Central Wisconsin Polka Club is celebrating their 45th year in 2018, along with presenting the Saturday Morning Polka Variety Show on WJMT for 30 years this month.
The show is always live and has never missed a week, noted Lynn Krause, who has been hosting the show for all 30 years. Other club members and DJs have filled in when needed over the years.
Lynn would bring events and music of events of Central Wisconsin Polka Club for them to advertise on WJMT and they suggested they do a polka show on Saturday mornings. Club member Jan Maluegge assisted on the request lines for the first 10 years. Dorothy Woller, who took over for Jan, has handled the request lines for the past 20 years.
In the meantime, Central Wisconsin Polka Club was sponsoring the Central Wisconsin Polka Festival at the Lincoln County Fairgrounds. The event grew in popularity to become one of Merrill’s biggest draws, bringing in polka fans from all over Wisconsin and beyond.
Lynn said she enjoyed promoting these events and assisted with their Sunday morning polka service as well.
The Central Wisconsin Polka Festival had a 42-year run. The final festival was held at the Rothschild Pavilion in 2015.
Lynn has been involved with other clubs and polka activities over the years, and written for several polka magazines. In 2017, she received the Distinguished Service Award from the Wisconsin Polka Hall of Fame.
Now with Jim Pagel as president, the Central Wisconsin Polka Club continues to host several events each year: The Spring Dance, Summer Dance, Annual Meeting/Banquet Dance and Holiday Dance.
The club also supports various charities.