There was an ad in the paper last week about a Czech Polka Fest. St. Wayne and I had no plans for Saturday afternoon lunch, so we thought we'd check it out. We're so glad we did!
We got there about two o'clock and walked into the Sokol Hall which is huge. It's very unlike what you'd expect from the outside. There were people everywhere...some standing in line to buy plate lunches of sausage, or chicken noodle soup, or barbecue...and some at the bar to buy beer or soft drinks. There was a band complete with a tuba and an accordian and polka music filled the air of the huge hall.
After choosing our lunch and beverage of choice, we made our way to the last two seats at a long table full of people. Little did we know at that point who we'd chosen to sit beside. As fate would have it, we were in for a treat!
I tossed a bag of kolaches we'd purchased to take home on the table as we were getting seated and one of the ladies announced to the entire table, "Oh look, she bought us all kolaches." That should have been my first clue that we were seated in the rowdy section. It was definitely a party atmosphere and we couldn't decide what we were enjoying more, eating the lunch, listening to the music, or watching the dancers. It was definitely sensory overload!
When the next song started, the couple next to me got up to dance. When they walked away I read the back of their vests. We were seated with the king and queen! I'd never really dined with royalty before, so I was pretty excited. At the end of the song as they were coming back to the table, I checked out their attire. Red, red, and more red. He in red pants and a red vest, she in a red skirt and a red vest, and red boots! The backs of their vest had embroideried "Queen 1995" and "King 1995." They were so cute!
When they sat down, I leaned in and whispered, "So what does it mean to be queen?" I quickly learned they were from the big city and their Czech chapter, which has 1,000 members, nominated three couples as queen and king, and they were chosen. All year, they travel with other couples to cities all over Texas to dance the afternoon away.
She went on to tell me she and King Robert had been married 54 years and let me know "that's a long time to be with one man." During the course of the afternoon she also expounded on his "selective hearing." I laughed all afternoon listening to her talk about King Robert. She loves to dance and never gets tired, in fact, she gets "ansy" when she's not on the dancefloor. The King does get tired more easily than she does but that's okay because she'll dance with other husbands...because their wives get tired, too. It all works to her advantage and she sat out very few songs during the afternoon. And when she wasn't dancing, she was entertaining me.
Before we left we exchanged email addresses so I could send her my kolache recipe. I hesitated to tell her that I, of German descent, made kolaches. She wants the recipe because it's easy and although she used to help her grandmother make them, she thinks they're too much trouble. I don't know if she'll take the time away from dancing to make them, but I'm sending the recipe to her all the same.
I'm so glad we went "out of the box" and did something unusual on Saturday. I would have missed getting to know a thoroughly delightful couple. Here's to our new royal friends...Queen Pauline and King Robert...may you have many more years of dancing and laughter!
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