1339 The Big E

This week at Lakeside, Dr. Eugene Swanger is the Big E. Yesterday it was standing room only in his lecture about China and Taiwan. As the room filled up Pastor Barbara had to direct some people to the lobby of the hotel to meet the fire code. It being Peace Week, one sweet 70- something lady in front of me said, 'Someone can have my chair, I can sit on the floor.' Then a negotiator type guy standing against the wall began interrupting Barbara's introduction of Dr. Swanger by suggesting, peaceably of course, how we could all adjourn to another room (already being used for something else) while wasting 15 minutes of the limited time. Pastor Barbara graciously declined his offer and continued. Love that woman. Great smile.

But usually, the Big E is Mike Albert, the Elvis impersonater. He draws a huge crowd and fills Hoover Auditorium. He puts on an outstanding show varying it from year to year, and has his own fan club.

I talked to him this morning on the phone. Yes, the Big E was in my son's shop to get his trailer fixed. My son asked him what he did and he just said he had a rock and roll band, because without his wig and bling bling, he really doesn't look like Elvis. When he found out who he REALLY was, my son called me and put the Big E on the phone, so we chatted about Lakeside. Really nice guy, too.