From hot dogs to Houndogs, Relvis has been rollin’ on the Okanagan River Channel every summer for the past 14 years.
But on Sept. 4 that deep, familiar voice coming from the speakers on the patio of Houndogs diner on the west bank of the famous float will be heard no more.
Relvis, who is really Ralph Ramsay and runs the small cafe with wife Debbie, will be turning off the amps for good as the locatee land owners are planning to develop the property in future but decided to give him one more summer.
A banner hanging from the north side of the Green Mountain Road bridge facing the cafe sums up the feelings of the many thousands of people who have stopped in or floated by on inner tubes waving to the man in the bright red spandex suit (with appropriate bulges), eagle feather necklace and wide belt, who always waves back.
It reads: “Thank You RELVIS, we will miss you!”
And according to the 60-year-old First Nations singer, who has appeared in more than a dozen Penticton Pacific Northwest Elvis Festivals locally, the feeling is very much mutual.
“Definitely I’m going to miss it,” said Ramsay who started singing Elvis songs for his mom when he was just a kid. “As the days get shorter here and it’s almost time and I’m out there singing and as the people go floating by and are yelling out your name, ‘Relvis, we love you’ it brings a tear to your eye.
“To know that pretty soon that’s all going to be gone, we’ve been doing it for so many years, we’re definitely really going to miss it but I guess all good things come to an end.”
Describing his time on the small stage as a “dream job,” Ramsay first set up a hot dog cart at the location to provide sustenance to the channel floaters who began, paused or ended their watery journey at that spot.
“My wife had to quit her job and come and help me because we got so busy,” recalled Ramsay about the early days. “I always wanted to sing and she always wanted to run a restaurant, so I sang and she ran the restaurant.
“I remember I said one day I should do a show for these people (customers) because it’s so quiet out here and I did and it just took off and it’s been this way ever since.”
Related: Elvis lives again in Penticton
Even though it’s been more than a decade he still gets a kick from seeing the reactions of the people floating down the channel when they turn the bend and see the music is actually coming from a person, and not just any person but the King (almost) himself.
“We get a lot of newcomers from all over the world who come down here and they just can’t believe it. I mean who would expect to see Elvis here?” said Ramsay. “People hang out all day. It’s like a party zone. People tell their family and friends back home and we’ve had people from Australia, Africa and a lot of people from Europe.
“Ya, and pictures with Relvis is the big thing. It’s like a different kind of souvenir for them.”
Life after Houndogs?
“Might do some shows around the Okanagan. We’re going to pull our trailer to powwows and events,” said Ramsay, who plans to spend more summer time with his 10 grandkids. “I always will sing, even if it’s not shows. When we go camping I take my guitar up there in the mountains and sing.”
For his many caring fans who have brought him the joy of entertaining over all these years, Ramsay’s parting words of farewell: “Thank you, thank you very much.”
To report a typo, email: editor@pentictonwesternnews.com.
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Mark Brett | Reporter
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