Since 2011, tribal member Judith Ann Thundercloud, who is an Elvis Presley fanatic, has been donating money to the Jackson County Interfaith Volunteer Caregivers group and Black River Falls Memorial Hospital in honor of the late Elvis Presley. Elvis Presley is known by many as the King of Rock and Roll.
Every year on the anniversary of August 16, Judith Ann Thundercloud donates one thousand dollars to the memorial of Elvis Presley, who tragically passed away due to a cardiac arrest in 1977. Thundercloud has a room full of Elvis Presley memorabilia in which she has collected over the years to show the amount of devotion she has for him.
In the beginning, Thundercloud would have a setup on the anniversary of the late rock and roll icon. She would have a large tent posted in her backyard and a cookout for all those who shared the same enthusiasm.
Judith explained, “The first few years the cookout in my backyard was really nice, but the third year it rained like cats and dogs.”
She would have an Elvis Presley impersonator and contest for the Best Elvis Costume in which people from all over would participate and attend. Over time Judith has found it challenging to set it up with becoming unable to do it by herself.
That didn’t seem to stop her likeliness of the late legend with finding alternative ways to set up the event with the help of the others and the use of the Lunda Center Auditorium near the Lunda Waterpark to continue her annual cookouts for the late Elvis Presley.