Polka Music in Portage County
- Art Stevenson
- 1 day ago
- 7 min read
As part of our PCHS feature exhibit, each month through December of 2026 we will share a new piece of music history. Be sure to come back to learn more about the music that makes Portage County so great!
Polka Music in Portage County was researched and written by Cheyenne Witzeling, Art Stevenson, and Tom Smrz.
The History of Polka in Portage County
Polka was originally a Bohemian courtship dance characterized by a three-step beat and lively movement. It was introduced in Paris around 1843 and versions of polka music and dancing were quickly picked up by German, Polish, Swiss, and Austrian musicians, who each added their own flair. In the mid to late 1800s Portage County had a large influx of German and Polish immigration and these new settlers brought their music with them, including all the instruments needed to play it. By 1900 there were dancing lessons available in Stevens Point for those who wanted to learn the polka, courtesy of Mary Phillips-Moore’s Private School for Dancing, and there were mentions of polkas being played at local events. Some groups were scandalized by the popularity of polka; in 1899 the Chicago Women’s Club announced they would “raise the standard” of music played at public concerts that summer, because the popular songs were not educating the public to have “good taste”.
Polka continued to be played at public events, in taverns, at church socials, and in private homes, but there were no popular local polka bands listed in the newspapers. Instead, local community bands added occasional polka tunes into their performances, and the genre continued to be underdeveloped.
That is, until the 1950s. After the Great Depression and the World Wars, participation in local arts and music exploded. In 1948 the first 33-RPM record was released by CBS broadcasting. These LPs allowed local bands to more easily record and share their music and they were more durable than the early phonograph records. Local venues were suddenly advertising all kinds of polka bands. From 1950 to 2000 some of the popular polka bands and performers in Portage County were:
Polish Express
Nutrels Polish Edition
Happy Harmony Stars
Wind Jammers
Dan Raflik’s Polka Pal’s
Hi Fi’s
Norm Dombrowski’s Happy Note’s
Duane Burklaw’s Golden Aces
Polka Stars
Silver Note’s
Family Tradition Polka Pak
Polka Magic
Benny Gagas
Ray Konkol
Ray Shuda Band
Cavaliers
Ron and his Polka Boys
Bobby Danczyk Polish Memories
Jolly Harmony 7
Polish Trio
Music Express
Nick and his Melody Men
Playboys
Old Tyme Brass
Jolly Chaps
Jolly Polka Dots
Histories of Select Polka Bands from Portage County
Benny Gagas and the Downbeats
“I would sooner play than eat, and I won’t quit playing until my fingers don’t move and my lungs won’t blow.” So said polka band leader and tavern owner Benny Gagas after 50 years in the music business. Benny was born in Polonia in 1907 and attended schools there. A self-taught musician, he joined his brother’s band, The Sunset Orchestra, at age 11 on violin and later saxophone and clarinet. The band briefly became the Royal Ravens, and by 1929 was known as the Down Beat Orchestra. By then, Benny and his wife Clara had moved to Stevens Point. By 1935 the Benny Gagas Orchestra was mentioned frequently in the Stevens Point Journal, playing dance halls and weddings around central Wisconsin.
In 1938, he opened Benny Gagas Tavern downtown on the Square, which he owned for 31 years. In the late ‘40s trumpeter Mike Lepinski and Benny Gagas composed the Stevens Point Polka, which the Down Beat Orchestra recorded. It was released as a 78 RPM single on the Pfau label, backed with Wedding At Bevent Oberek. The song became popular and was recorded by popular polka groups including Lil’ Wally; it was heard around the world. A military veteran once told Benny he heard Stevens Point Polka while stationed in Vietnam! The song is still a frequent request on polka radio shows.
The Down Beats played over 2,200 weddings, according to Benny. In the early days, the wedding might last all day, late into the night, and part of the next day, with the band on hand to play marches, ceremonies, and dances. Benny recalled playing in tents with no electricity…only lamps or torches for light, and a coal stove for heat. In 1922 they played a Thanksgiving dance, and it was so cold the keys on Benny’s saxophone froze!
By the 1970s, Benny was getting offers to play the golden anniversaries of couples whose weddings he played 50 years before! Benny Gagas and the Down Beat Orchestra remained active until a year before Benny’s passing in 1978.
Norm Dombrowski and the Happy Notes
Polka music star Norm Dombrowski was born near Arnott in 1937. Norm grew up speaking both English and Polish, which he learned from family and from the Fancher parish school. He became interested in playing Polka music in the 1950s after seeing drummer Lil’ Wally Jagiello and his Chicago “honky” style polka band, so called because of its use of horns. Lil’ Wally featured Polish folk songs and dances set to a rocking dance beat, rather than the German/Bohemian polka styles popular in Stevens Point at the time. Wally was an energetic showman, standing up and singing while playing drums, and his band didn’t use music stands. Lil’ Wally was paving the way for an exciting revival of ethnic Polish music, with a rocking Polka beat, and Norm was hooked!
