Hall of Fame

Adam Barthalt was born in Ridgewood, Queens, NY on June 11, 1935. Adams's deep-rooted interest in music began unpretentiously at the age of three with a toy accordion he received from his grandparents while on a visit with his mother to Europe. By the time Adam was seven, he had graduated to the "real thing" and began his formal musical education. At the age of twelve he earned his first pay, which was $5, when he performed with a local band. At the age of ten he heard a recording by Frankie Yankovic which inspired him to go into the polka field. At the age of 16, he formed his own polka band, which had a series of constant engagements at leading resorts in the Catskill area.

Billy Belina has spent a major part of his life playing and promoting polka music. Born in New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1947, Billy has his parents to thank for much of his success in the polka industry. In his early years, Billy often joined his parents on the two-hour drive to Connecticut to watch the local polka bands. He endeared himself to accordion greats such as Ray Henry and Al Soyka and soon desired to try the instrument on his own. At the age of eight, Billy convinced his parents to buy him his first accordion and sign him up for lessons. By his mid-teens, Billy's practice and dedication began to pay off as he started a band of his own, known as the BelAirs.

Rich was born and raised in Norwich, Connecticut, and fell in love with the accordion after attending numerous Polish functions with his parents, Walter and Sylvia Bernier.  At the age of nine, he started taking private lessons on the accordion.  Rich remarks that during his seventeen years of instruction, his teacher had to give him a polka or oberek to keep up his interest along with the lessons he was given.  Since then, Rich and his instrument shared a musical career together that took them from a small New England town to performances at venues throughout the United States.  His early training on the accordion, coupled with his fascination with polka music, gave him the drive and inspiration to someday perform among the best of the best in his genre.

Eddie was born in Toledo, Ohio to a musical family.  Mother Gina is a trained clarinetist and vocalist while father, Dionysius "Danny" Biegaj played trumpet and sang.  With the help of "Busia" Helen (his maternal grandmother) at a young age Eddie started his love for polka and Polish culture and heritage by singing along to the 78 RPMs and 45's of such greats as Frank Wojnarowski, the "Connecticut Twins" and "The Naturals".  He started formal training on drums in 2nd grade.

Roger Bright of New Glarus, Wisconsin, was a musician, bandleader, recording artist, deejay and performer. Roger Bright was born February 12, 1937, and died August 28, 2001, at Boulder Colorado Community Hospital from a heart attack he suffered while performing at a polka festival in Boulder. Roger began his musical career at age twelve. He formed a band at age fifteen and made his first recording at the age of nineteen.  Roger is no stranger to the music and recording industry, releasing fifteen albums of his own assisting others on thirty-five albums and countless singles.  He also produced the 150th Anniversary Wisconsin.  Every Sunday he hosted "The Roger Bright Show," which aired on radio station 1260AM, WEKZ in Monroe, Wisconsin.

Ray is the son of Frank and Lottie Budzilek, who were both born in Warsaw, Poland.  He played polka music at about 8 years of age on a toy piano.  He then switched to accordion and began playing at weddings. He organized a musical aggregation in his late teens in his home town of Cleveland.  It developed into a big band sound with a huge following.  Ray's vocals, his accordion, plus the band members' versatility, soon earned the group a reputation as far as the Eastern seaboard.  The out-of-town bookings soon outnumbered the Cleveland dates.

Since his birth November 17, 1933, Larry Chesky has resided in Holyoke, Massachusetts.  Thanks to his parents, Wanda and Joe, Larry was introduced to music at the age of six.  He was given his first accordion.  Whenever you saw Larry, you saw that accordion.  They were inseparable.  With the help of his father, Joe, Larry's first band, "The Polka Dots," was formed when he was twelve years old.  After its first regional radio broadcast, the popularity of the group soared.  Larry changed the group's name to "Larry's Polka Dots".

Florian Chmielewski is the product of a family that has been synonymous with polka music for six generations. One of 15 children, he was born in Sturgeon Lake, MN on February 10, 1927. As he progressed from a dairy farmer, to County Commissioner, to Minnesota State Senator, Flo-rian always maintained his love for the accordi-on. At age 18, he received his first accordion in 1945 and began to lead a band. Florian's children later joined the band that went on to produce 40 albums. After performing with his brothers on his weekly radio shows, Florian also broadcasted the Chmielewski Funtime TV show for the next 35 years, seen nationwide.

Donald Lee Cialkoszewski was born to John and Frances Cialkoszewski of Polish, Russian and German ancestry in Trilby, Ohio, a suburb of Toledo. Don's entire family was musically inclined, and at age seven, he asked his parents for a red accordion for his birthday.  He began formal accordion instruction at the Faust White Music Company and at eight years of age, he gave his first paid performance at a Christmas party.

Bill Czupta was an acclaimed musician and formidable accordionist. He learned to play the accordion at an early age, and became a member of the group known as Bobby Sawicki and the New Englanders. Bill resided in Massachusetts, and in 1970 he joined The Golden Brass, which soon became a much-sought-after national polka band. He excelled at playing the accordion to the extent that many polka fans described him as having "walking fingers." Bill produced most of the music and arrangements with the Golden Brass. He composed such songs as "Let The Sunshine In," "Broken Heart Polka," "Around The Stove Polka" and arranged "San Antonio Rose" and "ala Danny Davis and the Natural Brass." Bill Czupta is credited with producing the lively and dynamic sounds of the Golden Brass.