Christine Teal | Nov 10, 2011


Photo: Elvis tribute artist and SLHS graduate Stephen Goodberry and Debbie Garrett of Parham, courtesy of Cindi Scott

Sharbot Lake High School was the place to be Friday Night as Elvis a.k.a. Ste-phen Goodberry preformed to a full house!!The evening began with Stephen’s wife Debra singing a couple of songs to warm up the audience as Elvis did some last minute touch ups!

Chris Bertrim and helpers, decked out in white blouses with pink ties, made the la-dies (and a few gentlemen) comfortable with wine, cheese, and crackers. There were a large variety of silent auction items to bid on throughout the evening – all generously do-nated by various community members and businesses.

Chris, our MC for the evening, provided some background on Stephen Goodberry who is very familiar with the “North”. He was born in Kingston and grew up in his early years in Verona and later in Parham. He attended public school in the two-room school on the hill by the Parham Cemetery and then moved to the new and improved Hinchin-brooke Public School in Grade 5. He then attended our very own Sharbot Lake High School, of which he is a graduate. He moved away from Parham and finally settled in the Brockville area, where he worked for Dupont Canada for 36 years and retired at age 55.

Like all retirees Stephen now had time to do things he wanted to do - things like golf-ing, spending more time with his family and carrying on a family trait and lifetime love.....the love of singing. An opportunity came his way when a friend overheard him singing an Elvis Presley song and suggested - no, insisted - he must go to Collingwood, the world’s largest Elvis Tribute Artist festival. There are approximately 75,000 Elvis Tribute Artists (a.k.a. ETAs) in the world.

Stephen Goodberry was convinced to go in July of 2011. To his amazement and that of many of the other contestants who had tried unsuccessfully for years to break the Top 20, he made it in his first year. He followed this up the following month with a Top 5 finish in Tweed’s Elvis Festival.

Performing as an ETA requires a great deal of dedication and constant practice as well as a large outlay of cash to pay for elaborate costumes, jewelry and entry fees for competitions. ETAs do it for the pure undi-luted enjoyment of the art and their ongoing quest to preserve the memory of the great Elvis Presley.

As Stephen took the stage the room exploded into applause! The audience was in awe, as song after song, Stephen rocked out and showed us that this truly is his calling. As he wandered down through the tables making his way to each and every table, giving many welcoming ladies a scarf, he didn’t miss a beat. And as if one Elvis wasn’t enough, the evening also included another tribute artist, Paul Anthony from Ottawa. Paul kept the ladies entertained and even picked a dance partner to join him on stage….way to go, Glenda Young!!!

Stephen had his son, Junior ETA Erik Goodberry join him on stage for a song, and the standing ovation at the end showed that talent runs in this family!!

The crowd definitely didn’t want the evening to come to a close, so Elvis did an en-core, followed by an encore from Debra Currier and Paul Anthony!

It is so great to have entertainers such as Stephen return to their roots and help such a great cause. In the end, the CIBC Run for A Cure and the Sharbot Lake High School Yearbook are the big winners, with over $3000 being raised, to be split between the two groups. Thank you to Chris Bertrim and her helpers for such a wonderful community event and to everyone who contributed and came to support great causes.

 

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