After seeing Lil’ Wally, Norm Dombrowski started playing drums and singing Polish songs he learned from records. In 1960, he started a successful Stevens Point polka band, The Happy Notes, featuring songs sung in Polish and in English. The band usually had five musicians: trumpet, clarinet or saxophone, concertina or accordion, bass, and drums. The band quickly became popular throughout Wisconsin, playing up to 300 dates per year. They released numerous popular 45 RPM singles and long play records. In the years that followed, dozens of musicians have played and recorded as members of the Happy Notes, including five of Norm’s children.
In 1974 controversy arose when The Happy Notes released the 45 RPM single “Pollack From Polonia,” a spoof of Merle Haggard’s hit “Okee From Muskogee.” The song caught on fast and it became regionally popular, with fans calling radio stations asking them to play it. The record sold hundreds of copies but its success was short-lived; Merle Haggard’s record company sued to cease-and-desist, ending sales and air play of the record.
The Happy Notes played church festivals, picnics, ballrooms, weddings, and dances for 50 years. Norm Dombrowski received a Distinguished Service Award from the Wisconsin Polka Hall of Fame and has performed in Washington DC for The Smithsonian.
Polka on the Radio
If you love listening to polka on your radio, you know the name Pat Shanahan. A member of local station WIZD and later WYTE, Shanahan hosted a weekly Sunday morning show that highlighted polka music for the regular listeners. So devoted were the listeners, in fact, that the Polka Fest radio show was the highest-rated local show in its time slot.
Pat Shanahan wasn't alone on the station, however. He co-hosted with Tom Smrz, a local polka musician and regularly had other visitors in, including Rick Phillip. Tom's wife, Sandy, would run the phones and take requests. Shanahan and Smrz brought in live polka performances to the studio and didn't focus to deeply on one sub-genre of polka. Quoted in the Stevens Point Journal in 2006, Shanahan said;
"We jump from one style to the next. We play Polish, Czech, German, Slovenian polkas and umpas. A hit is a hit is a hit."
When Smrz and Shanahan moved to WYTE in 2006, they brought their dedicated fan base with them. Listeners were ready for their weekly dose of polka from 7-10am each Sunday. When Shanahan announced that he would be leaving the studio due to his ill health in 2008, listeners called the station to cry.
After Pat Shanahan passed away WYTE helped to raise more than $3.2 million for central Wisconsin groups like the American Heart Association and Saint Joseph’s Children’s Hospital. Because of their generous contributions to improving the quality of life for their listeners WYTE was a finalist for the annual Country Radio Broadcasters Humanitarian Award in 2010.
Outside of Portage County, Wausau has hosted popular polka radio stations as well. Jeff Heinz hosted WDEZ's Polka Jamboree from 8-noon on Sundays, averaging between 35,000 and 50,000 weekly listeners. WSAU-AM 550's Polka Time Party, from 6-9am on Sundays has also been a hit for central Wisconsin listeners.
Saving Polka for Future Generations
As recorded media gets older it can degrade, losing the precious songs forever. But they can be saved through digitization! In 2001 Ted Goeden, Brian Seehafer, Don Zamzow and his son, Mike, decided to get serious about saving older polka records and cassette tapes.
The group purchased Polkaland Records and spent hundreds of hours digitizing and filtering out the pops and hisses on old tape recordings and vinyl 45 and 78 records. Hundreds of artists were saved, some dating back to 1931.
"We want to preserve the recordings of the guys that by and large helped create the (Wisconsin) polka style and developed it."
Said Seehafer, quoted in the Stevens Point Journal in 2003. They never tried to digitize top 40 hits or nationally recognized bands, trusting that other groups were already working on those recordings.
The group turned their new recordings into CDs that they sold online, which funded more digitization, and the cycle continued. In 2003 they sold CDs to 38 states, France, and even shipped some to a soldier serving in Iraq.
It was personal connections to polka that motivated this group. Both Geoden and Zamzow have played for the Jerry Goetsch Orchestra. Mike Zamzow grew up going to shows, even seeing some of the polka legends in person. Seehafer played with the polka band Neal Zunker and the Music Connection.
Thank you for reading this music history, presented together with the Portage County Historical Society's feature exhibit!
Be sure to visit the exhibit in-person during open hours and check out the digital collection of local music history.