Texas Polka News - January 2016 Volume 27 | Isssue 12 INSIDE Texas Polka News THIS ISSUE 2 Bohemian Princess Diary Theresa Cernoch Parker Starting the year with great polka It's National news 3 Editor’s Log Gary E. McKee Polka Month! Getting old or older? By Theresa Parker Story on Page 4 3 From the TPN Archives January 2014: National Polka Month 4-5 Featured Story It's National Polka Month! International Polka Association Appoints Texan to Hall of Fame Board 6-9 It Was Never a Job: The Telstars 10-11 Best of 2015 Photos 12-14 Dances, Festivals, Events, Live Music 16 PoLK of A Report President Clinton Ellebracht's last column 17 Remembering Clarence Baca 18-19 TCHCC Gala; More Best Of Photos 20-23 Festival/Dance Notes 24 Polka Smiles Sponsored by Hruska's Page 2 Texas Polka News - January 2016 SPJST Lodge 88 for agreeing to be the Bohemian Princess venue of what will be a historic event. Texas Polka News Staff And the Texas Polka News is proud to Diary sponsor this first ever Texas event. Theresa Cernoch Parker, Publisher Gary E. McKee, Editor/Photo Journalist Now, that's not to say, we Texans Jeff Brosch, Artist/Graphic Designer are going to bully our way in and get Contributors: dozens of people inducted into the Julie Ardery Mark Hiebert Alec Seegers hall. There are deserving candidates Louise Barcak Julie Matus Will Seegers all over the country and I admire Bill Bishop Earline Berger Okruhlik Karen Williams the very detailed process the HOF Lauren Haase John Roberts committee goes through to be fair in its selections. What is exciting is that we now have a stronger voice from Contact By Theresa Cernoch Parker this region, and it will indeed be an Theresa Parker, Texas Polka News honor to have more representation P.O. Box 800183 • Houston, TX 77280 We start the year with great news! from this part of the country in the 281-836-5362 The International Polka Association hall of fame. [email protected] | Gary: [email protected] has appointed Danny Zapletal as a Many states, like Nebraska, trustee to its board that makes the Wisconsin, and Ohio, have their own decisions about who gets inducted Polka Halls of Fame. Texas doesn't. Ads/Media each year into the Hall of Fame, and I believe the founder of this paper, Articles, ads, letters to the editor deadline: 1st of the month for the next month who wins the annual music awards. Julius Tupa, was headed in that direction when he created the Texas Ad Rates 1/3 page: $170 1/8: $55 They have flirted in the past with Full page: $455 1/4 page: $115 1/16: $35 having Texas representation. Carl Polka Music Association, presenting 1/2 page: $255 3/16 page: $75 Finch of Brave Combo has served as annual awards to musicians, band, one of the electors having a say in the DJs, and promoters. Perhaps that Discounts available for multiple runs. Combo deals available for ads in TPN and polkabeat.com. voting. And, in 2006, Joyce Bohuslav might be something our polka Contact Theresa Parker for information. of the Polka Lovers Club of Texas musuems in Schulenburg and La Museum, was elected to the IPA Board Grange should consider instituting. of Directors, and served until 2010. Till then, I look forward to seeing On The Cover She nominated Alfred Vrazel for HOF LOTS of polka fans at the first Texas induction during her tenure and as we IPA Fundraiser on Sun., Feb. 7, at Gary McKee captured this image of Barbie and Russell Loitz at Swiss all know, Alfred was at last inducted Lodge 88. Read more about the IPA Alp Dance Club on April 19, 2015, KC Hall in Schulenburg. Barbie and in the Polka Pioneer category in 2014. and the dance on pages 4-5. Russell are the king and queen of PoLK of A Texas Chapter. This is the first time a trustee ****** has been chosen to represent the Thank you Alvin Dean Bachkora of geographic area of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas for sending me a necklace About Texas Polka News and New Mexico. Danny will be he had made in Mexico. He said he The Texas Polka News was started by Julius resumed publishing in September 2014. selecting 14 electors to work with him told them it Tupa of Houston in 1987 with the mission In addition to polka, the paper covers to make sure this region's polka artists should say, to preserve and promote polka music and other dance hall music including Country, are represented in the nominations "Bohemian dance. When Julius passed away in 2002, Western Swing, and Cajun, and celebrates his wife, Marie, continued as publisher, live music, such as Opry, across the state. process. Princess," and his friend, John Rivard, took the reins Theresa also