- This is "The World According to Polka."

I'm Jake Kouwe.

- And I'm Bob Buzecan, and we're from The Chardon Polka Band.

- And you can't have polka music without our favorite instrument, the accordion.

- Invented in Germany in the 1800s, the accordion has become virtually synonymous with polka music.

- We're gonna focus on this instrument today.

Specifically, we're sending Bobby Buzecan to the New England Accordion Museum in Connecticut to learn about some squeeze-boxes and share some accordion stories.

- But first, I think a polka song is in order.

- It sure is.

Let's hit it.

Go, Bobby!

And now we turn things over to Bob as he travels all the way to Connecticut to explore an accordion haven, an attraction for music lovers of all genres.

- This is Bob Buzecan here at the New England Accordion Connection & Museum with Paul Ramunni, and we're here to discuss this wonderful museum, located in North Canaan, Connecticut.

- We started the museum back in 2011.

And so we've been around collecting accordions for a good 14 years.

Good 650 accordions here.

- [Bob] Wow, how have you come to get your hands in all these lovely 650 accordions?

- (laughs) It's like everything else today: as soon as you start looking for something, ya find these things.

They're in people's homes.

They're in their attics.

They've had them for a long time.

Their uncles used to play.

Every week, we get a couple donated to us.

The stories behind all of these accordions is what's really important because I thought I was collecting accordions but what happened is all these things have come in and the backstories are just incredible.

Wartime, peacetime, way back from 1900, people were playing these accordions and having a wonderful time of it.

We collect the stories, and we collect the accordions.

- We're excited to share some of Paul's accordions and his stories with you guys, and we want this journey to be accompanied by music.

- We're gonna show some love for the button box accordion with a special-guest performance by Mr.

Alex Meixner, an accordion aficionado from Texas.

- Like any good player, Alex Meixner has a plethora of accordions.

You can't throw a rake at Alex Meixner without hitting one of these accordions, including a one-of-a-kind custom purple squeeze-box.

Have you seen it?

- Jake, I have seen it, and I can confirm: it is very purple.

But maybe, one day, it'll show up in the museum.

- Yeah, but Alex Meixner is not ready for a museum yet.

We need him out there sharing the love of polka with the masses.

Now, we're gonna go back to Paul, and he's got a special accordion; it's not purple; to tell us about.

- Barbara O'Connell was born in 1923 in the middle of the country, and they found out pretty quickly, (laughs) when she was three years old, she had an ability to play musical instrument.

And she wanted an accordion, so Barbara started playing all over the place.

When she got to be 10-11 years old, she went to her dad looking for a real accordion 'cause she was playing second-third-hand accordions.

And here it was, coming out of Italy.

Chiusaroli was the name of the company, but the darn thing cost $750 back in the middle of the depression.

Her father couldn't afford it, but the people in the town did.

They got nickels, dimes, and quarters, and they eventually got the money.

They ordered it.

They put her name on it.

Barbara played it all over the place.

She ended up in Europe in 1942 to play for the USO.

They put her last on the deck, and she played for thousands of troops, probably well over 200,000.

But she always ended her songs with "God Bless America."

These are the guys that were fighting the war.

They had the grenades and the guns and the bombs, and they knew what they were going into, but that song inspired so many people.

And whoever thought a 20-22-year-old girl with an accordion could've had a major impact on the outcome of the war?

'Cause it inspired the men.

And they got back into their trucks, and they were taken to the front lines.

She met Eisenhower, and she was a whirlwind.

Everybody and their cousin just loved Barbara.

We've got stories like that, people you wouldn't expect, a 20-year-old girl.

With an accordion?

I love it.

- We wanted to pair Barbara's story with a fitting musical tribute, so we've got our friend Alicia Jo Straka from Colorado to play Barbara's signature song.

♪ God bless America ♪ Land that I love ♪ Stand beside her ♪ And guide her ♪ Through the night ♪ With a light from above ♪ From the mountains ♪ To the prairies ♪ To the oceans ♪ White with foam ♪ God bless America ♪ My home sweet home ♪ God bless America ♪ My home ♪ Sweet home - That was Alicia Jo Straka, a talented accordionist.

