Special Spring Dance At Moravan Hall

The annual spring dance sponsored by the Rossville Moravan Lodge will be held at the historic “Bohemian Hall”, 86^th and Crawford Rd., six miles north of Rossville, on Saturday, April 27.  The festivities begin at 6:00 p.m. with a meal catered by TNT, followed by the dance featuring the popular Czechland Polka Band from 7:00 to 10:30.  The cost of the meal is $8, and admission to the Dance is $8 for adults ($4 for teens), although advance tickets are available at several businesses in Rossville for $7. This occasion is particularly special for two important reasons:  It is billed as the Maxine Carver Memorial, in memory of Mrs. Carver who was the Moravan Lodge secretary and just named the Lodge’s prestigious “Fraternalist of the Year”.  Part of the proceeds and donations from the evening will be utilized toward a Hall Project, completed in Maxine’s name.  The other unique element of the evening will be the world premiere of “The Governor’s Polka”, performed by the band.  The “The Governor’s Polka” was originally written and dedicated to the first Governor of Kansas, Charles Robinson, but has been forgotten for over one hundred years.  One of the Lodge’s recent and most ambitious projects has been to lobby the Kansas Legislature to declare Polka Music as the State’s Official Dance and Music.  Toward that effort, Doug Martinek, chair of the Lodge Board, discovered the piano sheet music of this historic song in the Archives of the State Historical Society.  Jacob Anderson, son of the Czechland Band’s tuba player, Dave Anderson of Newton, was commissioned to arrange the “Governor’s Polka” for the specific instrumentation of the Band. Jacob is a student at Bethel and has composed or arranged several polkas for the band in the past.  Because of the relevance of this polka’s first-ever performance toward the Lodge’s political project, Governor Laura Kelly has been extended a personal invitation to attend the Dance, as well as the entire legislative body.  It is shaping up to be a truly memorable event and is open to the entire public.