The sound of (polka) music
Friendships rekindled at Humboldt’s Polka FestBy SANDY MICKELSON, Messenger staff writer
Article Photos
Fact Box
If you go:
WHAT: Midwest Polka Fest.
WHEN: Noon to midnight Saturday; noon to 8 p.m. Sunday.
WHERE: Humboldt County Fairgrounds, with three dance halls.
ADMISSION: $12 on Saturday; $10 on Sunday.
A POLKA MASS will be held at 10 a.m. Sunday.
HUMBOLDT - Dancing at the 19th annual Polka Fest at the Humboldt County Fairgrounds may have had a 3 p.m. start Friday, but there were plenty of twirls around the floor before then.
It's hard to keep polka people in their chairs.
The energy level filling two rooms of dancers could have kept the fans turning. But, more than that, the squeals and laughter when new couples arrived gave the Polka Fest the air of one big birthday party.
Which it could have been for Vern Iriom, of Paola, Kan., who celebrated his 74th birthday Friday by hugging friends and gliding across the floor with his wife, Mary. The couple started dancing at the Polka Fest 12 years ago.
''We look forward to it each year,'' Iriom said. ''It's always a happy time to see so many friends. We travel throughout the country, dancing summer and winter. There's a great deal of camaraderie among the folks who attend this, a lot of warm, very close friendships.''
He was just pulling out of a hug from Peter Neufeld, of Newton, Kan., who has come to the Polka Fest for 11 years with his wife, Alie. They, like the Irioms, travel the country to dance the polka.
An all-day jam fest Friday kept many people outside the dance halls under a tent canopy. Whoever wanted to play would sit down and join in - such as Melvin Friedrich, of Algona, who played his button accordion and the harmonica. At the same time.
Friedrich said he started playing an accordion only 15 years ago after he retired from driving truck.
Everybody has a story, it seems.
Natalie Ashenfelter, of Fort Dodge, took her late mother's button accordion to the Polka Fest to get an expert opinion on the instrument. She found Francis Thiner, of Sherburn, Minn., who owns five accordions and was only too happy to play it for her.
He jammed right along with Friedrich and the others as he sat with Ashenfelter at a picnic table.
Lavon Runkle, treasurer of the Polka Fest, watched and grinned. ''Play my favorite,'' she called out.
''What's your favorite?''
''Anything.''
Runkle said organizers hoped for a crowd of 3,000, but thought high gas prices might stop some people from coming. Even so, she said, there were dancers at the fest from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Missouri, Texas and Colorado and all across Iowa.
Each time a dancer buys a ticket, it's counted as an admittance, and each day requires a separate ticket.
Many dancers came in campers to set up housekeeping for the entire four-day event. An early bird party Thursday night featured Odell Braten from Minnesota and Karl and the Country Dutchmen from Wisconsin.
Event chairwoman Mary Mulligan said it's difficult to decide what bands to hire for the Polka Fest - especially since many bands are booked two years in advance and ''each band has its followers.''
Those in charge of the Polka Fest, Mulligan said, don't belong to an organized group. ''It's just a bunch of people who get together to put it on, people interested in promoting the community.''
Members of the Humboldt Fire Department set up stages in all three buildings, and tables and chairs. Dave Fevold, of Humboldt, checks the wooden dance floors every morning to make sure they're smooth and ready, and it was his wife, Mary, who took charge of decorating the dance halls.
There was a lot of community input in the Polka Fest. The Humboldt Lions and Our Saviours Lutheran Church set up food booths, and the Jaycees set up a beverage booth.
Francis Glaser and his wife, Margaret, from Evansdale, near Waterloo, moved from hall to hall Friday afternoon. Members of the Polka Club of Iowa, Cedar Valley Chapter, they dance almost every weekend, he said.
''We meet lots of people, meet our friends,'' she said. ''It's just wonderful. We go to about 40 dances a year. That keeps us going.''
Dancers came in shorts and jeans, short skirts with ruffled pants, and long, flowing skirts. Some came in coordinating outfits, some in look-alike outfits.
''We call this our bumblebee outfit,'' said Sharon Meyer, of New Brighton, Minn. She matched her husband, Ron, from the shoes to the suspenders, but said she refused ''to shave my head or grow a beard.''
The couple's bumblebee outfit was yellow-, gray- and black-striped zuba pants, yellow T-shirts and black suspenders. Zuba pants originated in the Palisades area of California, she said, used by body builders who had large thighs and small waists. The pants are roomy and have an elastic waistband.
They have 50 matching outfits, she said.
It's a good bet they'll be dancing the polka in different outfits throughout the weekend.
Contact Sandy Mickelson at (515) 573-2141 or smickelson@messengernews.net
