Howdy Friends! And welcome to our new Friends!
Here it is, the calm before the storm, the dog days of summer, the long days of early mornings of hard work, followed by a little afternoon siesta in the heat, followed by a polkarific evening with music, food and cold beer. Yes, the dog days of summer are upon us. We hope you had a happy Independence Day and Week! What a summer it has been. Tell us how your summer has been going - we'd love to hear from you!
July public performances:
The Sauer Kraut Grill / also known as Code 49 Burger; Summer of Stubenmusi; 734 Crabb River Rd in Richmond, TX
Wednesdays July 12 & 26
Thursday July 20; 6 - 8pm The Duo Unplugged and untamed...
Thursday July 20; 6 - 8pm The Duo Unplugged and untamed...
Nathan's BBQ; 1307 Prairie Lea, Brenham, TX
Sunday July 23; Old School Polka Sundays! 3pm - 6pm; The Duo
Looking ahead:
Sunday July 23; Old School Polka Sundays! 3pm - 6pm; The Duo
Looking ahead:
August
The Sauer Kraut Grill / also known as Code 49 Burger; Summer of Stubenmusi; 734 Crabb River Rd in Richmond, TX
Thursdays Aug 3 & 10; 6 - 8pm The Duo, Unplugged and untamed...
Thursdays Aug 3 & 10; 6 - 8pm The Duo, Unplugged and untamed...
Altstadt Brewery; 6120 East, US-290, Fredericksburg, TX; In the Grand Hall
Saturday August 12; 12:30 - 3:30; The Trio with Robert on fiddle
The Table at Madeley; 316 Madeley Street, Conroe, TX; Outdoor concert venue
Friday August 18; 7:30 - 9:00; The Trio with Robert on fiddle
Admission $12 - $15
Altstadt Brewery; 6120 East, US-290, Fredericksburg, TX; In the Grand Hall
Saturday August 19; 12:30 - 3:30; The Trio with Michael on drums
Saturday August 12; 12:30 - 3:30; The Trio with Robert on fiddle
The Table at Madeley; 316 Madeley Street, Conroe, TX; Outdoor concert venue
Friday August 18; 7:30 - 9:00; The Trio with Robert on fiddle
Admission $12 - $15
Altstadt Brewery; 6120 East, US-290, Fredericksburg, TX; In the Grand Hall
Saturday August 19; 12:30 - 3:30; The Trio with Michael on drums
September begins the Oktoberfest season!
Have something to celebrate? Call us for pricing and availability if you have something to celebrate this summer. How 'bout a Backyard Bierfest? Polka on the porch? Oktoberfest rehearsal? We can play for you as a duo unplugged, or we can bring the sound equipment and specialty folk instruments. We tailor our set up and repertoire to your needs! In addition to our German / Austrian / Dutch / Czech repertoire, and old country, we now offer original songs, and some Irish folk music too! Speaking of Oktoberfest, we have two Sundays that just became available during the Oktoberfest season! Sunday Sept 24, and Sunday Oct 1 are both currently open. On Sept 24, we can offer the duo or trio. On Sunday Oct 1, we can offer the duo, 3 piece, 4 piece and even folk dancers! Thinking of Christmas time already? We've quite a few traditional German Christmas songs, as well as many of the standards everyone loves to sing along to. Let us know if we can send you a quote!
Hosting our trips: We are very close to being ready to publish the itinerary and pricing for the 3 week trip to Franconia, former East Germany, the Bohemian area of the Czech Republic, and Bavaria! The basics are: Our private bus meets us in Munich on June 4, spend 2 nights in Bayreuth with a visit to Bamberg, A stop at a border museum followed by lunch in Halle on our way north to spend 4 nights in Wittenberg. A torchlit tour of Wittenberg followed by day trips to Leipzig, and Berlin. A stop for a day in Dresden on our way to 3 nights in Bautzen, with a day trip for lunch in Poland - by special request. Then we head to the Czech Republic for 3 nights in Kutna Hora with a visit to the Sedlec Ossuary - also by special request! We'll have day trips to Cesky Krumlov and Prague! Heading back to Germany, we'll stop at the Patton Museum in Pilsen before we spend the night in a brewery hotel near Munich. The final 6 nights of the 19 day holiday will be in southern Bavaria with day trips to Innsbruck, Mittenwald, Linderhof Castle, The Zugspitze, Garmisch Partenkirchen, and more. There's even an open day in the itinerary while in Bavaria where we will be polling our registered guests to decide on the activity for that day. There will be several guided walking tours in many of the areas we visit, even free time for exploring and shopping. Lots of fun and adventure too! Live music will be part of this trip, sometimes by locals, and sometimes by your hosts! What more could you want from a small group vacation? We'll return to Munich for our flights home on Sunday June 23. This trip is just 11 months away! Passport processing is taking longer than usual, so check yours for validity and plan ahead. Like we said, we're really close to being able to publish the itinerary and pricing.
Website: You can always find out what's happening with us at http://www.prostyall.com. We update our calendar as information becomes available, and always keep the upcoming gigs and last minute changes on the home page. The shop page https://www.prostyall.com/shop has all sorts of fun things available, including the brand new design "It's All About The Ponytail" t-shirt.
Social Media: You can find us on Facebook, and Youtube. You can subscribe to our Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/valinapolka , friend us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/valinapolka "like" us on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/prostyall/ We have an instagram, but don't know how to use it.
Behind the scenes: Ross and I are doing summer time things between our busy schedule of side jobs, rehearsals and scattered shows. Ross continues to help his parents, and work on projects for people. Valina spends a lot of time in the office working on Tomball's Christmas festival schedule proposal, next year's Europe tour, band paperwork, and graphics. But, with Independence week, there have been a few days of 'staycation' with friends in from out of town. The Lustig Haus has seen quite a bit of laughter in the past few weeks, and it's been great!
My Mom was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer in early January. This June, she had surgery to remove the bits left behind. She's feeling much better with most of the Chemo side effects having subsided. She's even eating chocolate and small amounts of cheese again! She's quite chipper and looking forward to this journey being behind her. There are still some treatments to go, and a few weeks of radiation, but she's on the upswing! She and Daddy are back to going out to eat nearly 4 nights a week, hanging with their granddaughter, listening to live music, looking at future cruises, and planning to join us in Europe next summer. We're all continuing to pray for her, and for Wim as he navigates all the chaos around his wife of 59 years. Thank you for keeping them in your prayers! Some of you have been such wonderful support to her, and we're all very thankful!
We hope we get to see you very soon! Stay cool, stay healthy, be happy, travel safe this summer, share a smile with a stranger, and Polka On. Prost Y'all!