ELVIS fans worldwide are banding together to save the Circle G ranch where 'The King' of rock 'n' roll loved to live.
And the multi-million dollar plans to rescue, restore and preserve the now derelictpropertyin Mississippi, U.S.A. stem from the dream of long-time Elvis fan Lesley Pilling from Lowton.
Lesley, who last month celebrated her 50th birthday at Elvis's Graceland mansion in Memphis, is founder and director of The Friends of Elvis – Save the Circle G Campaign.
Atherton-born Lesley lives in Lowton with her husband Jim and has been crazy about Elvis since she was just seven back in 1968 and saw him in the film 'Loving You'.
She told the Journal: "The Circle G Ranch is the place where Elvis spent quite a lot of his time after his marriage. It was a place he could escape to and he loved the peace and quiet.
"Elvis owned the ranch from 1967 to 1972, and even though that is a relatively short length of time, it was a very significant period in his life, newly married, expectant father and an entertainer at a crossroads in hiscareer. "When I saw the awful state it's now in - it practically reduced me to tears."
So 14 months ago she launched the Friends of Elvis – Save The Circle G Campaign.
"I never thought I would get the reaction that I have," she admitted.
"We now have literally thousands of fans from practically every country in the world supporting us. We are hoping that we can find a group of people or an individual with the insight to realise the potential in the ranch who would be in a position to pay the $4.9 million US (that's around £3.2 miilion) – although we feel that the present owners would possibly accept less.
"Many fans have expressed an interest in owning shares in the ranch – that is something we are looking into and would obviously discuss with any potential purchaser.
"As Founder and Director of the Campaign I believe that the site should be developed sympathetically and restored back to the way Elvis knew and loved it.
"Elvis fans from all over the world already visit the site, even in the terrible state it is in at the moment – just think how many will add it to their 'bucket list' of Elvis sites to visit once it is restored.
"We have received some wonderful messages of support and encouragement from those who knew and loved Elvis including, Joe Esposito (friend and member of the Memphis Mafia), Linda Thomson (long term girlfriend) and Larry Geller (friend, spiritual advisor and hairdresser).
"It would be wonderful if the ranch could also offer the community around it a leisure facility with walking trails, horse riding and other pursuits."
Lesley is a keen writer and has published a children's book and earlier this year her book on Elvis entitled 'A Lifetime Of Love' went on sale to raise funds for Cancer and Heart Research charities.
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