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The Zapletal Family - Texas
Raymond Zapletal loved Polka music as a young boy. He learned to play the button accordion when he was 8 years old. Ray played his first dance job when he was in the 8th grade with the Frank Kubin Band of Ennis, Texas. He continued his polka music career by playing for the Kubin Band, Charlie Patak Sr. Orchestra, and Eric Honza Orchestra throughout the 50s. He joined the John Rejcek Band
in 1956 and in 1960 started his own band, The Music Masters. The band was a strong influence for many of the young musicians at that time. The Zapletal Family moved to Houston
in 1971, where Raymond met Harry Czarnek. Ray began to play for Harry's band, Harry Czarnek and the Texas Dutchmen in 1974, and stayed with them until he retired for health reasons in 1994. In 1973 Raymond started the SPJST Lodge #88 Concert Band. The band is still in existence today. They have played for many Czech Heritage functions including the State Fair of Texas.
Patricia Muehlstein Zapletal started playing for the John Rejcek Band in 1952 when she was 13 years old. She met Raymond while playing for the Rejcek Band in 1954. She and Ray married in 1958, and had six children. The children grew up going to polka dances every weekend. Pat joined the Jodie Mikula Orchestra in 1987, and is still with them.
Raymond purchased an Ernie Kucera recording in 1964. He and his wife Pat went to Lincoln, Nebraska to hear Ernie's band play, and booked him to play in Ennis, Texas. Since 1965, he has hired numerous out-of-state bands, including Roman Rezac, Earl Schmidt, Norm Edelbeck, Dean Hanson Orchestra, and the American Czech Brass Band. Many times, the bands were paid for out of Raymond's pocket.
Their love for polka music gave Raymond, Joe Liska, and Len Gehrig the idea to have a polka festival. In 1967 they held the first Annual National Polka Festival in Ennis, TX. Raymond was the 3rd President of the festival and stayed involved with the festival until he moved with his job in 1970. He still supported the festival even though he no longer lived in Ennis. The National Polka Festival is a major part of the Ennis community. It has put Ennis on the map, and draws 50,000 people each year.
Danny Zapletal started playing for Harry Czarnek and the Texas Dutchmen on December 9, 1978, when he was 13 years old. He played for Harry's band until 1998, and continues to help him out. Danny and his brother-in-law, David Slovak, formed the band Czech and Then Some in 1997. The band has been playing for 13 years and has 7 recordings. Along with playing in the band, Danny and David own a recording studio, and record the majority of the polka bands in the North Texas area. Danny got involved with the National Polka Festival in 1991, became the President in 1993, and executive director in 2000. He has been involved with the festival for 19 years. Danny is on the board of directors of the KJT Hall which is one of the Czech Halls who participate in the National Polka Festival.
In 1994 the National Polka Festival needed a secretary, which is when Danny asked his sister Michelle to take over the position. She is going on her 16th year as secretary. Michelle, who is married to David Slovak, has been playing sax and clarinet since 1995 with Harry Czarnek and the Texas Dutchmen, and Czech and Then Some. Danny's son Josh has started playing trumpet with the band.
The Zapletal Family (Ray, Pat, and son-in-law David Slovak) are credited for starting a new festival in Ennis, called the Ennis Czech Music Festival. It is put on by the 5 Ennis bands; Czech & Then Some, Jodie Mikula Orchestra, Jak Se Do, Czech Harvesters, and the Ennis Czech Boys. They had their 4th annual festival in 2010.
Czech & Then Some has played on Good Morning Texas on WFAA - ABC in
promoting the festival. They have also appeared on Good Morning Dallas on FOX.
Polka music has been a huge part of the Zapletal family and will continue on in the future.
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Paul "Mr. Paul" Nush
- Pennsylvania
Mr. Paul has been a leader in polka music for over 50 years.
Combining a love of polka music with his natural drumming ability, Paul started playing drums at age 13 in a local polka band. Over the years he has played and recorded with many polka bands including the Frankie Yankovic Orchestra, the King Brothers, and Walt Groller.
He has starred in, and hosted many polka programs on radio and television, including WSKW, WHOL, WXLV (Lehigh Community College), WGPA, and Service Electric cable television. He has mentored many DJs and musicians during his years of music-making and broadcasting.
In addition, he has promoted polka dances at Klines Grove and a yearly bus trips to Wildwood, N.J., Ocean City MD, Seven Springs, and Hunter Mountain, New York. Mr. Paul is an integral part of the polka industry, bringing its music to the people and ensuring its future by recruiting and mentoring new generations.
Charm City Sound recorded a song on Paul Nush's behalf entitled "Mr. Paul."
