Val the Polka Gal Promotes Summer Dances
Polka fans from Geauga County and all over Northeast Ohio can dance to their favorite music in Kirtland on Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day at SNPJ Farms in Kirtland thanks to the efforts of Val Pawlowski, a.k.a. Val the Polka Gal.
Polka fans from Geauga County and all over Northeast Ohio can dance to their favorite music in Kirtland on Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day at SNPJ Farms in Kirtland thanks to the efforts of Val Pawlowski, a.k.a. Val the Polka Gal.
A former resident of East Claridon, Pawlowski lives in Poland, Ohio, and does a live broadcast 2-4 p.m. Sundays from WPIC station in Sharon, Pa., as well as from other stations on the Ohio-Pennsylvania region, she said.
“I can do my show anywhere,” Pawlowski said in a recent interview. “I have a lot of sponsors.”
She enthusiastically promotes polka radio shows, a career she began in 1996, when she took a job as a host with WKTX in Cortland, Ohio, according to the National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame and Museum in Euclid.
“Her ‘Polka Pick-Me-Up’ feature is heard on Ray Zalokar’s 247PolkaHeaven.com and she does ‘Polka Spotlight’ with Joe Godina on WGRP in the Penn-Ohio area,” according to the hall of fame and museum website.
But when she tried to get started in radio as a young woman, Pawlowski, 73, said it was a male culture and she had to fight to make her way.
“I just put my blinders on and kept going,” Pawlowski said, reflecting on her career and that of other women of her generation who tried to break into the male-dominated industry. “It took courage to do it.”
But, over the years, she has made many friends and had some male mentors who encouraged her, she said.
Her big break came at the Nationality Broadcasting Studio in Lakewood, where Nicholas Kossonyi showed her around the dark, old building. She found her workspace disappointing, Pawlowski said.
“I said, ‘I thought it was magic,’ and he said, ‘You make the magic. People need you to continue to make the magic,’” she recalled.
She focused on Cleveland-style polka, which has its roots in Slovenian folk music and represents the music of central Europe.
“I love polka. It’s about how European families struggled to come over here. I don’t want it to die,” Pawlowski said.
She also started The Polka Times newspaper, which has more than 3,000 members, she said.
Pawlowski said she regrets never getting to arrange a polka dance at the Hollywood Bowl, but she is all about keeping up with the times.
“I want to go forward, keep up with what’s happening,” she said, adding she would like to take polka to television.
“TV’s just radio with faces,” she said.
Although she doesn’t dance anymore, Pawlowski is looking forward to the holiday dances, especially the one on her birthday July 4.
Overall, she feels her career combining a love of radio and music – especially polka music – has been a success, she said.
“It doesn’t matter what you have, it’s what you do with it,” Pawlowski said.
She was inducted into the National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame and Museum at the Shore Cultural Center in Euclid in 2019.
The American Slovenian Polka Foundation, which operates the museum, was founded in 1987. A volunteer board of trustees represent all segments of polka music, including musicians, promoters, cultural societies, disc jockeys and button accordion players, according to the website.
