Wisconsin polka legend Alvin Styczynski of Pulaski dies

Peter Frank, Green Bay Press-Gazette
·3 min read
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Alvin Styczynski performs with his T.V. Recording Orchestra on July 24, 1998, night at Zielinski's Ballroom in Pulaski during the annual Polka Days celebration.
Alvin Styczynski performs with his T.V. Recording Orchestra on July 24, 1998, night at Zielinski's Ballroom in Pulaski during the annual Polka Days celebration.

PULASKI – Polka legend Alvin Styczynski of Pulaski died Monday at the age of 87.

If you liked polka music and lived in Wisconsin, you likely heard Styczynski at some point on his concertina and leading his band.

His 70-year career (he retired in 2018) took him from Pulaski to Europe and points in between. He performed on albums, stages and television and radio studios. "The Alvin Styczynski Show" aired on Sunday mornings on WBAY-TV for more than 10 years and for 55 years he was on WTAQ radio in Green Bay, according to his obituary.

Born Oct. 23, 1935, in Pulaski, Styczynski grew up on a farm in the town of Maple Grove and worked for 16 years at Northern Shoe in Pulaski and for 48 years at Equity Livestock in Bonduel, according to his obituary.

But his interest in polka music and the concertina began at a young age. Styczynski started playing the concertina at age 12, in 1948.

His love for the concertina was nurtured at Polish weddings, according to a Press-Gazette story in 2003.

"They'd have the big, big dinner in the evening, and the music would start right around 7 o'clock," he said in 2003. "I would actually sit by the stage just to watch the musicians and to watch the concertina players because it was so fascinating to me.

"There's so much music coming out of one instrument. It caught my eye and my ear."

Alvin Styczynski and his orchestra play during his 50th anniversary celebration in October 1998 at Zielinski's Ballroom in Pulaski.
Alvin Styczynski and his orchestra play during his 50th anniversary celebration in October 1998 at Zielinski's Ballroom in Pulaski.

He worked at it, eager to master the concertina. "On each key on a concertina, there are two different sounds. When you pull the bellows apart, there's one sound. When you push the bellows together, there's another sound — on each key."

He and his wife, Sherry, operated Zielinski's Ballroom in Pulaski for 19 years. He wrote and recorded the "Green Bay Packers Polka," his obituary said. His other songs included "Pulaski is a Polka Town," "No Beer in Heaven," "Engagement Waltz," "Hey Cavalier Marina," "Charming Katie Polka," "Blue Skirt Waltz," "Oj Dana Polka," "Little Joe Oberek," "Twelve Angels Polka" and "Krwoiak/Susie Polka."

According to his obituary, Styczynski and Dick Rodgers founded the Pulaski Polish Sausage Festival, which is now Pulaski Polka Days and where he performed many times.

While in Krakow, Poland, in 1998, Styczynski was recognized as he listened to a band and he was called on stage, where he sang "The Star Spangled Banner."

"You never know what's going to happen," he said in a 1998 interview. "Like they say, `Never fear when the Alvin Styczynski Band is near, just pray a lot.'"

Alvin Styczynski, left, with Dick Metko and other musicians furnished polka music for the "hamburger helpers" on Oct. 27, 2000, at the new gazebo of the Seymour Hamburger Hall of Fame.
Alvin Styczynski, left, with Dick Metko and other musicians furnished polka music for the "hamburger helpers" on Oct. 27, 2000, at the new gazebo of the Seymour Hamburger Hall of Fame.

Styczynski services set

  • Visitation will be from 3 to 7 p.m. Sunday and 9 to 11 a.m. Monday at Assumption B.V.M. Church, 119 E. Pulaski St., Pulaski. A wake service will be at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

  • A funeral Mass will be at 11 a.m. Monday at the church.

  • Marnocha Funeral Home of Pulaski is handling arrangements.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Wisconsin polka legend Alvin Styczynski of Pulaski dies