Elaine Greene has met numerous well known celebrities in both her professional and personal life, but none come close to matching her infatuation with the one and only King of Rock ‘n Roll.
Greene grew up in Virginia Beach, Virginia, as the daughter of a Navy veteran and local radio celebrity who was a member of a ‘hillbilly’ band that sang the hits of Hank Williams and Bill Monroe.
“But,” she confirmed, “When he heard Elvis Presley sing “Don’t Be Cruel,” he switched to rock ‘n roll. This was the beginning of my love for the music of Elvis.”
Greene’s dad died in an automobile accident in 1962, and her two sisters and mother moved to Hillsboro. Her mother and dad were high school classmates at Monticello High in the class of 1944. She graduated from the same school and went on to Middle Georgia and West Georgia, where she obtained her middle school education degree in 1969.
“I was meant to be a teacher,” Greene declared. “I loved teaching school to my Barbie dolls in our attic. I told folks they never talked back to me.”
The former Elaine White met her future husband in 1965 at a dance at the Hillsboro Schoolhouse, set up by her mother, she recalled.
“She told me, ‘I have someone I want you to meet. He’s from Jones County.’ “I told her ‘I didn’t like folks from Jones County.’ Monticello and Jones County were big football rivals. She said, ‘His name is Wayne Greene.’
“I said, ‘I don’t like a Greene fella.’ Our future cousins, Howard and Phil Greene, were always beating us.
“That was 59 years ago. Mother planned it all. We married on Feb. 7, 1970, at Hillsboro Baptist Church, where we are still members today. He is a deacon, and I teach an adult Sunday school class.”
The retiree taught for 33 years, starting at Jones County High, hired by longtime superintendent Lint Jordan as a substitute English instructor. She shared that she had a unique way to start her class with new students.
“I would tell my students every first day they came in my class, ‘Just want you to know that I am a colorful teacher. I was a White, I married a Greene, and I live in Gray!’ That was always a first day ice-breaker.”
Greene went to Jonesco Academy as a sixth-grade English and seventh-grade history teacher when it opened in 1970 and stayed there 13 years. She ‘retired,’ and the couple’s second child, Chandler, was born. They already had a daughter, Jenni.
“I stayed at home with him until pre-school and was offered a job at Tattnall Square Academy, teaching once again seventh grade English,” Greene reflected. “I stayed there for 19 years, enjoying every moment until they decided to go more technological, and I knew then it was time to go.”
The teacher earned a special recognition while at Tattnall.
“My most proud moment as an educator was to be selected 2007 Star Teacher by Sara Dever, which was a first for a Middle School teacher.”
While at Tattnall, Greene was able to travel the globe a bit.
“I was asked to chaperon the high school spring trips to Europe,” she said. “I did seven trips, seeing the sites and people whom I only read about in books. One of my favorite moments was visiting Anne Frank’s house and seeing her red diary under glass.”
The teacher had the opportunity to encounter a bit of royalty on the school group’s first trip to England in 1994.
“I was at Windsor Castle and came face to face with Prince Charles, now the King of England, coming through a side door,” Greene recalled. “I started to take a pic of him and one of his body guards shook his head ‘no,’ so I put my camera down.
“As I knew he was going to come out the front door, I waited and snapped a picture (that ended up in a frame in my classroom). The guard just looked at me, shook his head and then smiled.”
Greene’s position as a teacher gave her — and another instructor and friend, Beth Davidson — the opportunity to enjoy lunch with a former President in 2005.
“Mr. Bobby Salter, who owned Plains Peanuts, invited Beth and me to come to birthday lunch for President Jimmy Carter’s 80th birthday with Rosalyn and race car driver Bill Elliot,” she said. “He wanted to thank us for teaching his grandson.
“We had a great lunch and later birthday cake at the train depot, where he cut his own cake and served it to us and a group of school children on a field trip. It was a wonderful day.”
