Every Elvis fan at some point in their life has dreamed about what it would have been like meeting the King of Rock ‘n Roll and hosting him in their home.
Well for Hilda Brophy of Temora this really happened.
And it happened in the most unlikely and unexpected way.
It was 1958, she was 23, married with a three-year-old daughter named Sylvia and living in Germany.
At the same time Elvis Presley was serving in the United States Army, stationed in Friedberg, West Germany for 18 months as an armor intelligence specialist.
Latest Stories
Germany was in the midst of the Berlin Crisis, a Cold War confrontation that involved the United States, Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union.
Elvis' father and grandmother lived with him off-base in Bad Nauheim, which is where he met Priscilla Beaulieu, the stepdaughter of a US Air Force officer, who as we know became his future wife.
Hilda lived in nearby Butzbach, 13 kilometres away.
"My girlfriend asked me 'do you mind if I bring a friend?'" Hilda said.
Hilda was hosting some guests in her home and in walked that friend, Elvis Presley.
"He brought all this food and he brought along his friends," she fondly remembered.
"He was..." She paused.
"He was what we call here 'the ants pants'!"
"He was very quietly spoken.
"And Sylvia sat on his shoulders!"
Hilda unfortunately didn't get the opportunity to hear his golden voice but she had something much more special, a unique personal interaction.
But she didn't know who he was at first and didn't find out until two years later when she immigrated to Australia in 1960.
Hilda turns 90 in October - born the same year as Elvis who would have been 90 on January 8 - and this year she hopped in her car and drove herself to Parkes to experience her very first Parkes Elvis Festival.
Her visit was made possible thanks to the friendship between the Mayor of Temora and the Parkes Shire Mayor Neil Westcott who were trying to find her somewhere to stay.
Neil's uncle and aunty Mal and Helen Westcott have kindly opened their home at Southern Cross Village to Hilda so she can enjoy the festival for a couple of days.
Hilda's been living in Temora for 25 years.
0 comment
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
Read and post comments with a
digital subscription.