Elvis concert at Warkworth Lilac Festival causes

pandemonium (and fainting) on Main Street

WARKWORTH -- Elvismania highlighted the frst day of the
Warkworth Lilac Festval as the King of Rock and Roll gave a rous-
ing one-hour concert yesterday at the Warkworth Mews Gazebo
on Main St.
The sight of Elvis performing live caused sheer pandemonium as
several hundreds of fans (98 per cent of which were females in the
50- to 60-year-old range), rushed the stage to get a closer look at
their music idol. This created plenty of headaches for the festval
organizers, who obviously werent expectng this type of reacton
and had very few security staf hired to maintain crowd control.
Many women were overwhelmed and fainted, which forced a
quick call to the Warkworth Fire and Rescue Brigade to handle all
the medical responses.
According to witness Ray Petrasek, who happened to be heading
into Scots Variety to buy a pack of smokes when Elvis took the
stage, women began dropping like fies.
I couldnt believe it, said Mr. Petrasek, the owner of Petrasek
Paintng in Warkworth. A lot of women -- mostly older women --
were screaming and trying to get closer to the stage to touch Elvis
and to hand him some lilacs and roses.
Some of them were absolutely delirious. Im not surprised quite
a few of them fainted.
Mr. Petrasek said he didnt see any womens undergarments or
other paraphernalia being tossed on stage, but it was a prety
crazy scene -- especially for a small town like Warkworth.
According to fre brigade chief Bill Kelly, there were no serious
injuries, just a few minor cuts and bruises from the falls.
Linda Russell was one of the lucky fans who didnt sufer any
injuries. Mrs. Russell, the president of the Warkworth Chapter of
the Elvis Sightng Society, had one of the best seats for the con-
cert. Earlier in the day, she was presented with a special backstage
pass from festval co-chair Janice Allen.
Mrs. Russell even had her picture taken with her life-long idol.
Oh my gosh, what a thrill, Mrs. Russell told The Journal. This is
by far the best day of my life.
My husband Dennis isnt going to like hearing me say that, but
its the truth. Ill never forget this day.
Meanwhile, Elvis showed up for the concert in style, arriving in a
shiny, yacht-sized black limousine, which was driven by Lilac Fest-
val founder David Rollins.
We were pleasantly surprised to catch a glimpse of Elvis emerg-
ing from the limo clutching a copy of the Warkworth Journal.
As he walked by, he turned to Journal publisher and editor War-
ren Wozniewski and said, This is a nice litle paper. I like it.
Mr. Wozniewski just smiled and replied, Thank you, Elvis. Thank
you very much.
The appearance of Elvis Presley at the Warkworth Lilac Festival created plenty of excitement (and chaos) on Main St. yesterday afternoon. Elvis
delighted hundreds of people who were taking in all the activities on the Main St. strip. When Elvis walked on stage and started singing Dont Be
Cruel, several female fans became delirious, causing pandemonium and headaches for organizers, who seemed to be caught off guard by the
fans wild reaction and had very few security personnel on hand to deal with it. However, we were pleasantly surprised to see Elvis emerge from his
limousine clutching a copy of the Warkworth Journal (left). Meanwhile, Barb Trotter (right) seemed a little skeptical about whether this was the
real Elvis. She seemed to think he looked an awful lot like Warkworth singer Paul Thain. Regardless, Linda Russell (inset), the president of the
Warkworth Chapter of the Elvis Sighting Society was thrilled to have a special backstage pass for the performance, and even managed to get her
picture taken with the King of Rock and Roll. (Photos courtesy of Warren Wozniewski )
Warkworth Fire and Rescue Brigade called to attend to all the female fans dropping like flies