Polka Celebration for Illinois

As I was scanning headlines earlier this week, I found one that had my half Polish heart standing up to take notice.

A Grammy award winning polka song is close to becoming the Illinois state song.

The Article originally appeared on the The Southern but was also carried on the Chicago Tribuine, which is where I first noticed the headline.

Source: Maddox, J. (2015, March 26). Committee approves polka song as state symbol. Retrieved March 28, 2015, from http://thesouthern.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/committee-approves-polka-song-as-state-symbol/article_59e3c7c3-c6ce-5eb8-8291-dba54b9c6b59.html

As most polkas, it is an up beat song that had me on my feet and dancing. The song “Polka Celebration” will help as stated “chase away the blues.”

The song version shared on the Trib was clearer, but the version shared by The Southern has a great video of Eddie Blazonczyk’s Versatones in concert.

Here is the version shared by ChicagoTribune.com

Unfortunately the State’s official dance has already been declared the square dance.

Although, for a woman whose father’s family came from the farmland of Ogle County, Illinois, and whose mother’s family is south side Chicago Polish, this mix is fairly appropriate.

2 thoughts on “Polka Celebration for Illinois”

  1. If I can be of any help while I’m in zwiernik poland please let me know ill be back over there 25th June 2022.

    1. Hi Jason, Thank you for reaching out. If you plan on researching in any of the archives that hold catholic church records from the 1880’s, I would be interested in copies of baptism records of my believed SAS ancestors. I found index entries in Family Search, but no images of the actual records. The index lists Duleczówka as the location and Baptism Vol XIII:
      Sas Stanislaus 1880 16 Nov p 51
      Sas Marianna 1883 25 Sep p 64
      Sas Antonina 1886 18 Jan p 71
      Sas Anna 1886 18 Jan p 71
      Sas Ludovica 1889 22 Jun p 87

      Thanks so much,
      Julie @ Hayska dot org

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