Local Elvis impersonator to perform in benefit for disabled children - Herald-Bulletin

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Published February 21, 2010 06:35 pm - ANDERSON â€" Scotty Zion may leave most of his audiences all shook up, but to one special group, he’s just a teddy bear.
The Anderson-based Elvis impersonator will perform a concert to raise funds for the Hillcroft Center, the nonprofit center in Muncie for children with developmental delays as well as adults with disabilities.

Local Elvis impersonator to perform in benefit for disabled children
He can’t help falling in love with them

By Rodney Richey, Herald Bulletin Feature Writer

ANDERSON â€" Scotty Zion may leave most of his audiences all shook up, but to one special group, he’s just a teddy bear.

The Anderson-based Elvis impersonator will perform a concert to raise funds for the Hillcroft Center, the nonprofit center in Muncie for children with developmental delays as well as adults with disabilities.

The concert, delayed from Feb. 11 by winter weather, will be held at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Paramount Theatre in Anderson.

Zion, who has been performing as “Today’s Elvis” since 1999, says he has developed a close bond with the children at Hillcroft, as well as those at other hospitals and centers he has visited.

“I started working with these guys about six years ago,” Zion said recently from Arrow Auto Sales, which is owned by his father, Claude Zion.

“I’ll tell you what. All you’ve got to do is just go there one time, and those kids show you the most unconditional love you’ve ever seen in your life.”

Brenda Williamson of Hillcroft Center, which serves 10 counties, said Zion had performed for Hillcroft clients at Thanksgiving luncheons for the past four years.

“He’s planning to bring some of our clients on stage to dance,” Williamson said. “I think that’s just awesome.

“It’s his way to give back. And the clients love him. The way he interacts with them is just amazing.”

Zion said he had volunteered for many years at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis and had discovered a recent film that offered a direct route to the kids’ hearts.

“It’s kind of funny, but kids flock to Elvis like you wouldn’t believe,” Zion said. “And don’t think for one minute that a little kid doesn’t know an Elvis song. When I start singing ‘Hound Dog,’ some of them will look at me and say, ‘Hey! Forrest Gump! Forrest Gump!’”

Zion, 46, graduated from Madison Heights High School but spent much of his education in Alexandria schools. Through the prompting of friends, he entered a talent contest at the Tipton Pork Festival, and won.

Since then, the Elvis impersonator, one of thousands around the world, has performed several days a week for years, singing his brand of Presley in Las Vegas, Memphis, Tenn., and Branson, Mo.

In his closet are 17 Elvis-style jumpsuits, some of them worth hundreds of dollars.

Wherever he plays, whether the Rax on Main Street Monday nights or the Paramount Theatre, he draws from a repertoire of 600 Elvis songs.

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