Mike Epperly has taken on the task of single-handedly restoring the attraction that was built single-handedly by his father.

Over a span of years in the 1980s, Don Epperly erected "Miniature Graceland" in the side yard of his house in Roanoke, Virginia. It included not only The King's Memphis mansion, but his Tupelo birthplace, his childhood church, the Roanoke Civic Center (where he was scheduled to perform mere days before he died), the Heartbreak Hotel, and even the Elvis Presley Car Museum.

"What my daddy created was really beautiful," Mike says. "It had a lot of heart put into it."

Don Epperly eventually grew too old to work on his tiny shrine. A storm in the winter of 2005 dropped a huge tree in the middle of Miniature Graceland. Appeals by the Epperlys to the city of Roanoke went unanswered. It seemed as if the attraction was doomed to disappear into the undergrowth.

Then, in May of 2006, Mike Epperly confronted his destiny. "I was out at Happy's Flea Market and ran across a chain saw. Where I live, I don't need a chain saw. But I bought it anyway. I brought it to the house and cut that tree out of there. It took me five weeks just to clean up the yard!

"When I was done, I said, 'Come out here, momma. I want to show you something.' And she actually come out into the yard, which she hadn't done in a long, long time. And she teared up and started cryin'. And I said, "Momma, what's wrong?' And she said, 'I thought I would never see that with my eyes again.' And it was from that moment that I knew I was gonna have to do something about it.

"She didn't think I would stay with it. She thought it would overwhelm me. And of course, I won't lie about it, there's been days that it HAS overwhelmed me. But I'm kind of pigheaded. When I start something, I finish it."

Mike intends to rebuild everything, to restore Miniature Graceland to its 1980s glory -- including the airport and the shopping center -- even though he often has only photographs to guide him, and he has no experience creating a miniature town. "To be honest with you, I don't have a clue. It's just cut and trial, cut and trial." In a sense, Mike is remaining true to the spirit of the original. "My daddy didn't have no blueprints. Everything he done he just threw together on the spot."

Mike has already completed two of the buildings, and he's restored the outdoor lighting and the Elvis music that softly plays in the trees. He plans to have all of the completed structures lit up for Christmas.

"I don't know now long it's gonna take, but I'm not gonna quit until I'm finished," says Mike. "I'm not gonna leave it out there half-done. That wouldn't be right."

[09/24/2006]