founded polkabeat.com in In talking with IPA Prez Rick but it says, as volunteer editor. John stepped down as 2010 to honor the memory of her dad, Rzeszutko, they have realized for "Bohemia." editor in June 2014, and Marie sold the Willie “Bill” Cernoch, to promote polka some time that representation was I told him paper to Theresa Cernoch Parker, who music and heritage. needed from this region and found that's okay. the perfect candidate in Danny Z. I Makes agree. Danny knows the Texas polka me sound more official! Alvin is Get/Give The Texas Polka News scene. He lives the Texas polka scene celebrating his 91st birthday this Continue the polka tradition! Give your children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, as musician with Czech and Then month (see ad, p. 8). He fits in nieces and nephews a subscription to Texas Polka News. We’ll extend your current TPN Some, as executive director of the well with Gary's column on aging. subscription one month for each subscription you designate as a family gift. Published monthly. One year (12 issues) for $25. National Polka Festival, as owner of a Another TPN fan, Paul Minar Sr. in Clip this out & mail check for $25 (outside U.S. $40) to The Texas Polka News recording studio, as polka DJ, and as a Cat Spring, is another example of P.O. Box 800183 Houston, TX 77280. Or click on the TPN link on polkabeat.com to promoter, encouraging young people, showing that age is just a number. subscribe or renew online with a credit card. including his son, Josh, to be proud He recently renewed his subscription of their Czech and polka heritage. It for two years. He's 97. And, Clarence Name ___________________________________________________________ didn't take long for him to set to work. Baca, who was 95, when he passed Street ___________________________________________________________ With the support of his good friends away in November, never missed City _________________________________ ST ________ Zip _____________ Mollie B and Ted Lange, he set an an opportunity to dance, walker be Ph _____________________ Email____________________________________ idea in motion to have a fundraiser damned! Please read his story on p. 17. for the IPA Hall of Fame. Congrats to Polka On! ❏ New ❏ Renewal ❏ Gift ❏ Address change (include old address) Texas Polka News - January 2016 Page 3 old. As a teen we were counseled by Editor's Log our friends to never trust anyone over 30, and my age group sang along loudly with The Who’s Hope I Die Getting Old Before I Get Old cause those old folks or Older? were ignorant. The over 30 crowd expected us to respect the wisdom of the elders (why isn’t it called olders?). As the calendar pages flew by we noticed that our parents and other elders had become smarter on life’s choices. In 1937, singer Sophie Tucker From the TPN Archives: January 2014 commented: “In [your] twenties and the thirties you want your love in large As reported by Willie Bohuslav in the support the many polka events not just amounts, but after you reach forty, it’s PoLK of A column, January 2014 issue. in January but throughout the entire the quality that counts.” How true. January is ‘National Polka Music Month.’ year. And continue to listen and support By Gary E. McKee Governor Rick Perry proclaimed your local polka radio shows every week. DANCE OF LIFE January 2014 to be ‘Polka Music Month Remember, without your support, these in Texas,’ so I encourage all of you to go events and radio shows will not survive Polkadate January 2016. The editor When researching a paper about ‘polka dancing’ in January. Attend and throughout the coming years! has looked around and noticed he has an ethnic group’s reactions when become one of those “old people” he confronted with an abrupt change has been talking about the last five in lifestyles, I concluded that every decades. Trying to get a grip on what person acted as events guided them, has snuck up on him, he gives it quick but with their own personality, not consideration, and continues on (with ethnicity. This applies to the aging the help of ibuprofen). process in the dance of life. Youthful exuberance equals music and dancing With the beginning of a new year, to what is currently popular, i.e., according to the commonly used rockabilly, jazz, swing, rock-n-roll, and Gregorian (Catholic) calendar, it’s completely new steps to contemporary a time to reflect on aging, because that’s what old people do - nothing country. And for those of you who - just sit around trying to remember have left Texas and are currently in the events or trying to find the remote.