Polka Celebration

By Peter Danielczuk

My wife Grazyna and I attended the 2007 banquet of the Broadcasters Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio, on Sunday evening, November 4. I had the honor of being one of the inductees to the Broadcasters Hall of Fame. My thanks to Board Chairman Dr. Henry Dunn for his kind hospitality. I must tell you that I feel very honored to be in this Hall of Fame. I will have some ceremony pictures to share in a future issue for you.

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St. Stephen’s Church of Perth Amboy, N.J., has a Christmas Carol selection that is worthy of notice to all Polish American families everywhere who want to make their Christmas a very special Polish affair. The carols have English lyrics translated into Polish and Polish lyrics translated into English. It is a smash hit. Cassettes are available at $10 and CDs are $15, which include shipping and handling. If interested, send a check or money order to St. Stephen’s Church Carols, 290 State St., Perth Amboy, NY 08861. All proceeds will be used to benefit this historic church.

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In 2008, the International Polka Association (IPA) will celebrate its 40th anniversary. To begin the year of celebration, there will be a gala dinner and dance on Saturday, January 19. This event will take place at Polonia Banquets, located at 4604 South Archer Ave., in Chicago, Ill. There will be a delightful meal, silent auction and musical entertainment by the Downtown Sound. Reservations can be made by calling (312) 315-2215.

Then on Sunday, January 20, plan to attend the IPA’s 39th Chicago Festival of Polka Bands. This is the largest and ultimately the most awesome one-day polka event of the winter months. It will be held at the spacious Glendora House, located at 10225 South Harlem Ave. in Chicago Ridge. Bands include Midway Cavaliers, Downtown Sound, Stas Bulanda & Old School Review, Jimmy Killian’s Honky Band, Music Company, Joe Walega’s Happy Hearts, One More Tyme, Freeze Dried and EZ Tones from Indiana. This festival is a great way to introduce your children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews to the wonderful world of polka music. For more details, contact the IPA at 1-800-TO-POLKA or visit internationalpolka.com.

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Sunshine Records has released two new polka recordings on CD. The first is by Walter Ostanek & His Band and Brian Sklar & The Western Senators entitled “Dueling Polkas.” This CD is loaded with talent, both on Walter’s side on the Western Senators. You will love the great selection of songs, and I am sure it will make your “A list.” The second CD is by Jerry Darlak & The Touch entitled “America’s Most Requested Polkas.” After years of Jerry and the boys listening to fans request the same songs over and over, the band decided to put their version of these songs on CD. It is loaded with tunes that everyone knows the words to, including the “PA Polka,” “I Wonder Why,” “Hu La La,” “Johnny’s Knocking,” “Julida,” “Just Because” and more. It has a total of 15 great songs. You can purchase these two fine CDs from your local polka dealer or go to sdemusic.com.

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Polka Today’s Matt and Elaine, the top polka dancers in the country, just released an instructional learn-to-polka DVD titled “Let’s All Polka Today!” The DVD is 60 minutes and is both instructional and entertaining. It features three sections of polka dance instruction, from basic to advanced sequences with spins and turns. Additionally, there is a bonus of “Polka in Paradise” line dance with instructions and group demonstrations, along with a video clip of Matt and Elaine’s high-energy performance dancing. The DVD also includes a special appearance by 16-time Grammy Award winner Jimmy Sturr and features the music of the Jimmy Sturr Orchestra.

Matt and Elaine have appeared on many TV shows from “The Rachael Ray Show,” to “Good Day New York.” They have been teaching and performing across the country and continue to take Polka Today to new and diverse audiences. To order the DVD, send a check or money order, payable to Matthew Bonowitz, for $29.50 (which includes shipping and handling) to Polka Today, P.O. Box 60644, Staten Island, NY 10366. For more information, go to polkatoday.com.

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Join Eddie Blazonczyk’s Versatones for a gala New Year’s Eve Ball at the Aviana Banquet Hall, located at 11142 S. Southwest Highway in Palos Hills, Ill. Featured at this event ia a delicious family style dinner, unlimited five-hour open bar, champagne toast with Eddie Sr. at midnight, lavish midnight buffet, and music and dancing until 1 am. For ticket information and reservations, contact Bel-Aire Enterprises, 7208 South Harlem Ave., Bridgeview, IL 60455 or call (708) 594-5182.

