Thanksgiving Polka Party – Cleveland Ohio USA – November 2009
It would not be November if we didn’t go to Cleveland to give thanks for polka music
at the 48th annual Thanksgiving Polka Party, a huge party thrown by Tony Petkovsek
with help from his many volunteers. Charlie and I work together with Dan Coppens,
Detroit DJ and IJ and polka promoter extraordinaire, to bring two busloads of partiers
to Cleveland. One bus is full of Canadians with entertainment provided by the Button
Box Buddies and one bus is full of Americans with entertainment provided by the Martin
Brothers Plus Band. Our first stop is Sterle’s Slovenian Restaurant for a huge family-style
Thanksgiving dinner and strolling entertainment provided by Fred Ziwich. Fred invited
the musicians up to play a few songs with him which is a real treat for us. Can
you imagine giving up your own thanksgiving dinner at home every year to entertain
a couple of busloads of people? Well, Fred has done that for many years – and we
want him to know that we appreciate it very much. It adds so much to our enjoyment.
Guess who we ran into as we leaving to board our bus! None other than John Hasper,
the webmaster of Polkas.nl and what fun it was to finally meet the man behind the
scenes. Because you have found this website you know how much he loves polkas and
polka people. He probably snapped 2,000 pictures during his stay in Cleveland. His
friend and associate, Jelse Vos was there too and we invited him to jam with us at
our Friday afternoon jam session because we were told that he plays button box. We
couldn’t convince him though. Our buses then travelled on to the Marriott Hotel
in downtown Cleveland for three days of music and fun. The minute you enter the
lobby and hear the polka music of Linda Lee Brown on accordion and Wild Bill on the
fiddle you know you have arrived. Entertainment was provided during the weekend
by Bob Kravos and the Boys in the Band, Walter Ostanek, Joey Miskulin, Joey Tomsick,
Frank Bucar & the Singing Slovenes, Grant Kozera, Mike Wojtila & Dale Bucar, Hank
Thunander, Hank Haller, Rob DeBlander, the Fairport Jammers, and Fred Ziwich and
the International Sound Machine. In the Grand Ballroom on Saturday night, the current
year award-winners are introduced and entertainment is provided by the last year’s
award winners, in this case Eddie Rodick Orchestra and Ron Likovic. And that is
just the stuff that is on the agenda! What really makes this weekend so wonderful
is that it is tied into the annual Awards Show for the National Cleveland-Style Polka
Hall of Fame and it has become something of a homecoming event. The polka legends
and icons come from far and wide, even if they’re not part of the entertainment schedule.
There is jamming throughout the hotel, and it is the place where good musicians
and good friends meet to have fun. And do we ever! Tony Petkovsek provides a nice
luncheon in the evening for his bus groups and the Martin Brothers Plus, button boxer
Bonnie Weber, and the Button Box Buddies contributed musical entertainment for our
groups. What a thrill it was to have Ron Sluga join us on button box for a jam
session. Ron of course is famous for his singing and banjo skills, and he just recently
began to play a button box that was a family treasure for many years. My husband
Charlie loves to sing, especially when he can harmonize, and he has a very nice voice.
Imagine his delight when he and Ron sang “One Night in May” together! Because we
just didn’t get enough jamming in we all went back to Dan Coppens’ suite where we
were joined by Kathy Paulenich on button box and John Gerl who tapped out the drumsticks
on the coffee table. During the rest of the evening we also enjoyed the company
of Eddie and Kim Rodick, Frank and Sam Stancic, Dave and Penny Hall, and many other
polka friends. We ended our Thursday by sitting in the Superior Room watching an
amazing accordion jam. Brian O’Boyle, Mike Kramer, Eddie Klancnik, Joe Shumar, David
Hall – all young people with so much talent that it is mesmerizing. We finally tore
ourselves away about 2AM because we knew that Friday was going to be another busy
day. Our bus group had two other great meals in store for them on this trip. On
Friday we went to the Croation Hall in Eastlake OH where we were served a delicious
meal of schnitzel and trimmings, and on Saturday before we went to the awards show
we went to the Sokol National Home of Cleveland, a Czechoslovakian building listed
on the National Heritage Register. We toured this amazing building which has been
fully and lovingly restored to its former glory, and the musicians got to play in
the ballroom. What beautiful acoustics – no need for microphones there. Apparently
this hall is rented for plays, performances and operas and it is one of the delightful
old ethnic cultural centers that we hope will never be lost. After our tour we were
treated to a delicious pork roast dinner complete with shiski and matka. (I probably
spelled that wrong, but it is dumplings and gravy – a Czech specialty.) Friday afternoon
our bus group was entertained in the Superior Room at a jam session organized by
Charlie and featuring our bus musicians – Martin Brothers Plus (Rudy Martin, Rene
Martin, Frank Sabo, and Ken Dowling), Bonnie Weber, Russ Krill and the Button Box
Buddies (Andy Miinch, Dennis Uhlik, Charlie and me). A number of our very talented
friends and artists came by to join us. Linda Lee Brown and Wild Bill who plays
a mean fiddle started us off. Mike Masten, who is the resident tube player at the
SAC club in Melvindale MI played the “Tuba Polka” accompanied by Ken Dowling. Pete
Oberson, one of our Snowbird Polka Jammers, joined us when the Fairport Jammers finished
up their performance and he sang “Cleveland, the Polka Town”. We got Dale Bucar
to sing “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” just like he sang it on Linda Hochevar’s Magic
Buttons CD. Joey Tomsick borrowed Kathy Paulenich’s button box and led the group
in a few songs. Rob DeBlander led us in a couple of songs – a taste of what his
show was going to be like later on in the Grand Ballroom. Our friends Linda Hochevar
and Frank Moravcik came by as they have each year to entertain our group. I just
love Linda’s version of “Windy City” which I asked her to play on the button box.
