polkamania.

Apart from seniors and Weird Al Yankovic, does anybody like polka music anymore? Tuning across the radio dial, this genre is scarcely aired. Forty years or more ago, it was a different story. In fact, some television stations broadcast live polka performances each weekday.

In Deliverance from Jericho (Six Years in a Blind School), I wrote about the time when one of my favourite cartoons was replaced by a locally-produced polka program. Being a ten-year-old at the time, I didn't care that others might actually prefer different musical forms.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

This bingo segment came before The Noon Show, another of Mom's favourites. It featured a local polka band and was hosted live by the band leader who, apart from the show and a few records played on the country music radio station in Camrose, was not well known. The Noon Show replaced The Flintstones during July and August. This greatly enraged me.

"Why do they have to put that stupid program on, Mom?" I complained the first day it was aired.

"They played the cartoons for kids who ate lunch at home but now it's summer. Besides that, some people like that kind of music," Mom explained. I wished The Noon Show would go off the air and that all of us children could watch The Flintstones again.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Deliverance from Jericho contains many more vignettes of what life was like in that government-run institution. These range from poignant experiences of homesickness to hilarious incidents of mischief. Click here to read more about this compelling story. You may also e-mail me directly if the comment form doesn't work.