Willard Polka Fest dances into 50th year

The 50th annual Willard Polka Fest was held at the Willard Community Center this past weekend, with dancing on Saturday and Sunday. Despite the high temperature reaching 91 degrees on Saturday and even higher on Sunday, plenty of dancers kept the energy up, staying on the dance floor for multiple songs before finally pausing to get refreshements.

Special guests included Duncanfest Queen Patti Hemmesch of Burnsville, Minn. (left), dancing with Gene Schultz of Clear Lake, Minn. Hemmesch was crowned during the polka festival in Duncan, Iowa, held the second weekend in September every year.

Bands included Richie Yurkovich and Polkarioty, the Zwiefel Brothers (bottom left), Music Connection, and Gary’s Ridgeland Dutchmen.

In the Willard Polka Fest’s 50-year history, the event has gone through several changes. It started out in the park shelter with just two local bands. Then, event organizers decided to rent a stage and have a street dance. After that, it was held in a circus tent at the ball diamond for four or five years. Somewhere around 1985 or 1987, the current shelter was built. A dance floor was rented from Wausau and hauled to Willard every year. After three or four years of that, event organizers decided to build their own dance floor.

The festival relies on a small group of dedicated volunteers to set up and tear down, make food, take tickets, and ensure things run smoothly. Ed “Bing” Perko was instrumental in organizing the event for many years. Duane “Butch” Trunkel has run the event for many years, being involved with it since its inception. However, he has decided to step down and is looking for someone to take over organizing Polka Fest.

For more information, contact Trunkel at 715-267-7117.