I'm so glad she was able to join us.

- And now we've got another accordion story for you.

- And this one is about one of Jake's all-time favorite accordion heroes.

- I'm gonna give ya a hint.

He's wunnerful, wunnerful.

- So Paul, this caught my eye when I came in earlier.

I see Mr.

Lawrence Welk here, and we all know someone that really likes Lawrence Welk.

Can you tell us a little bit about this story here?

- Another incredible story.

I got a buddy up here.

Happened to be down in Florida.

He happened to walk into the Polish American Club in Sarasota, and this lonely-looking accordion is sitting on the shelf behind the bar.

And the bartender said, "Ah, it belonged to Lawrence Welk.

It was his very first accordion as a kid."

He said, "He had a house down here.

He was a member for the longest time.

And when he moved, he gave us the accordion as a memento."

And my friend asked the bartender, and he said, "Well, looks lonely.

You really wanna keep that?"

And the bartender said, "Eh, you can have it."

(laughs) And so he put it in the car, drove it up here, and he says, "You're not gonna believe what I got!"

Everybody and his cousin that's anywhere over 50 years old knows Lawrence Welk and the Music Makers, and all the people on that show got everybody's attention.

So here we go, a great unit.

I don't think it really works anymore.

(laughs) - Well, I have a crazy idea 'cause you mentioned getting in front of the TV, Music Makers, playing.

We got Lawrence Welk.

- I think he's gonna do it.

- Would you have any interest in putting on an accordion with me and playing a song for our folks?

- We could do it.

We can do it.

- Do ya have a song in mind?

- "Arrivederci Roma."

Everybody loves that.

Bingo!

(laughs) - Oh Bob, that was beautiful!

Not only does Paul collect these accordions.

He plays them beautifully, as well, and I personally am always happy to have some Lawrence Welk trivia on the program.

Now, one of my favorite bits that Mr.

Welk ever did was have the band play the song "One Toke Over the Line."

You see, some of the wording of this tune led Lawrence Welk to believe it was a modern spiritual.

- But we'll let you form your own opinion on what this tune is really about.

♪ One toke over the line, sweet Jesus ♪ ♪ One toke over the line ♪ Sitting downtown in a railway station ♪ ♪ One toke over the line ♪ Waiting for the train to take us home, sweet Mary ♪ ♪ And a-hoping that the train was on time ♪ ♪ Sitting downtown in a railway station ♪ ♪ One toke over the line ♪ Who do ya love ♪ I hope it's me ♪ I been changing ♪ You can plainly see ♪ Felt the joy, and I learned about pain ♪ ♪ And my mamma said ♪ If I should choose to make it part of me ♪ ♪ He would surely strike me dead ♪ ♪ So I'm one toke over the line, sweet Jesus ♪ ♪ One toke over the line ♪ Sitting downtown in a railway station ♪ ♪ One toke over the line ♪ Waiting for the train to take us home, sweet Mary ♪ ♪ And a-hoping that the train was on time ♪ ♪ Sitting downtown in a railway station ♪ ♪ One toke over the line We gotta move on down the line ourselves back to the accordion museum for another accordion story.

- This one just came in to us from the family.

Rosemarie was born in Germany, and 1929, she was immediately put into an orphanage.

A family adopted her when she was a year and a half old.

She started playing the accordion, and off she went with these things.

She won just about every contest.

Beating out the older folks, she was just that good.

The Nazi Party wanted her to come and play for their dinners and when they get together, because Hitler was big on showing the world what a young German girl could do.

She refused the Nazi Party.

They put pressure on her family by making her father drive the bomb truck from all the factories with the munitions.

Talk about a hazardous job.

The Resistance, the Allied bombers were all looking for the transport of these munitions, but they made it through, and after the war, she blossomed.

She was the youngest person ever to play for four years in Hohner's orchestra.

But that's the kinda thing that happens here at this museum.

We get the accordions in.

And then we get the backstories too.

- Now, Jake, I wanna share that Paul has collected some of these stories in a book.

- This is a fascinating read.

He's got more stories in this book.

And speaking of stories, we're not done with Rosemarie's story just yet, but I wanted to pause and play an old German polka in her honor.