She is a very gifted lady and she has recorded three beautiful button box CD’s.
Frank is not only a skilful accordionist but also a great singer and a favorite
with the crowd. Each year he brings the house down (and makes the ladies swoon)
with a couple of Christmas songs – White Christmas and then Blue Christmas (which
he sings as well as Elvis did!). This couple has it all – good looks, great talent,
and nice personalities. And we’re delighted that we’re going to see them in Florida
this winter too. The only thing we were missing was a set of drums – so John Gerl
had to be satisfied with singing and dancing for us! Next year, we’ll ask him to
bring his drums in – because he does drum better than he dances! These are only
a few of the fine musicians that graced our jam session and we know that our bus
groups had a wonderful afternoon. And we do want to thank Dan Coppens for keeping
the musicians well-oiled with refreshments while they played. Hank Thunander has
been performing special segments in the Grand Ballroom for the past couple of years,
paying tribute to former polka greats and this year he performed a tribute to Eddie
Habat featuring sons Mark and Wayne Habat. It is always nice to see Hank when he
comes to Cleveland because his stompin’ ground is the State of Minnesota, quite a
distance for us to travel. Hank started playing accordion at the age of nine, and
now thirty years later (OK I lied!) he was nominated for the “Lifetime Achievement
Award” this year. He didn’t win this time but is a very deserving individual and
it’s only a matter of time. He probably has a special tribute in mind for next year,
but he’s not saying who just yet. This year marks the first time that the Rob DeBlander
Band (Rob’s from Michigan and formerly Pennsylvania) played at the Thanksgiving Polka
Party and it was our opinion that he sounded better than we have ever heard. He
was joined by the very talented Mikey Dee on standup bass, David Hall on drums among
others. It was really nice to see Joe Shumar join Rob on stage and they played their
two beautiful Mervar accordions together. Because I was coming down with a cold
we decided to go to bed early so missed the Walter Ostanek and Joey Miskulin performance
which we heard was wonderful and very nostalgic. So much music – so little time
(as our buddy Kathy Paulenich says). The National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of
Fame annual awards show (number 22) is always such an interesting day, especially
when you know so many of the people who are nominated for the awards. Just to receive
a nomination in any category is an honor, and a testament to the talent and skill
of each nominee. There are only winners, there are no losers. We all have our favorite
songs, our favorite recording, our favorite stars, so it is a very emotional afternoon
as the names are called for each award. The musical presentations were very well
done, and we especially liked the “Glas Harmonike Waltz” performance. And the things
you learn – we never knew that Stan Blout wrote the music for “Waltz of Love” and
that the lyrics are by Jack Tankovich. – a beautiful song. We were disappointed
that “Klancnik” didn’t win the recording of the year. It will be the only time that
Gaylord Klancnik’s music would be up for another award, and for Ed Klancnik this
was a labor of love for his dad who died three years ago in a car accident. And
besides, Charlie and I, Dennis and Beth Uhlik, and Andy and Cecile Miinch are on
the recording – as part of the crowd that yells out “this must be the place” on a
song by the same name. Joey Tomsick and his band are to be congratulated for all
the crystal awards they took home this year. He was obviously very proud of his
band and happy to share the honors with them. Sidemen/Band of the Year/Recording
of the Year/Best New Song – it was something of a sweep. Congratulations to Joey
and the members of his band. Before the bus left for home we six Canadians spent
some time in the lounge at the Marriott with the Martin Brothers Band and wives,
John Gerl, Kathy Paulenich, and Gary Bouc from Illinois. We spied Hank Thunander
and lady friend Eileen walking through the lobby and just had to bring him in to
tell us some funny stories. So we ended our wonderful Cleveland weekend listening
to and laughing at The Hank Thunander-John Gerl Comedy Hour. Thank you guys so
much for the joy and merriment you gave us. It is no wonder I lost my voice by the
time we arrived home. The only regret that we have is that we can’t possibly get
to see everyone and attend everything. There is so much going on all the time. In
conversation with Dan Coppens I said that you cannot explain to people the wonderful
weekend that this is. They have to be here to experience for themselves, and then
once our polka-partiers come with us on our bus trip they are hooked. Start planning
your next American Thanksgiving now – join us all in “Cleveland – that polka town”.
Mary Lou.
.JPG)
