Hello Texas Polka Fans!

Thu, 12/19/2019 - 5:49am
Christy Krawisz, President

International POLKA Association

On behalf of all the officers and directors of the International Polka Association, we hope you and your families had a very Merry Christmas and we wish you lots of good health, love, and happiness in 2020. As 2020 begins, we have some great events coming up.

On Jan. 18, Theresa Parker and IPA Trustee Danny Zapletal, are once again running a Polka Month Dance celebrating January as National Polka Month with a Texas-size Celebration. Music is by Mark Halata & Texavia and Max Baca & Los Texmaniacs. This event is sponsored by the Texas Polka News and National Polka Festival. We greatly appreciate all the time and effort put into this event by Theresa, Danny, and their volunteers.

Here in Chicago, we are celebrating National Polka Month on Jan. 18 as well. The Festival of Bands Warm Up Dance features Lenny Gomulka and the Chicago Push. We will also be having our IPA general board meeting. The IPA Hall of Fame will be open so you can visit and take pictures. For those of you coming in from out of state, we have blocked rooms at the Sleep Inn Midway Airport. Please visit our website at ipapolkas.com for more information.

The following day, Jan. 19, is our 51st Annual Chicago Festival of Bands featuring some of Chicago's finest polka bands - Tony Blazonczyk’s New Phaze, Music Company, Windy City Brass, FreezeDried, Tri-City Drive, I.P.A. Tribute Band, and The D-Street Band. Music starts at noon. This happens to also be my daughter, Hayley’s Sweet 16th birthday. I guess I don’t have to throw her a party. LOL. If anyone is interested in becoming an IPA member, it’s easy and can be done on our website at ipapolkas.com or sign up at the Jan. 18 dance.

On an extremely sad note, we lost a fantastic friend, long time IPA member and former IPA director on Dec. 3, 2019. Bonnie Piet Ryniec fought a strong, hard battle versus cancer and gave it her all. Bonnie was one of the ladies that served on the 50th Anniversary Committee and was also the Festival Banquet Chairwomen for our 50th Anniversary celebration in Buffalo in September 2018. Bonnie had a contagious smile and brightened up the room as soon as she walked into it. She was always willing to lend a hand and was so extremely kind and loving to all. Our IPA family has definitely lost an amazing woman and she will be sincerely missed. Rest in peace our dear friend.

As always, thank you for your continued support.