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Father, son Elvis duo are crowd pleasers in Garner

  • 27 July, 2010
  • RAGBRAI

Garner – What’s the one thing every RAGBRAI ride-through town needs?

Rusty Schmidt of Garner as Elvis with his son Travis, 7, performed Tuesday for RAGBRAI riders in Garner. (Register photo by Rodney White)

An Elvis impersonator, of course.

Which is why Rusty Schmidt found himself dressed in a black wig and white polyester Elvis suit in 90-degree weather in this town Tuesday afternoon.

“My mom said it’s a thing to have an Elvis impersonation,” the Garner-native said.

Schmidt’s mother was the chairwoman for the Garner festivities.

And it seemed she was right. A crowd of camera-armed RAGBRAI riders followed Schmidt all afternoon.

“We’ve had up to three or four people at a time waiting to get a photo,” Schmidt said.

Perhaps it was Schmidt’s charming smile and spot-on “Thank you very much,” but the King was inclined to give the credit his miniature side-kick.

Seven-year-old Travis Schmidt was a spotting image of his dad, from the hair down to the boots.

“They just want the little guy,” Schmidt said. “I always tell him to bust a move. Whatever he does, I follow him.”

Travis’ moves ranged from the classic knee twist to a hip-jive, which he showed off with little prompting from spectators.

“He’s all about it,” Schmidt said.

-Cynthia Reynaud

1 Comment

  1. Lisa Rose

    We were wondering what the cost is to have them come to a Trade show. Please advise.

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