley’s 82nd birthday -- which would have been on
Jan. 8 -- at the Mokena Community Public Library District.
Photo Submitted
For Dave Thomas, it’s
a very special opportunity
for him to perform with his
grandson.
“Since he was 2 years old,
he’s been on stage with me,”
he said. “He’s extremely
musically talented, but I
want him to be himself.
They always say it skips a
generation. It’s an honor for
me to be on stage with him.
He’s 10 times the musician
I’ll ever be.”
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