ALICIA & THE POLKA PRINCESS PAGEANT

Johnstown, PA  -  January 7, 2006

Dancing queen: Woman vies to be Pennsylvania Polka Princess

By TED POTTS
CNHI News Service

VINCO - Alicia Yesenosky of Vinco is stepping lively.

So lively, in fact, that she is one of four women in the running to become the Pennsylvania Polka Princess. The winner will be selected Wednesday at the Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg.

The other three contestants are Monique Lyons of Annville, Kathleen Napierala of Lebanon and Quyne Rider of Philadelphia.

Yesenosky is no stranger to area polka lovers.

The native of Central City in Somerset County was host of “Alicia’s Polka Spotlight” for more than 26 years on radio stations in Central City, Johnstown, Windber and Altoona.

She now is co-host of “Sharing Polka Music,” which airs on cable television Channel 9 in Johnstown from 7 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays. Her co-host for the show, which will mark its ninth anniversary this year, is Bill Marano, known throughout the region as Polish Bill.

Listening and dancing to polka music makes people happy, Yesenosky said.

“Did you ever see anybody dancing the polka without a smile?” she said. “Polka dancers always have smiles on their faces when they are dancing.

“And you meet so many wonderful people who become your friends for life.”

Yesenosky travels to polka gatherings throughout the country.

If she is elected polka princess, one of her primary duties will be to travel the state to stress the importance of polka music traditions.

Her love of the music started in her preteen years when she listened to polkas played on the radio at home.

That was the beginning of a lifelong love of the polka.

One of Yesenosky’s goals is to get more young people involved in the polka, she said. She wants to concentrate her efforts along that line toward teenagers.

She was quick to note that she does not believe the polka is a dying art.

That the polka has become a part of the massive Pennsylvania Farm Show is evidence of its staying power.

It was in January 2003 that polka music and dance became what Anne Loeffler of Polka at the Pennsylvania Farm Show calls an integral part of the agriculture showcase.

One of those who led the effort to make polkas a part of the farm show is John Freidhoff, a former Johnstown resident now residing in the Harrisburg area.

Freidhoff asked Yesenosky to toss her figurative hat into the ring as a princess candidate.

Freidhoff thought it would be ideal to have a polka princess from the Johnstown region, Yesenosky said.

The princess selected Wednesday will become the fourth.

Yesenosky’s husband, Michael Yesenosky, whom she married in 1999, died in 2001. Her first husband, Bernard Bublinec, to whom she was married for more than 20 years, also is deceased.

Mrs. Yesenosky was leader of the former Polish Eagles Dance Group in Central City for 22 years. The group performed Polish folk dances at various events and was made up of young people ages 3 through 14.

She was a member of the former Polish Heritage Dance Group based in Johnstown.

Yesenosky was employed for 43 years and four months at the former Bestform Foundation in Windber. She was a supervisor for 20 years and then became office manager, she said.

Ted Potts can be reached at 445-5103 or tpotts@tribdem.com.