Star Sleeps as Fans Fawn
by Andy Smith
The Evening Press
May 26, 1977

High above downtown Binghamton, on the eighth floor of the Binghamton Treadway Inn, the King of rock 'n' roll was sleeping in splendid isolation.

At least, that's what everybody at the Treadway said. It was almost impossible to find anyone who had actually seen Elvis Presley, who arrived in Broome County about midnight last night.

One of the few who have actually laid eyes on Elvis, hotel superintendent of servicesJohn Hotchkiss, was anxiously interrogated on the big "E"'s appearance in the Treadway coffee shop.

"How does he look?" asked a waitress.

"He looks good," Hotchkiss replied.

"Is he heavy?" the waitress asked. A delicate question.

"Not too bad. not too bad," Hotchkiss replied. "He looks good".

Hotchkiss said that Presley had room service send up two cheeseburgers with pickles and onions and a salad about 4 a.m.

Elvis does not have a reputation as an early riser. and the word in the coffee shop was that he would awaken in mid-afternoon and eat about 4 p.m.

Shrouded in deepest secrecy was Elvis' plan for getting to and from the Broome County Arena, where he will be performing tonight and tomorrow night.

"No one will see him," Hotchkiss said.

"No one will see him," the clerk at the front desk said.

Over at the Arena, sources said that Elvis' personal demands were surprisingly few - about all he asked for was a case of Coke in his dressing room.

Arena officials said they had hired a few more security guards than usual for tonight's concert, and said they would be placing the extra guards around the stage to prevent zealous fans from getting at Elvis.

The 42-year-old rocker's grip on his fans was aptly illustrated by an excited woman who called The Press today to report that she had received a piece of cheesecake off Presley's plane that Elvis "had almost started to eat!"

Courtesy of Francesc Lopez