These halls are no longer with us and have disappeared from storms, fire, and negligence. There are many more that have been stricken from the roles of a great place to go.
Ammannsville KJT Society No. 4: This hall, with its curvy architecture, still stands today in the tiny village of Ammannsville in Fayette County, Texas. St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Ammannsville holds its picnic here every year on Father's Day. The photographs above and to the right were taken by Roger Kolar in 1975. The image below shows the hall as it appeared in 2021. Here's some history of the dancehalls in Ammannsville:
Western Swing music. “The secret was it had a good dance tempo, mmpah-mm-pah, a 2/4 rhythm. The thing that Milton said was ‘If I pattern my music and make it a good polka tempo out the songs I play, lay the polka tempo just a little bit harder, I think I’ll have a good band.’ When you boil it down, it was a good simple, polka beat.”---Leon “Pappy” Selph.
The 55 annual National Polka Festival in Ennis, Texas has been klobase wrapped up until next year. The three days of merriment has proven that live music is alive and well in 2022. A rough estimate is that tens of thousands of folks enjoyed the festival. The wonderful people that made this event a success are all volunteers, and it takes a lot of giving people to successfully stage three days of fun.
Please check polkabeat.com, venue websites or call to confirm as we update the schedule daily.