It’s Mario Li’s third year running Lucky’s Smokehouse.

When I was entering elementary school my oldest sister Mary was graduating high school. I thought she was the most sophisticated young woman in the universe. She wore fashionable clothes, including tight leopard-print slacks that were the rage. And as was the rage among teenage girls in the late 1950s, she loved Elvis Presley. That’s why I sent her a picture of a poster I spotted in a Sechelt restaurant last week.

I dropped off my car at the Ford Dealership on Wharf Avenue, and it started to rain. I took shelter at Lucky’s Smokehouse across the street. I had never noticed the small restaurant before. I didn’t expect much.

I discovered the most delectable pulled pork and pulled chicken sandwiches I’ve ever eaten on the Sunshine Coast–or in Vancouver. I also learned that visiting Lucky’s was a lucky coincidence.

As I savoured my meal and a Brickers cider–yes, Lucky’s has a liquor license–I admired the restaurant’s whimsical decor. True to its name, horseshoes adorn the walls. Proprietor Mario Li has also decorated the place with intriguing antiques. Beside my table was a player piano. Mario opened it and showed me a music roll, perforated to create notes when someone pumps the pedals.

Horseshoes and antiques adorn the walls at Lucky’s Smokehouse in Sechelt. Here Roberts Creeker Lee-Anne Smith enjoys a pulled pork sandwich and a glass of Brickers cider. The Elvis poster is somewhat hidden next to the player piano.

Then I spotted the poster next to the piano. It was dated 1957 from Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, New York. It advertised an Elvis Presley concert. After Mary finished high school she lived with my grandmother in Buffalo, where she worked for a trucking company. I thought she’d get a kick out of the poster so I snapped a photo and sent it to her. I’ll let her response speak for itself:

OMG–Elizabeth, I was there! I was 19 years old and adored Elvis. Joe, who was 39 at the time and looked like a mafia guy, took me to Memorial Auditorium to see Elvis just to please me. He was my first real love but Grandma and Mother were so against him because of his age and because of what they imagined that he did. He was dressed in a nice dark suit and tie, and I had on a tight, red, lace dress. We didn’t look like any of the other bobby socksers that were there but I thought I was with a very powerful man and had to look especially sexy and sophisticated.

Elvis came out on stage and didn’t say anything, as the girls were all screaming and crying. He finally cleared his throat, and there was another five or six minutes of screaming and crying. Of course I was too high-class to indulge in that behaviour. When Elvis started singing and gyrating all hell broke loose. I got caught up in the frenzy because I didn’t realize I was screaming too and banging my pocketbook against Joe and flailing my hands around like an idiot.

I will never forget that night. I was embarrassed at the way I acted but Joe understood. Anyway, what a coincidence that you would notice the Billboard and then send it to me!

To check out the poster—or better yet, to check out the food, try visiting Lucky’s Smokehouse on a Monday. The pulled pork sandwiches are on special at $5 each.