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16-year-old Bluffton girls – Mary Steiner, Jane Alspach, Sue Crawfis and Susan Hauenstein saw Elvis

On Nov. 16, 1956, Elvis Presley’s hit song Love Me Tender was released. On Nov. 21, 1956, Love Me Tender, Elvis’s first movie was released. On Nov. 24, 1956, Elvis Presley played two shows at the Hobart Arena in Troy, Ohio. Tickets sold for $2.50.

This was the 1956 Elvis – young, cocky, talented and irreverent. This “pop culture icon” was the one the girls loved, but their parents hated – even though he sang mostly love songs and one about a hound dog.

In the audience of 4,500 teenagers that November day in the Troy Arena were several local 16-year-old Bluffton girls – Mary Steiner, Jane Alspach, Sue Crawfis and Susan Hauenstein.

The girls, all now grandmothers can’t recall their memories of Elvis that day; however, they all agree that in spite of the cold weather, it was a crazy day.

A structural obstruction prevented the teens from witnessing Elvis’s famous hip gyrations and the screaming teens prevented any of the girls from hearing his crooning.

But they do remember the magician, the tap dancer and the acrobats who opened for him. If they really wanted to hear him sing, they could have bought his records.

This is a sample of the content of "Bluffton Anthology - A creek runs through it." Copies are now available for $24.95 plus tax in Bluffton at:
• Roots by Strattons
• The Food Store
• The Black Lab
• Bluffton Senior Citizens Center
• The Dough Hook
• Polished
• In Ada at The Inn at ONU