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Dance fans are breaking in new shoes and stocking up on Epsom salts to soak their weary feet. “The Big Joe Show’’ is coming to Nebraska for the first time in 20 years.
Joe Siedlik, 75, will spend four days taping his RFD-TV polka show at the Starlite Ballroom in Wahoo. Thirty-three bands will be featured at the event, which begins today and continues through Sunday.
“The Starlite is the last of the great ballrooms in Nebraska,” Siedlik said. “A big stage, a wonderful wood dance floor and room for about 1,000 people.”
Darlene Kliment, who manages the Starlite, said doors will open at 10:45 a.m., with eight bands playing per day except on Saturday, when nine are scheduled.
Admission is $15 per person, and the music starts at noon daily.
“Our kitchen and bar will be open every day with lots of specials,” Kliment said. “On Saturday, we’re planning a buffet with our famous dumplings and sauerkraut.”
Polka enthusiasts are coming from all over the country. Kliment said most motels in the area are already sold out. Siedlik said he has even been contacted by people from the country of Belize who are planning to attend.
“I know there is a group of 80 polka fans coming from Texas,” he said.
Alberta Risch, 73, of Fremont and her husband, Kermit, will be among those dancing to every song Saturday night. She said they love all types of dancing because it keeps them fit.
“I know my kids couldn’t keep up with me,” Risch said. “Polka music is just so much fun, and it gets you up and dancing. Then you get home and soak your feet in lukewarm water with Epsom salts.”
Siedlik, who lives in Omaha, has taped his show for radio and TV for the past 50 years at venues all across the nation. His last Nebraska polka festival took place in 1989 at Omaha’s former Ak-Sar-Ben Coliseum, when 100 bands performed over 10 days.
“I call it happy music for happy people,” Siedlik said. “They say that I am polka music’s No. 1 promoter, and I am proud of that because I believe polka is making a comeback.”
“The Big Joe Show’’ can be seen on select cable and satellite TV systems.
Siedlik travels throughout the United States, showcasing bands from various regions. His show has been a platform for such polka greats as Frankie Yankovic, Roman Rezac, Jim Pekol, Ernie Kucera, Wally Pikal and Al Grebnick.
For 25 years, Siedlik had a Sunday morning polka show on Omaha radio. He loved to show off his polka knowledge when military personnel from Offutt Air Force Base would call in a request.
“I’d get someone who’d call in and say, ‘I’m from Buffalo,’ and I would say, ‘Then you must want to hear the Frank Wojnarowski Orchestra,’” Siedlik said. “Or they would call and say, ‘I’m from New Ulm, Minn.,’ and I would jump in with the Six Fat Dutchmen. Everybody wants to hear the band they grew up with.”
Several bands scheduled to perform are from Nebraska, including the Eddie Malina Orchestra from Prague. Polka bands from Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota, Colorado, Texas and Montana also will play.
“Each nationality and every region has its own style of polka,” Siedlik said. “But they are all the same in that polka music is about beauty. The beauty of nature or the beauty of a woman. That’s what I sell.”
For more information about the event, go to www.polkacatalog.com or call 800-257-6552.
Contact the writer:
444-1272, kevin.cole@owh.com
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