Greene’s father-in-law owned J. Fred’s Bait and Tackle on Macon Highway across from the well drilling company. She was on hand on occasion to help run the store, along with her husband, Wayne, and J. Fred. She recalls that on more than one occasion a singer who had bought property with a house in Jones County — Otis Redding — stopped by the convenience store.
“He had come in several times to get gas,” Greene recalled, “but I did not say anything to him until Mr. Fred said to him one night, ‘Otis, I want you to meet someone. She just loves you.’
“The next time he came in, Otis brought Wayne and me two tickets to his July 16, 1966, concert at the City Auditorium for his show with Percy Sledge, Sam and Dave, and Patti LaBelle. It was awesome!”
Redding actually went one better, she pointed out.
“One night before Christmas in 1967, when we were keeping the store, Otis stopped by and said to me, ‘I have a gift for you.’ It was a copy of his Christmas record Merry Christmas, Baby that he was taking to the local radio stations for them to play.”
Greene said she planned to give it to Redding’s daughter, Karla, who does not have a copy.
“Our family was honored when Karla and her family put the actual receipt for the well that was dug by Greene’s Well Boring for their Big O swimming pool on the Otis Redding Marker in downtown Gray,” she said.
While Greene is obviously proud of her opportunities to come into contact with a future King, a former president and a famous singer who died before his time, those connections pale in comparison with her adoration for her ‘king,’ Elvis. She makes no bones about what many would term her obsession.
“To say I am a diehard Elvis fan would be an understatement,” the ardent admirer admitted. “From the first time I saw him at 9 years old on the Ed Sullivan Show, I was hooked. My allowance was usually spent on Elvis magazines and records.
“When Ellen Morgan and I heard that Elvis was coming to Macon, we could not wait to buy the $7.50 ticket to the sellout concert with 10,000 other fans.”
Even though Presley died in 1977, millions of fans still celebrate his music, and Greene is among them. Graceland is a mansion in Memphis that was owned by the ‘King of Rock ‘n Roll,’ and untold thousands visit the tourist attraction annually.
“Going to Graceland in Memphis during Elvis Week is my happy place,” Greene proclaimed. “Beth and I have been to Graceland 17 times for Elvis celebrations and to Tupelo, Elvis’ birthplace, twice.”
The two actually enjoyed lunch with some pretty well known personalities one year.
“We celebrated his 80th birthday on the lawn of Graceland with (ex-wife) Priscilla, (their daughter) Lisa Marie, and her children, Ben and Riley Keough,” Greene shared. “It was so cold that, when they went to cut the birthday cake, it was frozen.
“Lisa came up to us and thanked us for coming,” she recalled, adding that Benjamin Keough is now deceased and his sister, Riley, is a rising star and sole owner of Graceland.
In addition to the tourists who help keep the memory of Presley alive, there are musical artists who do their part, and Greene has attended numerous events to hear their tributes.
“For the past eight years, I have been going to Georgia Elvis Fests in Brunswick and St. Simons to hear Ultimate Champions perform Elvis music, carrying on the musical legacy of Elvis. This Fest is produced flawlessly by Cote Deonath, the only Elvis tribute artist who is sanctioned by Elvis Presley Enterprises. I saw Elvis in concert three times, and Cote’s production is the closest thing to being at an Elvis concert.”
Though well into her 70s, Greene will never forget her memories or lose her admiration for her idol.
“My classroom was called the Elvis Room because it was filled with Elvis memorabilia given to me by my students,” she pointed out. “At home, one of my Christmas trees was laden with ornaments from them. They are now in my Elvis Room at home.
“Even now,” Greene said, “former students will come up and say, ‘Whenever I hear the name Elvis, I always think of you!’ I like that. It makes my heart smile. And,” she added, “I loved being a teacher. I loved making a difference and helping them become a success in the classroom and beyond.”
Green suggested that, when it came to her appreciation for music, another famous entertainment personality said it best.
“I love Dick Clark’s quote, ‘Music is the soundtrack of your life.’ Elvis Presley’s music was mine. How lucky I am!”
