E-Mail This Article to a Friend NONANTUM ROCKS But it’s not really Elvis BY MIKE MILIARD

This year marks the 50th anniversary of "That’s All Right," Elvis Presley’s first single. And this Saturday marks the 25th anniversary of Monk Pelly’s annual Elvis Presley Day — a "power-packed, Las Vegas–style show," complete with Kenpo karate demonstration, that’s the best dang Elvis Presley tribute in the history of Nonantum.

Monk Pelly (a/k/a Mike Pellegrini) and his brother and production manager, Dan, come from a tight-knit Italian family. Their father, Anthony "Fat" Pellegrini, was the unofficial mayor of Nonantum (a village of Newton) and was a philanthropic giant there. Pellegrini Park, where the concert has been held for the past quarter-century, is named for their aunt Joanne. (Sadly, Fat and his third son, Frank, both passed away last year, making this year’s event bittersweet.)

Elvis loomed large in the Pellegrini household. "It all began one night, just watching my mom dancing to the radio, to Elvis," Monk says over the phone from his Florida auto shop. "I’d never seen her like that before. She sat me down, we talked for an hour or so, and she got me all excited about him. I went out the next day and got one of his albums."

Monk’s first taste of public adulation as the King came at a costume contest in the ’70s. "He had a white sequined suit and a cape made by my sister Louise, to do a competition at Lucifer’s in Kenmore Square," Dan remembers. "I went as the Fonz. He ended up wining second prize, and the crowd went ape-shit because a McDonald’s hamburger and French fries won! They booed the crap out of them, but we felt bad for ’em because they thought Monk shoulda won, too."

Later, on the first anniversary of Elvis’s death, Monk’s aunt asked him to put on his suit, come down to the park that bears her name, and sing along with some of Elvis’s records. Only about 50 people were there, but he slew ’em. As years went on, the production got bigger, gradually incorporating a full stage and a live band. Soon Monk started touring New England. By 1987, the 10th anniversary of Elvis’s death, he was gyrating his pelvis for nearly 3000 screaming fans. Monk now performs a dozen or so times a year at festivals and parties in Florida and New England. Occasionally, he plays senior citizens’ cookouts, says his brother, and "gets the old broads goin’ nuts."

But Nonantum’s event is the highlight of his year. And he takes it very seriously. "Monk gets into a whole Rocky-type regime to be Elvis," says Dan. "We call him the ‘King of Elvis Tributes’ for a reason. He has to hold up to it. He really works out hard, like Rocky. He’s very trim when he comes out. He sings just like Elvis. He’s got the moves. We’re not into doing a schlocky-type show."

"I insist on doing an in-shape Elvis, a mid-30s Elvis," Monk says. "Y’know, Elvis, he got sick, he hated being overweight. But in the end, he had to go out that way. I know he wouldn’t want anyone to portray him that way. [He’d say] ‘If you’re gonna do me, man, do me in-shape. You’re not sick, you don’t have the problems I had.’ "

"We don’t get Elvis fans who think Elvis is still alive," Dan says. "We get good Elvis fans. They know he’s dead. The ones who are wild about Elvis, who think he might still be alive, Monk will tell ’em on stage, ‘We know Elvis is gone. He’s not at McDonald’s. We’re here to do a tribute.’ "

Dan, for one, can’t wait. "We bring him in with a limo, he’s got bodyguards, the whole nine yards. We play [the theme from] 2001: A Space Odyssey. It’s a very classy show." But, he stresses, "Monk doesn’t think he’s Elvis when he gets off stage. He’s just a regular guy, like you and me."

Elvis Presley Day takes place on Saturday, September 25, from 5 to 9 p.m. at Joanne Pellegrini Park on Hawthorn Street in the Nonantum section of Newton. Admission is $10 ($5 for kids), with all proceeds benefiting the Aleppo Shriners. Call Dan Pellegrini at (617) 592-5081 for more information.