Věstník (West, Tex.), Vol. 63, No. 13, Ed. 1 Wednesday, March 26, 1975 Page: 6 of 32
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6
VĚSTNÍK
Wednesday, March 26, 1975
recognition in the 19 months that
it made regular broadcasts. Now,
some 37 years after the hey-day oí
Adolf and the boys, Mr. Kubala can
still easily recall how it was organ-
ized and name all of the person-
nel.
It all started in 1935 when Julius
Pa vlas, an old-třme musician and
resident of Ehgle, entered his band
in a contest at the Majestic Thea-
tre in San Antonio and took first
plače. It seems that Universa!
Mills, a large Texas flour produc-
er, was seeking an orchestra that
wbuld help in publieMng its Prod-
ucts. The Pavlas band was sudden-
ly invíted back to San Antonio for
a studio audition. Mr. Kubala tells
us that only a few wanted to go, so
Pavlas suddenly didn’t háve a
band. Not only did he need to find
musicians, but he was told to get
someone to handle the announcing
for thís program whích would in-
volve network rádio broadcasting.
Síňce this had to be doně within
a matter of days, Pavlas had to
move fast. He invited Johnny
Luecke, who at the time was an
electrcian and operátor oď a pri-
vately-owned, low-wattage rádio
station called CTSB (the letters
stood for “Come to Schulenburg”).
An audition was to be wired to
Fort Worth the following Sunday
night, so time v/as running out.
Fortuna těly, they were joined by
Lee Prause, a local musician who
was not playing much at the time,
and several top musicians in his
band who also came along.
After considerable practice and
a nervous audition, the band was
accepted for network performance,
and the first program went on the
air on November 3, 1935. The last
program was heard the last day of
May, 1937 — ending an era of mus-
ical history for Schulenburg and
Texas Polka Music.
During this time, Mr. Kubala
tells us, the band had many ex~
periences. They wore originál Tyro-
lean costumes and traveled in a
regular bus, Once, Mr. Kubala
ssays, “the water was so high on
West Navidad that Julius and I
had to leave the car and walk into
town on the railroad tracks in or~
der to make the 8 o’clock broad-
cast.”
On another day Mr. Kubala says,
“we played 17 straight nights and
had to make it back: to town for
the 8 a.m. broadcast. We never
missed."
The band broadcasted live from
the stage of the Cozy Theatre, op-
erated now and for many years by
I. W. Speckels. Universal Mills of
Fort Worth, manufacturers of Gold
Chain and Eed Chain flour were
the sponsors, so Adolf and the
Boys were called “Adolf and the
Gold Chain Bohemians.” The pro-
gram ran from 8 to 8:15 each
weekday morning and Sunday aft-
ernoons from 3 until 3:45. Broad-
casting was carríed over TQN, —
Texas ■Quality Network —which in-
cluded stations WOAI in San An-
tonio, KRPC of Houston, WFAA-
WBAP of Dallas-Fort Worth.
The ínstrumentation and per-
sonnel of the band was truly uni-
que and its sound has never been
imitated, even lby some of the fín-
est polka bands in the nation to-
day. Many will agree that it was
the finest of its kind in the statě
of Texas.
Johiiny Luecke remained the
band!s announcer during its broad-
cast days and Tom Hinton, now
Weimaťs city manager, was the
program engineer. The nine play-
ing members were truly versatile, as
most of them played several In-
struments. Julius Pavlas, the band
leader, played second trumpet and
did the vocals. Herbert Kloesel
played lead trumpet and wrote
many of the banďs arrangemente.
The saxophone section included
Charlie Rainosek, John Lee and
Henry Kubala, Mr. Kubala was so-
lo clarinetist. Scott Hirsch was the
lead violinist and, according to Mr.
Kubala, “a true professional.” Lee
Prause played mainly bass, Ruddy
Heyer was on piano, and Arthur
Kloesel on drums. Prause, Hirsch,
and Lee fcripled on strings. This
came in handy when the band per-
formed some of the famous Strauss
waltzes.
At the end of the broadcasting
days, the band again divided with
many of its members playing
through the ’40s and '50s and some
even today. As oř this year —
Lee Prause, John Lee, and Herbert
Kloesel are deceased. Mr. Kubala
and Mr. Pavlas do not know the
whereabouts of Scott Hirsch. Bud-
dy Heyer is in Galveston, Charlie
Rainosek in Schulenburg, Julius
Pavlas in Engle, Henry Kubala at
St. John, and Arthur Kloesel at
Hallettsville. Johnny Luecke is liv-
ing in La Grange and Ss retired.
The band made a number of T8
RPM recordings on the “Okeh”
label, all of which are collectors’
items and include such favorites
as “Our Mike” (the group’s theme
song), “Cikanka Polka,” “Hunts-
man Waltz,” and “Pivo Cervene.”
It is believed that some of the
rádio broadcasts were reproduced
on old-style tapes, but háve never
been found.
This well-known orchestra left
a great legacy to the musical heri-
tage of Schulenburg and its leg-
end ary sound will be remembered
for years to come by music lovere
across the statě.
(From the Schulenburg Sticker
dated July 19, 1973).
(More features will be forth-
eoming for publication of varibue
well- known Texas bands. —Editor)
—-spjst—
LODGE NO 39, RRYAN
Dear Members,
The monthly meeting of Lodge
No. 39 was held on Wednesday,
March 5th. The pledge ctf ai-
legiance was said by all who were
present. The minutes were read
and approved without any correc-
tions or addítions.
Sister Lucille Koehler was elect-
ed treasurer. Brother Steve Reg-
in und was unable to continue with
this Office due to illness. He has
been on the sick list for some time
now. We wish him a speedy re-
covery and hope he is back with us
soon.
Our meeting was well attended.
We enjoyed seeing so many of you
and hope you will be back at our
next meeting.
We are in the process of setting
up Rules and Regulations for our
lodge. We voted on part of the pro-
posed rules and regulations and
will try to finish this business at
our next meeting.
The next lodge meeting will be
on Wednesday, April 2nd, at 7:38
p.m. We hope to see you all back
again.
Eleanor Kuder
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Sefcik, R. J. Věstník (West, Tex.), Vol. 63, No. 13, Ed. 1 Wednesday, March 26, 1975, newspaper, March 26, 1975; West, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth625406/m1/6/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Slovanska Podporujici Jednota Statu Texas.