Elvis the Baker

Some people struggle to find one career in a lifetime that they love. Lewis Demeter, who has been the owner of Chatham Bakery since July 1, has been fortunate to have found two.

Demeter loves to bake. But he also is a regular Elvis impersonator, which is something he enjoys doing just as much.

"I couldn't decide what I wanted to do," Demeter said in the bakery on Tuesday. "So I did them both, and have been doing that ever since."

A regular presence at the Chatham Farmer's Market last year both as a baker and as an enthusiastic Elvis impersonator, Demeter is making an imprint on the community in two ways: by creating all his bakery items from scratch and never using mixes and by performing some good, old-fashioned music.

"I guess I am sort of stuck in the '50s and '60s and I like music where I can understand every word," Demeter said.

Finding himself out of work for the first time in his life in 2009, Demeter decided to refinance his home and buy a bakery. Admittedly, it was a bit slow during the summer months, but by the time Thanksgiving rolled around, people were lined up along the sidewalk to buy some of the bakery's breads and sweets.

"The support of the community brought tears to my eyes," Demeter said.

Lewis and his wife of 45 years, Julianne, have been baking and working to do Elvis impersonations in several communities in New Jersey including Kenilworth, North Arlington, East Hanover, and now Chatham Borough.

"Julianne suggests my songs and dresses me," he says with a chuckle.

Demeter bought several outfits from the same place that Elvis had his suits made in Indiana, including a $4,800 Elvis Presley suit he bought in 2005. He likes doing things the old fashioned way, except he admits that he does have to make some concessions to the technology of the day—the music he performs to is on CDs, not records.

But Demeter has had an experience many have not—he has met Elvis Presley in the flesh.

In 1976, Demeter attended an Elvis concert in Nassau County, New York at the Coliseum. Before he went, he baked a large sheet cake topped with a guitar and a golden crown and took it with him. Demeter said he walked in, said he had a delivery for Elvis, and was simply let in.

Demeter remembers Elvis told him to "just put it down there, son." And he did.

Although Demeter has survived two encounters with cancer, most recently in 2008, he considers himself very fortunate.

"I love my jobs and I hope to do this till the day I die," he said.