This one's called "Annelisa."

♪ Annelisa, oh Annelisa ♪ Why do you keep telling me lies ♪ ♪ Annelisa, oh Annelisa ♪ The love light don't shine in your eyes ♪ ♪ When ya hug me, when ya kiss me ♪ ♪ When ya tell me that ya miss me ♪ ♪ I go on believing that you're really not in love ♪ ♪ You tell me that there's no other ♪ ♪ I'm your one and only lover ♪ And that we'll be happy ♪ You and I together ♪ Oh my Annelisa, oh Annelisa ♪ Why do you keep telling me lies ♪ It's a nice, German sentiment.

- So we wanted to pair Rosemarie's story with a tune by our friends Die Sauerkrauts out in California, as they have a German accordionist in their band.

- And this is where stuff gets really interesting, because they started doing some research on their own and, unbeknownst to me, Rosemarie was living just a few minutes from them in California.

- This is unbelievable stuff, man.

So they went out and met her in person to capture her story.

- Here's Festmeister Hans of Die Sauerkrauts speaking to Rosemarie Hofmann.

- I am John Baumgaertner, also known as Festmeister Hans.

- My name is Rosemarie Hofmann, (Hans speaks in German) (Rosemarie speaks in German) - Can you tell me about when you first started playing the accordion and what drew you to the instrument?

- So, do you remember your first public performance on the accordion?

(Hans laughs) - They have a word for that in English and in German.

That's you were a wunderkind.

- You were in Germany during a pivotal time in history, the rise of the Nazi Party in the 1930s.

What was the feeling in your family as things started to change?

- Does music and playing the accordion have a spiritual connection and feeling for you?

- Rosemarie, thank you so much for sharing your time with us.

- Do you have any final message or lesson from your life that you would want to share with the younger generation?

- Thank you, Rosemarie.

Danke schoen.

(Rosemarie speaks in German) (Hans laughs) (crew members laughs) (Hans speaks in German) - We're so excited to share this special interview with you guys today, but wait.

There's more because if you're gonna go meet an accordion player ya gotta take an accordion with ya.

- So Rosemarie, we have invited our accordion player, Brian, from the band Festmeister Hans und die Sauerkrauts.

We play some German music and polka, of course.

And we wanted to play a lovely song for you, and I will sing it for you, and if you so desire, you can jump in and sing a harmony with me.

I will not stop you.

(laughs) Take it away, Brian.

- Very nice.

(Hans sings in German) (Hans and Rosemarie sing in German) (Hans sings in German) (Hans and Rosemarie sing in German) (Hans sings in German) (Hans and Rosemarie sing in German) (Hans sings in German) (Hans and Rosemarie sing in German) (Hans sings in German) - Oh, wow.

(Hans sings in German and chuckles) (Hans laughs) - Very nice.

- Danke schoen, Rosemarie.

- Very nice.

- Danke schoen.

(Hans speaks in German) (Hans laughs) - This has been "The World According to Polka."

- And I think we'll let Paul, from the accordion museum, have the final word today.

- These instruments, these accordions, I call them weapons of peace because they brought peace and happiness to people at a time... You know, there wasn't a lot to be happy about, and when somebody put on an accordion, it was always for making other people happy.

♪ Sometimes in our lives ♪ We all have pain ♪ We all have sorrow ♪ But if we are wise ♪ We know that there's always tomorrow ♪ ♪ Lean on me when you're not strong ♪ ♪ I'll be your friend ♪ I'll help you carry on ♪ For it won't be long ♪ Till I'm gonna need somebody to lean on ♪ Bobby!

♪ Just call on me, brother, when you need a hand ♪ ♪ We all need somebody to lean on ♪ ♪ I just a-might have a problem that you understand ♪ ♪ We all need somebody to lean on ♪ ♪ Lean on me when you're not strong ♪ ♪ I'll be your friend ♪ I'll help ya carry on ♪ For it won't be long ♪ Till I'm gonna need somebody to lean on ♪ ♪ We all need somebody to lean on ♪ ♪ We all need somebodies to lean on ♪ (Jake chuckles) (Bob laughs) That was good, right?

- Whoo!