Bohemian Princess Diary

Thu, 06/20/2019 - 4:00am
Theresa Cernoch Parker

Thank you Ennis for a great time at the

National Polka Festival. I came back fully energized to continue the mission of promoting polka. Held at almost the middle of the year on Memorial Day Weekend, it's like I got my second wind before the big Oktoberfest season. Highlights:

• High-energy Thursday night Polka On! Pre-Party kicked off the fest.

• Received a beautiful Polka On! sign from Frank Oborny of New Mexico. He and his family are in the sign business and he said he wanted to make something special for TPN for all we do to promote polka. Thank you Frank and your family for being fans of TPN and Texas polka!

• Elaine Rosquist and Louis Stewart Jr. won the dance contest to become the 33rd King and Queen of the festival. I even had the pleasure of dancing with Louis as he showed me some of the fun dance moves he and Elaine make look so simple. I told Elaine her reign as queen is safe. Ha!

• The top three couples in the dance contest are all TPN subscribers! Thanks Elaine and Louis, Betty and Stan Nemec, and Tim and Kim Stahl.

• I finally got measured for a kroj by none other than Maggie from West. As they say, it was easier to point out the kroj she hadn't done as just about all the colorful costumes at the fest were created by Maggie.

• Friday afternoon polka at Bella's Italian Restaurant with David Slovak & Friends. I listened to polka while eating Italian food and drinking Mexican beer. Ain't America great?

• Ten new subscribers!

• Dancing with many great dancers, including James Evans who whisked me around the dance floor while Alex Meixner Band played the Teresa Polka.

• Breakfast buffet at the Quality Inn serenaded by polka music.

• One of the most colorful parades in Texas!

• Kolache mascots!

• Downtown Ennis street scene with dancing, kolahce-eating contest, and SHOPPING!

• Watching Danny Zapletal and Alex Meixner perform their special brand of the Chicken Dance. Worth the price of admission alone!

• Chatting with Marty Gazarek from Michigan, who comes down every year and joins the jam at the pre-party with his unique "stand-up" tuba.

• Hearing The Moravians and Ennis Czech Boys play Pat Green's Take Me Out to a Dance Hall. That could easily be TPN's theme song!

• The food! Yummy.

• I noticed several dancers looking slimmer and trimmer and bringing healthy snacks to the table. Congrats! Most said they still eat what they want, just in moderation. I hate that word!

• Visiting with Mollie B and having her sing Happy Birthday to my granddaughter, Jane. She loved the video Mollie. My son said it was the first time all day that she stood still for 10 seconds, and then she wanted to watch it over and over. Enjoy all the church picnics! Until then, Polka On!