AREA FANS RECALL ELVIS PRESLEY ON THE DATE OF HIS DEATH

Mary Davis of Cape Girardeau was 13 when she first heard "That's All Right, Momma" drift across the airwaves. The smooth, sultry voice of the singer melted her heart, and she was instantly in love.

From that point on, Davis was a devoted Elvis fan. "I got everything of his I could get my hands on," she said.

And she isn't alone. Thousands of Elvis Presley fans were expected today at his home, Graceland, in Memphis, Tenn., to mark the 22nd anniversary of his death.

For more than 30 years, Davis has been collecting Elvis memorabilia. She's planning a move to smaller quarters and will have to part with some of her albums, 45s, magazines, newspaper articles, dolls, music boxes, clocks, cards, Christmas ornaments and even a pinball machine.

Her prized possession, however, won't be for sale.

Davis attended the Elvis concert at Carbondale, Ill., in October 1976. She was ready for action when Elvis threw one of his perspiration-soaked scarves into the crowd.

"I climbed over chairs and fought off other women to get at it," she said.

When the frenzy died, Davis found herself with one end of the scarf and an equally determined foe at the other.

"We fought all the way through one full set," she said. Elvis came to the edge of the stage to watch the battle. "I could have reached out and touched him."

The women finally decided to cut the scarf in half. Davis' half and ticket stub are displayed with a picture of the King.

Although Elvis has been dead for 22 years, he was alive and well Saturday at Ratliff Care Center at Cape Girardeau -- at least in the form of Elvis impersonator Barry Humphries.

Humphries and his family were in town visiting relatives who were friends of the Ratliffs.

Humphries has been impersonating Elvis professionally for 11 years. His first performance, however, came 22 years ago.

"I was in the 11th grade," he recalled. The performance took place at a church banquet just two days after Elvis' death.

Humphries plays saxophone with the 106th Army Band. "One day we got an Elvis arrangement and I said I could sing like him," said Humphries. Things just snowballed from there."

Humphries and his wife, Donna, who sounds an awfully lot like Patsy Cline, often give benefit performances for hospitals and nursing homes.

Residents, workers and friends at Ratliff were on hand Saturday to watch Humphries in action.

Jessie Grubbs, housekeeper for the Ratliffs, didn't think her boss would mind if she took time off to see the performance.

"I came on behalf of my son and family who are all Elvis fans," she said. Grubbs had seen Elvis perform live in Indiana. She thought Humphries did a good job impersonating him.

"I'm really a Billy Ray Cyrus fan," she said, "but I could switch at any time."

Mary Thompson, a resident at Ratliff, said Humphries got her all out of breath with his show, but she was more interested in seeing what fellow resident Charlie Brockmeyer would do when he saw "Elvis."

Brockmeyer is a devoted Elvis fan and even celebrated his last birthday with an Elvis cake.

It didn't take much to persuade Brockmeyer to dance and sing with the King.

When Humphries isn't impersonating Elvis, he's busy as a school resource officer in North Little Rock, Ark. Officer Elvis, as the kids call him, often performs at school.

His daughter Holly, 11, is proud of what her dad does.

"Kids will say, 'Do you know him?' and I can say, 'Yeah, he's my dad.'"