The Chardon Polka Band
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The Chardon Polka Band

Chardon, Ohio, United States

Chardon, Ohio, United States
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"Ain't Too Proud to Polka"

It began as a whim of Cindy Barber's. Something that might drum up some business at the Beachland Ballroom & Tavern during the slow month of January. Two words: Polka brunch.
The idea was to host a Sunday polka brunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Hire the cutting-edge Chardon Polka Band headed up by 20-year-old Jake Kouwe. (More on him later.) Charge a reasonable $12 a person. Get the Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame to co-sponsor the event. Bring in professional dance teacher Valerie Salstrom from Get Hep Swing for the slow folks and newbies. Teach them how to polka. And do the Slovenian Slide and the Polish Hop. And, of course, throw in the requisite Bloody Marys, eggs, bacon, home fries and French toast.
See what happens.
Advance sales weren't so great. Maybe 25 tickets, tops, sold in advance. OK, not such a great idea after all. Back to the drawing board. Don't get your hopes up.
But at 11 a.m. on Jan. 17, there was a line of people all the way down the street waiting to get into the polka brunch. More than 200 people turned out. More staff was called in. Extra food had to be made. The kitchen went crazy. People of all ages ate and danced. Punks, grandparents and school kids all cut the rug. The music was great. An event was born.
The one in February sold out, too. Same thing happened in March. It seems that lately in Cleveland, Polka rocks.
The Bohemian dance that developed in the 19th century and has been popular mainly with folks of a certain age and ethnicity had appeared to be passe. Now it seems to be making comeback in some of the most unusual places. But it's also hanging tough at the same old haunts.
Frank Sterle's Slovenian Country House on East 55th Street has been in business for almost 50 years. It's a veritable polka palace. Margot Clinski has been running the joint for the last 22. When you walk into the Alpine-style haus, you hear polka music piped into the building's P.A. system. Along the wall behind glass are photographs of a galaxy of Cleveland polka bands, beginning with supernova Frank Yankovic.
Farther down the hall to the left is the main dining room that holds 250. The place is famous for its wienerschnitzel. The Food Network's Guy Fieri just featured Sterle's on "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives." He likes the chicken paprikash. Clinski showed him how she makes it, too. (Click here to see the segment)
The polka dancing at Sterle's used to be on Saturday and Sunday nights. Clinski and her partner, the late Mike Longo, changed it to Friday and Saturday nights. On Friday nights, it's dine and dance from 6 to 9 p.m. On Saturday night it's dine then dance from 8 p.m. to midnight. A pitcher of Miller High Life is $9; Warsteiner is $10.
Clinski says since the mention on the Food Network, people are stopping in from all over the country. Folks are driving down from Detroit for dinner.
Wednesday nights at Karlin Hall on Fleet Avenue is Polka Night. Michelle Bolin is working the door. The parking lot is full. But it's nothing like the old days. Joe Kocab hosts the Czech radio show from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday on WHKW AM/1220. He's been on the radio at various stations for 42 years.
Things aren't like they used to be on Fleet Avenue anymore, Kocab says, while having a bottle of Czechvar beer. Some folks have passed on. The remaining polka crowd is getting up there in age. It's not so easy getting out anymore. Many have moved away to the suburbs. Some stay away because of crime in the area. Even though Karlin Hall has security in the parking lot. The crowds began to fall off more noticeably around 1997.
Al Machusik and his band are playing on stage. Ron Smotek of Bonnie's Catering made the evening's meal: duck and stuffed cabbage. Don't get them started about the Grammy Awards dropping the polka category. Not a popular topic.
Kocab says the only good news is that in these small ethnic enclaves, there's camaraderie among the remaining Czechs, Slovenians, Poles and Bohemians. A small devoted group still makes it out to Karlin Hall on Wednesday nights.
The pony-tailed Jake Kouwe and the Chardon Polka Band are the new polka name in town these days. They play the polka brunches. The hip bar Reddstone near Gordon Square even hired them for St. Patrick's Day. Kouwe represents the new uptick in accordion-based music.
Kouwe first got the bug as a kid from watching Weird Al Yankovic videos. He snuck musical instruments out of his high school for paid gigs. He thinks his current popularity comes from people wanting and enjoying happy, high-energy music. Young people playing polka is an anomaly. The Chardon Polka Band and his "in your face polka" bring edge to the music. Even if it's only a fad, he says, he'll take it.
The Happy Dog Saloon on Detroit Avenue and West 58th Street started hosting Polka Happy Hour one Friday a month last year. The entertainment at these things is a guy named DJ Kishka, aka Justin Gorski. He wears lederhosen, a fake beard, and a little green alpine hat with a feather. He has a turntable and speaker. He plays his parents' old polka records and heckles the bar patrons.
It started out as a goof. People were enjoying his act ironically. But it caught on. People now like the happy music. When a woman goes to the door he tells the crowd his mom is leaving and now the real fun can begin. It gets a laugh. The crowd is diverse. It's mostly people in their 20s and 30s. But one table is celebrating their mom's 80th birthday. She loves polka.
Polka and rock 'n' roll seem to have one thing in common in Cleveland. Neither one will ever die. - Cleveland Plain Dealer


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Still working on that hot first release.

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