Tuesday, June 03rd, 2008 | Author:
DK
Day two of the festival began with a grand parade complete with Bud girls, Clydesdales, firemen, and even a marching band. Following the parade, it was a quick visit to the vendors (especially those vending food) and then off to the dance halls for the remainder of the day and evening. I hope you enjoy the photos as much as we enjoyed taking them.
The Parade
William especially liked the parade. He said “Hi” to everyone who passed by and even caught the eye of a fireman who stopped to visit with him.
The Food
Scott and his future daughter-in-law, Sara, can really put away the food! They spent most of the time at the festival eating. Here is a sample of what they consumed from the street vendors.
Saturday afternoon the kids left to head back to Colorado. Dad took the rest of us out to dinner at Bubba’s as a belated birthday present for me. This was an interesting place, to say the least. They have a “convenience store” type refrigerator as you walk in filled with steaks. If steak is what you came for, you literally pick out your raw steak (wrapped in plastic wrap) and take it to your table where your wait-person will take it from you and bring it back, with sides, cooked to your specifications. Yum, Yum!! The steaks were great!!!
The Dancing
The evening was topped off by dancing to the music provided by several very good bands. One of the bands that Scott likes a lot is the Academy Award winning band Polka Freak Out. They play everything from Bach to Tex-Mex to traditional Czech polkas. The accordion/trumpet player, Alex Meixner, is a 4th generation musician and is truly one of a kind. Every time I watch him play I think he is going to have a heart attack because he jumps around so much. Way more energy than I will ever have!
The Oklahoma Czech Dancers were at the festival again this year and they preformed beautifully. We always look forward to seeing them.
Sunday, June 01st, 2008 | Author:
admin
The first day of the festival was actually a half a day and a night. Most of the day was spent settling into the hotel and going into town to look around and take pictures. The evening was spent at the Sokol Hall dancing to the sounds of the Jodie Mikula Orchestra and dancing with my father in the Polka King and Queen contest.
Family Photos
Family photos were at the top of the agenda for day one. We took the kids downtown to take some photos of them in “costume”.
We managed to get a 5 generation photo at the hall that evening. These photos are quite rare and we actually have been lucky enough to get three different ones so far in this family. The family members are listed from left to right and there relationship to William is noted: William Fillmer, Bryan Fillmer (Dad), Deborah Fillmer (Grandmother), Grace Dubuque (Great-great Grandmother), David Platt (Great Grandfather).
We Are Famous
Wow, I couldn’t believe it when a reporter from the Ennis Journal called our house in Alabama and conducted a 30 minute phone interview with me about the costumes and the upcoming contest. The article she wrote was very in depth and I was tickled when some of my family members came up to me at the festival and said “hey, we saw you made the paper”. Too cool! You can read the article online through the newspaper link above or here.
Contest Photos
Last, but not least, here are some photos of the contest that evening. We were a little disappointed that we didn’t win, but there were 20 couples to start with, so we were not sure of our chances right then. Apparently the number 5 is not a lucky one for us. Any suggestions for a number choice next year? Enjoy the photos and leave me a comment if you can.
Thursday, May 29th, 2008 | Author:
DK
Too Much Fun
There will be no knitting content this week. Instead, I will be updating this blog with several posts throughout the week about the festivities throughout the 2008 Memorial Day weekend. If you are interested in Polka music, Czech culture, or Costume design, you may be interested in these posts.
The weekend went by way too fast. We all had such a good time and, personally, I wish the fun could have continued for several weeks, months, or years. We are researching the possibility of going on the Polka Cruise, or even attending one of the other “national” festivals, like the one in Wilber, NE in the near future.
The Contest
Dad and I entered the contest and, although we did not win, we made it through the second round and had a blast! We have already made plans to try again next year. The new costumes are already in my head and you can watch their development this year on this blog. My father and I are the couple in the purple costumes, in case you didn’t know. Many thanks to my aunt Twina for taking the video. I hope you enjoy it.
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Thursday, May 01st, 2008 | Author:
admin
My birthday is coming and I feel like dancing! Could it be because my dear, sweet Mr. K got me a present early?
Whoo hoo, Seven CD’s of Czech polka and waltz music. He even bought me some lilies, too! I am getting so excited about the festival! Can you tell?
All that is left to do is find the flowers and ribbon for my hair "do" and have my hair cut and permed next Wednesday. I will be sure to post photos of that adventure. Oh ya, and try to find calf high black leather boots in spring. I have been looking but there just aren’t any to be had around here… Any suggestions?
