NANTICOKE — Two things have been constants in the life of John “Stanky” Stankovic over many decades: Polka music, and service to his volunteer fire department.
An event on Saturday will honor both.
John Stanky and the Coal Miners will present a night of polka music at American Legion Post 350, with proceeds to benefit Hanover Fire Co. N.F.D. Engine #4 on Espy Street.
The night also will celebrate Stanky’s 80 years of playing in a polka band.
“I got introduced to polka at a very early age,” Stanky said Thursday.
As he said in a 2022 Times Leader interview: “My father, he came from the old country and made me practice,” Stanky said. “I wanted to play baseball. I wanted to play basketball. He said, ‘You’re a pretty good ball player … but if you learn to play the accordion you’ll never starve.”
Lessons began when he was about 5. Within a few short years he was playing in a band, and a lifelong passion was born.
“We started playing in clubs and bars, but mostly we played house weddings,” Stanky recalled.
Such family gatherings often lasted three days — typically Saturday, Sunday, and Monday — and the band would stay at the bride’s house, he said.
Stanky went on to bigger gigs, and named his band in honor of his late father, who had worked in the anthracite mines. Many in the region will remember him and wife of 61 years, Dorothy Stankovic, from their many years on WVIA’s “Pennsylvania Polka,” where he and the band performed and she served as host, Stanky said.
When their daughters were children, Stankovic encouraged Debbie to play trumpet and Kim to play saxophone and clarinet.
When Stanky performs Saturday night, his daughters will accompany him, along with Mark Steinkirchner on trumpet, Bud Yacaboski on drums and Frank Westowski with a second accordion.
As the Times Leader noted in that 2022 interview, Stanky was honored by the fire company last year for 60 years of service as a firefighter, so the benefit is a chance to give back.
About the event
• The polka night will be held at Nanticoke American Legion Post 350, 23 W. Broad St.
• Doors open at 6 p.m., the show starts at 7 p.m.
•Tickets are $15 for adults, $7 for children. They can be purchased at the door or from 6 to 9 p.m. tonight, Friday June 15, at the fire company, 108 Espy St.
• There will be food for purchase from the American Legion, basket raffles, and a 50/50.
• More information at https://www.audacy.com/985krz/events/stanky-and-the-coal-miners-polka-night
