Another �Elvis showroom� will soon be gone. The
Toledo Sports Arena floor was home to the Elvis
Presley show on November 22, 1956 (picture).
Thousands of shows took place at the Arena, but
the Elvis Show was seen here by more persons
than watched Adlai E. Stevenson and Vice
President Nixon combined. And their talks were
free� When Elvis came to Toledo, it was a
bitterly cold day, the show lasted only 30
minutes and followed two hours of warm-up acts,
but they were unforgettable to the 13,125
frenzied fans who were there. Tickets by the
way, were 2 and 2.50 dollar.
Teenagers, mostly girls, stood and screamed for
much of the concert, often drowning out the
sound of Elvis� singing. That didn�t bother
Sharon Luzius, 65, of West Toledo � she was one
of them. But that wasn�t enough for her.
�When he came on stage, we were jumping up and
down like crazy, of course. I remember going up
towards the stage and I touched his shoes. He
had suede shoes on. ... I loved the man and I
just wanted to touch some part of him,� said
Mrs. Luzius, whose future husband also happened
to be at the show.
Elvis played his early hits, including �Don�t Be
Cruel� and �Hound Dog.� He made $16,000 for his
one-day visit to Toledo, a city he would only
return to once, in 1977 at what is now called
Savage Hall.
Afterwards, a few like Donna Crane were lucky
enough to meet the budding king of rock and
roll. The 71-year-old Oregon resident, who
sometimes worked the concessions stands at the
Sports Arena, was taken backstage by the venue�s
general manager.
There, she had her picture taken with Elvis and
gave him an honorary membership to the Toledo
Mercurys booster club, of which she was
president.
�After I met him and they saw that he had his
arm on my shoulder, every one of those girls out
there wanted to touch my coat,� she said. �In
fact, Elvis asked if I had a comb so he could
comb his hair. Unfortunately I didn�t have a
comb with me at the time or I could probably
have sold the teeth out of the comb to the crazy
girls.�
Elvis� brief stay in Toledo managed to be
notable even for him. While at the Commodore
Perry Hotel downtown, he was accosted by a young
man who shouted, �My wife carries your picture
but doesn�t carry mine.�
Elvis was pummelling the man, Louis John Balint
when police broke up the free-for-all, and
Balint later pleaded guilty to creating a
disturbance. The man later claimed he was
promised $200 to fake the fight and drum up
publicity.
Things didn�t end up much better for Penny
Bailey, 65, of Walbridge, who bought a picture
of Elvis after the concert. Her joy at owning a
copy of the singer�s handsome visage was
short-lived.
�I took it home and showed my family and my
boyfriend come over and he spotted that and he
was extremely jealous, like all the boys were.
He tore it up in shreds and flushed it down the
toilet,� she said. �I was devastated.� Everyone
who was there had a story to tell � assuming
there was someone willing to listen.
When Ruth Trznadel, 62, of Point Place, went
home afterwards, her mom had saved some
Thanksgiving goodies for her. She was starving,
but didn�t eat much once she got started talking
about the concert. �I can remember my dad later
listening to me and saying, �Ok, we just want to
know one thing.� And I said, �What?� He says,
�How are the seats at the Sports Arena?�
�I said, �I don�t know. I didn�t sit in one.
Source: Toledo Blade
Posted: 24th. July 2007