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Stas Golembewski. - Massachusetts
In 1996 Stas went to a local cable company in Southeast Massachusetts, and requested television air time for a polka show. In July of 1996, Polka Time With Stas, was aired for the first time. Fourteen years later, close to 50 cable companies and TV stations across the
United States and beyond,
covering nearly 350 markets, airs Polka Time With Stas on public access TV. Polka Time With Stas is the number one national contributor to public access TV. Stas spends over $12,000 a year to supply his network of TV stations with polka programming. This expense is completely out of pocket. Stas feels that it is not an expense, but instead he is blessed to be able to travel the east coast filming a multitude of polka events for the public to enjoy. Over 90% of the cable companies offer two one hour slots per week of air time for the polka program; 8 hours per month. Based on the amount of markets the show is available, that translates to around 2800 hours of air time for Polka Time With Stas monthly. In addition to the extensive amount of time required for editing, and to keep the TV stations supplied with polka shows, Stas and his wife Annie are polka promoters bringing in some of the top polka bands to Southern Massachusetts.
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Sophie Zembruski - Connecticut
Sophie is the wife of the famous band leader Victor Zembruski. In 1935, Victor and Sophie started the Zembruski Polish Eagle Show on WATR in Waterbury, Connecticut. This program is in its 75th year of continuous broadcasting on commercial radio. Sophie took over the program after Victor had a stroke in 1969, and continued broadcasting until 2009, when health issues forced her to turn the mike over to her daughter Lauretta. The Polish Eagle Show can still be heard on WATR, 1320 AM, from Waterbury, Connecticut, on Sundays from 8-10 AM EST.
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Happy Louie - Massachusetts
"Happy Louie," Louie Dusseault was born in Ware, MA, to Mary (Kmon) Dusseault and Louis G. Dusseault. His mother was Polish and his father was French. Having a natural affinity to music, Louie began his musical career as a young boy. At the age of 9, he played his first note on a bugle and then changed to B-Flat Trumpet. Louie graduated from St. Mary's
in Ware, where he learned to write and speak the Polish language. In fact, his father, who was French, had a very beautiful Polish vocabulary.
Because of his love for Polish Music, he formed his own band at the age of 15 and played for weddings, showers, and many other social functions. Happy Louie was also a member of the St. Mary's Drum Corps. While playing, he augmented his musical education, arranging and playing at the Berklee School of Music in Boston, MA. He graduated from Berklee in 1957.
In the fall of 1957, Louie entered the US Army and was stationed at Ft. Dix, New Jersey. After completing basic training, he auditioned, and was selected to play with the United States Military Academy Band. After his discharge from the military, Happy Louie's Band began to play on a larger scale. The group was signed to play numerous engagements in Massachusetts, Connecticut,
New York, and New Jersey, both on radio and television. Due to Louie's keen determination to play, and expert backing of his fine musicians, they were considered one of the best bands in the country.
In the early 1960's, Happy Louie recorded 5 albums on the REX Record label. Louie and the band later received a big break when they recorded four Polka albums for MGM (Metro Goldwyn Mayer.) Happy Louie arranged his own music and stunned crowds with his awe-inspiring vocals. He has his own record company, Ha-Lo Records, which was formed in 1968. Ha-Lo Records has released over 35 polka albums, CD's, cassettes, 45's and 8-Tracks. One of Louie's MGM recordings, "The Accordion A Go-Go" is in the movie, The Subject Was Roses, with Patricia Neal. The song was written by Richie Woloss and arranged by Happy Louie.
In 1962, Happy Louie started traveling to other parts of the country and in 1972, he began sponsoring tours to Europe and Hawaii, taking his music to an international level. He has appeared at many state fairs including The New York State Fair, in Syracuse, performing alongside top artists such as the Four Saints, the Lennon Sisters, Dolly Parton, The Grand Ole Opry and many more.
In the 1970s, Happy Louie, and his wife Julcia, had the "Polkarisma Show" on WARE Radio 1250 AM.
Louie has received many awards throughout the years from various polka organizations for his musical contributions. His tributes include induction into the IPA Polka Hall of Fame in 1982. Louie's career was long and successful. His magnetism attracted fans in every live performance and through his recordings.
In August of 2009, Louie went back into the recording studio at 75 years old, to re-record the "Pittsburg Steelers" song.
Happy Louie's music has inspired numerous bands in polka music to perform polka music or record his songs. Among those bands are Polka Family and Brave Combo. Happy Louie feels his dreams became realities because of the support of the polka-loving public, and for this, he is sincerely thankful.
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