Here & There Column

 A Great Band Visit's Us

                                                                 

  The drawing power and tourist attraction of craft breweries rang out loud and clear in Livingston Manor November 1 as hundreds of folks were entertained  with outstanding music provided by the world renowned John Stanky & The Coal Miners Band at the  family-friendly opening celebration of the Catskill Brewery.
  John "Stanky," from Nanticoke, Pa., who's real last name is Stankovic, commented to us at the end of his three-hour performance that owner Ramsay Adams named his musicians "the house band."
   John and his great group of musicians have been entertaining people of all ages with his polka music for 69-years.
  In 1945, age the age of nine, Stanky and some friends landed a job playing polka music at a three-day wedding in Nanticoke.....wow..... had to be some kind of wedding.
  From the beginning , Stanky and the Coal Miners, as he and his band are known now, have gone on to play all over the world with scores of famous people.
  He has learned or written over 500 songs, most of which are featured in the band's twenty-one albums and six videos.
  He learned to play the accordion from his father, Joe Stankovic, a Czech immigrant who came to America at age sixteen and went straight to work in the coal mines.
  When Stanky was a young man, he was more interested in being a professional baseball player, however, his father wisely made sure he practiced his music one hour a day before going out to play.
  Audiences around the world have benefited from Stanky's ultimate career choice....for example...... in 1988, Stanky and the Coal Miners played to a crowd of a million people in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China.
   His talents has been performed on cruise ships as well as numerous tours to Holland, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Austria and South America.
  Of the more than 40 songs John has composed, his most popular is the Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie Polka.
  Stanky & The Coal Miners appearance at the Catskill Brewery greatly added to the celebration and introduction of the Brewery's newest beer called the Freaktractor.