The
Krewe of Elvis, a "cyber-based"
marching club (motto: "Where
every member is a King"), is
an offshoot of one of the first Mardi
Gras Internet sites, http://mglinks.com,
operated by Chip Curley of Nashville,
Tenn., a.k.a. "Dead Elvis, and
his wife Linda, a.k.a. "Elvira."
Craig Imboden, one of the many Mardi
Gras aficionados Curley has met over
the Internet, came up with the idea
of forming the marching group in the
summer of 1998. Curley, an Elvis fan
with the "resources" to
stir up interest via his site, "checked
into it," says Imboden, a.k.a.
"Jester," "and the
rest is history."
Indeed, from its humble beginnings as
a small assemblage with few accouterments,
the group has multiplied, in the words
of Curley, into "a whole flock
of Elvi. It's getting more like a
parade every year." In addition
to upgrading their sound system, KOE
has developed a variety of signature
throw items including bumper stickers,
collector cards, wooden doubloons
and hand-crafted medallion necklaces.
Mardi Gras 2001 participants included
graduation Elvi, a purple-haired King
with his own security detail, a nurse
dispensing medication, and Ann Margret
carrying Elvis' love child, "Tiny
E" (actually, a doll dressed
as Elvis and wearing a heart medallion
bead emblazoned with the words "I
Flashed Elvis at Mardi Gras").
Asked about the preponderance of 1970s-era
jumpsuit Elvi, as opposed to the svelte
1950s look, Curley remarked: "Most
of us jut fit better in the jumpsuit." |
