CityView Magazine

CityViewNC.com | 27 Carol Ann Adair reigned as the N.C. Blueberry Queen in 1969, the year she had dinner with Elvis. Contributed photo FONDUE & GREAT DANES AT GR ACELAND When people think of Elvis Presley and food, it's usually about peanut butter and banana sandwiches. For Carol Adair, it's cheese fondue. As queen of Bladen County's N.C. Blueberry Festival in 1968 and, later, the N.C. Rhododendron Festival, a teenage Carol Ann Bass traveled to Hollywood for "e Dating Game;" to a dozen governor's mansions to deliver blueberry pies; and to Graceland to have dinner with e King. "Can you imagine an 18-year-old sitting this close (thumb and forefinger pinched) to Elvis and watching him eat fondue?" she asks. Adair had met singer Terry Blackwood, who led a gospel group called e Imperials. e band was a warm-up act and played back-up for many concerts in Elvis' prime. When e King hosted a wedding reception for one of his security guards at his Graceland estate in 1969, Blackwood invited Adair along. at's when she sat at the dining-room table with about 20 other guests as Elvis dipped bread into the fondue. And when Elvis' bride, Priscilla Presley, dropped in carrying a 3-year-old Lisa Marie. Adair doesn't remember blue suede shoes, but she does remember the black jumpsuit and big sunglasses Elvis wore. ere was no hound dog cryin' all the time, but two great Danes did wander unleashed through Graceland, taking her and other guests by surprise. And she was all shook up when Elvis rented a movie theater so his guests could continue the party into the night and her date decided they would skip the nightcap. Adair recalls Graceland's gold grand piano and the "awards room" filled with Elvis' accolades. She remembers him leading a gospel sing-along, and the roped-off stairway that kept guests from exploring the private quarters above. Adair recently went with her granddaughter, a 2022 graduate of Cape Fear High School, to catch the new Elvis biopic. When a dining-room scene swept across the screen, Adair nudged her granddaughter. "I was there," she whispered. "Right there." – Bobby Parker, assistant editor 'THE WHITE HOUSE ON THE HILL' I spent my high school years, from 1965 to 1970, in Whitehaven, Tennessee, the home of Elvis' mansion, Graceland. It was the White House on the hill behind the gate with musical notes. You knew he was home if the gates were closed. He would always bring his group of friends, and they'd ride motorcycles around. And he would reserve the theater where his latest movie was playing for their entertainment; sometimes, he'd invite locals to join them. His mom had her hair done at the same beauty shop my mom went to. He was just a regular guy. I always loved his movies and his music, but I never saw him in concert until he was (in Fayetteville) in 1976. Aer his death, I visited Graceland. It was no longer just the White House on the hill; the area had been taken into the city limits of Memphis. e property across the street had been turned into a tourist attraction with ticket sales to see Graceland, his car and other memorabilia on display. e area is so commercial now that it looks totally different than when he lived there. – Joan Blanchard, via Facebook

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