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As a follow-up to its highly-successful 1994 release titled “Polish Village Christmas,” The Polish American Journal has released the second in its collection of favorite Polish American Christmas carols. Titled “Polish Village Christmas, Vol. II,” this CD features performances by four Polka Hall of Fame artists: Lenny Gomulka, Mitch Biskup, Jackie Libera and Mike Nowakowski. Also featured are award-winning musicians and vocalists John Bartley, Eddie Biegaj, Patricia Blust, John Jaworski, Kyle Kohan, Mark Kohan, Jim Kucharski, Joe Macielag, Robin Pegg and Larry Trojak. Unlike the first Christmas CD, which reanimated some lost and obscure koledy (carols), this new recording contains 19 favorites, songs that form “the book” of standard Polish carols. Since the Middle Ages, carols have been at the heart of the Polish Christmas.

“Polish Village Christmas, Vol. II” is available from The Polish American Journal, P.O. Box 328, Boston, NY 14025, online at polamjournal.com, or by calling 1-800-422-1275. The CD is $15 plus $6.95 for shipping and handling costs.

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Polka DJ & promoter Bernie Goydish has announced that after 32 years he has decided to cancel “Polka Spree By The Sea,” which was held in Wildwood, N.J. This was one of the best polka festivals in the country for years. Many people have wonderful memories of the great bands that played there as well as the boardwalk. We personally would like to thank Bernie for all he has done in the polka world and wish him well.

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As reported in the Baltimore Sun newspaper, Blob’s Park in Jessup, Md., is expected to close this winter. This family owned and run park was founded more than 70 years ago by Max Blob in 1933 and has been a mainstay with its German-style beer garden atmosphere. Featuring polka music and good times for all, the park will be demolished to make way for a new development.

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Our good friend and fellow Broadcast Hall of Fame member Keith Stras of Chicago is sponsoring three great polka events. First, his K&C Entertainment Co. invites you to celebrate the holiday season with a Wigilia Celebration on Sunday, December 16, at Glendora Banquets, located at 10225 S. Harlem Ave. in Chicago Ridge. It will feature Michigan’s first family of polka, Pan Franek, Zosia & the Polka Towners, featuring Christine and Andrea. Doors will open at 11:30 a.m. and begin with a Polka Mass at noon, dinner at 1:15 p.m. and music and dancing until 7 p.m.

The second event is a 2007 New Year’s Eve Ball on Monday, December 31, at Glendora Banquets. It will feature music by Stas Bulanda and his Old School Review. Cost is just $65 per person and includes an all-you-can-eat family style dinner, an unlimited premium five-and-a-half-hour bar, various hats/horns/noisemakers, a champagne toast at midnight, and a lavish and extensive midnight buffet.

The third event is on Sunday, January 6, and called “Polkas R Great in 2008.” This will also be held at Chicago’s Crown Jewel, the Glendora Banquets. Doors will open at noon with music from 1-7 p.m. Music will be provided by Danny Mateja’s Downtown Sound, Stas Bulanda’s Old School Review, Casel Homel and the World’s Honkiest Band, Jimmy Killian’s Honky Chicago and Stas Golonka’s Chicago Masters.

Tickets for this event will be $10 at the door. For additional information about all of these great events, call Keith at (847) 468-0112.

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“Polkas That Are Out Of This World” is the latest solo project from George Suhon. This CD contains a dozen all-new and original compositions written and recorded by George Suhon. It includes eight polkas and four waltzes. Send a check or money order for $12 (price includes shipping and handling) to George Suhon, 598 Dry Ridge Road, West Alexander, PA 15376.

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Make your plans now to attend the annual Christmas Dance on Saturday, December 8, from 7 p.m.-midnight at Pulaski Hall, 1401 S. Grant St., Bay City, MI 48708. Scheduled to perform is Darrel Weltin and The New Brass Express. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door. For tickets, call Joe at (989) 893-3493, Stan at (989) 662-3334 or Joe at (989) 652-2725

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Don’t forget that January is National Polka Month. I’ll tell you more about this in next month’s column. But for now, my wife Grazyna and I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Wesolych Swiat!

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Until next time, God bless. And remember … we are all one family, all one big Polka family. God bless Poland and God bless America.

If you have some polka information that you would like to share with Peter Danielczuk, you may contact him by e-mail.