'COVID Elvis' is cheering up Hamiltonians with sidewalk performances

The COVID-19 pandemic has people isolated in their personal heartbreak hotels, but one Hamilton man nicknamed "COVID Elvis" has eased the pain by serenading people from sidewalks and windows in exchange for donations to food banks.

Cameron Michael Caton has traveled around Hamilton with a speaker and a mic since April, crooning to the self-isolated to celebrate anniversaries and birthdays, or just to lighten the mood.

Caton says he performs for a living, particularly at nursing homes, with the skill of imitating "just about anybody." He'd resisted doing Elvis until this year though, because "does the world really need another guy jumping around in a  jumpsuit?"

Then in April, he says, a friend asked him to serenade her parents from the driveway to make up for a cancelled 80th birthday party.

"I gave it a little bit of thought," he said, "and said, 'How about I come dressed as Elvis?'"

The Gourley Park resident has dubbed his effort the Helping Hands Van Tour. He's performing in exchange for food bank donations, and has dropped off several hundred pounds of food so far. In the case of Neighbour to Neighbour, the centre confirmed that he dropped off "nearly 500 pounds of food."

Caton has also started collecting money and donations for hygiene packages that include menstrual products, a campaign he calls "Basic Essentials for Her."

David Murkovich hired Caton to perform of his mother Carol in the east end last weekend. Carol, 77, lives alone and is a life-long Elvis fan, Murkovich says. "She has plates and calendars and posters and records and spoons." She was supposed to go to Graceland for the first time ever this month, and the pandemic forced her to cancel the trip.

Caton arrived for a Mother's Day weekend performance and sang four songs, including "Don't Be Cruel" and "(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear."

"She was in shock," Murkovich said. "She loved it, but she was silent. She was dumbfounded."

With this philanthropy, Caton says, he's found his calling. He's dyed his hair black to commit to the role. When he shows up to croon, he said, the reaction is "disbelief."

"I've never been more passionate about something … When the pandemic's dust settles, this isn't the end of it. This is just getting started."

Overall, Hamilton has 512 cases of COVID-19 (507 confirmed, five probable) since the pandemic started in March. Twenty-five people have died and 372 have recovered.

Ten people are in hospital with COVID-19 at St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, and 12 at Hamilton Health Sciences.