Pete's Elvis tree and memories fit for a king

Morganton's Edna Mae "Pete" Richards has loved Elvis Presley since her teenage years in the 1950s. Known as Pee Wee throughout her childhood in Shelby, she insisted on another nickname when she got to junior high. "Pete" stuck.
For decades, friends and family have given her Elvis ornaments and memorabilia, and the retired Broughton Hospital employee has collected them herself at places such as Graceland and the Christmas celebrity section of Lowe's in Morganton.
Three years ago, Richards mentioned to her sons, Steve and Tracy, that she'd thought about creating a Christmas tree just for Elvis, but feared it would be over the top. They encouraged her knowing it would make their mom happy.
At first it was a small table-top tree in her bedroom, then a larger one, and this year she borrowed a full-size artificial tree from friend Mary Duckworth and displayed it in her dining room.
"I leave it up at least through his birthday on Jan. 8," she said. Twenty-two Elvis ornaments grace the branches, with teddy bears in honor of his song, "Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear," and lots of red glass balls to evoke Elvis's favorite color for his own Christmas tree.
Richards' favorite movie is "Viva Las Vegas," partly because of actress Ann Margaret. "She's a female Elvis; they were so good together."
Her favorite song is "How Great Thou Art," and she said, "It makes me have cold chills. I liked him better when he was older. His voice improved and his religious songs are wonderful." Second fave? "Are You Lonesome Tonight."
Richards said her Presley passion never bothered her husband, Jerry Richards, former sheriff of Burke County who died in 1998 after a six-and-a-half year battle with cancer. The two would have celebrated their 50th anniversary on Jan. 1. Jerry Richards won four elections serving as sheriff from 1974 through 1988. Richards said he once surprised her with a trip to Graceland after they'd attended a law enforcement conference in Memphis.
But nothing beat the Valentine's gift he gave her in 1977 — a fifth row seat for her to see Elvis in concert at the old Charlotte Coliseum.
Patricia Paschall, Doris Daves, Sarah Dale and Johnsie Cline went with her. Lights flashed, security guards lined the stage and the theme music from "2001 Space Odyssey" started up.
Richards said, "He finally came out, walked to each corner and bowed. It was amazing the noise that sell-out crowd of 13,000 made." Elvis wore a jeweled outfit and was 42 years old.
They loved his performance so much, the Morganton women discussed hiding and sneaking into the second show. "Sarah Dale chauffeured us in her big Lincoln, and we joked that maybe if we drove around to the back entrance afterward, he'd think it was his big car and get in."
Though not the dessert they'd hoped for, the women did stop for sweets on the way home returning to Morganton at 2:30 a.m. When Richards arrived home, Jerry was waiting up for her and said, "I thought I was going to have to send the law out after you!"
Thinking of all the late nights she had lost sleep worrying about her husband patrolling the county, she laughed and said, "Now you know how it feels."
Richards lamented, "I regret so much I didn't bring a camera to that Charlotte concert. Elvis looked and sounded great." A few months later in his last special, Presley showed the signs of ill health which would end his life in August of the same year. "I couldn't even watch it," she said.
Richards once suffered health problems of her own. At age 16, doctors sent her to the tuberculosis hospital at Black Mountain telling her parents, "She won't live six months." With the care she received, she was able to return home in 20 months, cured of TB.
She missed the early Elvis hoopla, but when she came home, she and her mother sat in the living room and watched him on the Ed Sullivan show. Richards said of her mother, "She was just as excited as I was!" Perhaps she was happy her daughter was there to enjoy Elvis at all.

Gwen Veazey is a member of the Morganton Writers Group and can be found on www.twitter.com as "gwenvz."