LARRY WALK CELEBRATES
55th YEAR ON THE AIR
 Local radio broadcaster Larry Walk is celebrating a
monumental anniversary of his Happy Polkaland radio shows this month.
Happy Polkaland first aired May 1964 on WNIO-AM as a half-hour show, and soon
expanded to three hours every Sunday. Due to its success, a Saturday morning
show followed on WKST-AM in New Castle, Pa., and a Saturday afternoon show on
WFAR-AM. Over the decades, Walk’s show has been featured on multiple stations.
It currently can be heard on WHKZ AM-14401 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays;  and
also on WSOM AM-600, 1 to 4 p.m. Sundays. The show is also streamed at
600wsom.com.
Walk started producing and promoting the Penn-Ohio polka festivals in the
Idora Park ballroom in 1967. With the closing of Idora, Walk moved the festivals to the Yankee Lake
ballroom for two seasons, then to Conneaut Lake Park’s ballroom. Due to the
success of the festivals, Walk produced the Penn-Ohio polka festivals in other
venues, including Pittsburgh, Butler, Pa., and East Liverpool. He has booked,
entertained and emceed the Penn-Ohio polka cruises for the Gateway Clipper
Fleet in Pittsburgh for about  50 years and continues to do so this season. In
2004, Walk’s wife to be, Diana, joined the show. Their marriage lasted until
her untimely death in 2015. Walk was entered the International Polka
Association Hall of Fame in 1994, and was named “Outstanding Career in
Broadcasting” by the Association Lifetime
Achievement Award in 2010. Congratulations
Larry! Editor’s note: This gal learned to dance the polka in my family’s
kitchen prepping Sunday dinner every week. To me, this guy IS Youngstown polka!
Couldn’t be more grateful for all of the support he has given PolishYoungstown
from its first event in St Casimir’s basement to this very day!
Volunteer to be part
of our Downtown Youngstown festival
 Simply Slavic
Heritage Festival organizers are inviting Mahoning Valley amateur bakers to show their
skills and put their favorite recipe to the test in the annual Slavic Baking
Competition on Saturday, June 8, 2019 at SMARTS   in the Ohio One Building, 25 E.
Boardman Street in Downtown Youngstown. Entries can be delivered anytime
between 10 am - 12 pm. Judging will
begin at 1 pm with winners announced by 2 PM. Bakers should plan to be present.
Taking place one week in advance of the festival, this fun, friendly contest
encourages talented amateur bakers to show their skills by putting their
favorite ethnic bake goods and recipes in front of local Slavic celeb judges.
Entries will be judged on three criteria – Taste (50%), Authenticity (25%) and
Presentation (25%). For more information call Simply Slavic Baking Contest
Chair Mary Margaret Hovanes at 330-792-6281 or email bakingcontest@simplyslavic.org
News from Around
Polonia
Cleveland’s Polish
Cultural Garden honors Saint JPII
 Saturday, May 18 marked the 99th birthday of St John Paul
II and a grand celebration in Cleveland as another Polish notable was added to
the lovely lovely Polish Cultural Garden. Numerous clergy, including Bishop Gries and Cleveland-area
dignitaries celebrated the blessing and dedication of Polish-born, his Highest
Holiness Saint John Paul II. Present was renowned Polish-American sculptor Andrej Pitynski who created the
bronze bust. Connie Adams, Garden
Chair, Gene Bak, Gary Kotlarsic and the Polish
American Cultural Center
spearheaded the effort to honor Saint John Paul II. In September 1969,
Cardinal Karol Józef Wojtyla (later to be JPII) visited Cleveland and said Mass
at the Shrine
Church of St. Stanislaus. The Polish Cultural Garden in Cleveland
displays busts of several famous Poles: Copernicus, Henryk Sienkiewicz,
Frédéric Chopin, Madame Marie Sklodowska Curie, Ignacy Jan Paderewski and Adam
Mickiewicz. They circle a beautiful fountain in the Garden at the corner of
East Blvd and St. Clair in Cleveland. Founded in 1916, the Cleveland Cultural Gardens
are one of Northeast Ohio’s oldest and most beautiful treasures. More than 31
gardens, designed and cultivated by distinct cultural or nationality groups,
adorn the drive along Martin Luther King Boulevard and East Boulevard in
Rockefeller Park. They represent the diversity and multiculturalism that is
Cleveland, and bring life to the Gardens’ mission of “peace through mutual
understanding.”
News from Poland by Ted
Mirecki
Will a Documentary Take
Down the Polish Government?
 Following
sexual-abuse scandals in the United States, Britain, Ireland and Australia, it
seems that the Roman Catholic Church may be on the verge of a similar catastrophe
in Poland. But whereas the blowback from previous scandals has been largely
confined to the church itself, this latest crisis could take down the country’s
right-wing government as well — and undermine the tight grip the church holds
over Polish society. Released on YouTube in Polish, “Tell
No One,” by the well-known journalist Tomasz Sekielski, was viewed 10
million times in the first two days. The priests involved include the personal
chaplain of Lech Walesa, the Solidarity hero, who initially refused to believe
the story, but ultimately condemned the cleric. Learn more about this NYTIMES
story and more in the most recent edition
of Polish
Media Watch.
Calendar
Highlights
 Friday June 14 Simply
Slavic Preview Nite w Chardon Polka Band...Saturday
June 15 Simply Slavic... July 13-14
YSU Summer Festival
of the Arts...Saturday, July 20 Krakusy
Society Polish Summer Picnic... August 4 Polka Cruise with Lenny
Gomulka & Larry Walk, emcee, Gateway Clipper Cruise, Pittsburgh...Sunday, August 18 Polish Day 2019! And you know there will be more to come!
Do Zobaczenia!
Aundréa and Your PolishYoungstown Team
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