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Johnny Dachko's Royal Serenaders, pictured in this old photograph, was the first polka band to play at the Bessemer Croatian Club. The members, from left: Henry Golis, Mike Dachko,Bessemer Croatian Clubready for big celebrationBy DEBBIE WACHTER BONNIE News Staff WriterBESSEMER — It’s been 50 years since the dream came true, and those who helped make it a reality will not let their golden year go by without a big celebration.Members of the Croatian Club are shinin' up their dancing shoes and dusting cobwebs from their memories, so they may relive their dream at the club’s 50th Anniversary dinner and dance June 15. The dream they are celebrating is the club’s inception, which happened on June 18, 1935.Favorite polka and waltz melodies will be played by the Jack Tady Or-NOT A PLACE in Lawrence County outdid the Croatian Club when it came to dances. Saturday night crowds often numbered more than 700 during the 1960s, Mehocic said.The original minutes of club meetings were written in Croatian. The initial number of active members numbered 132, but the club also has many social members.Steve Dmetruk, the borough postmaster and an active club member, recalls that Johnny Dachko and his Royal Serenaders, an eight-piece band of New Castle, was the first local band to play at the club.“They started the polka era in the New Castle area,’’ he said.own to use as a community center for Slavonic people and as a facility for social events and meetings.A committee was elected to form a building fund. Joseph Yardas, 96, a borough resident and the club’s oldest living charter member, was a part of that committee.The initial fund-raising effort lasted 13 years and involved dinners, picnics, concerts and dances.IN MAY 1935, Matt Fabyanchich, a borough resident, rented part of his home to the lodge. The Bessemer Croatian Club was incorporated on June 18 of that year and Marion Vlah was elected as its first president. HeNEW CASTLE NEWSMONDAY, JUNE 3, 1985 SIXTEENJim Tranquillo, Johnny Dachko, Bill Golis, Chuck Transquillo, John Ryczaj and Frank Jaskolke.
Newspaper Details
New Castle News
New Castle, Pennsylvania, US
Mon, Jun 03, 1985
Page 16
Full Page
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Anonymous
USA 04 Sep 2023
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