Polka Lovers Club of Texas Museum to Host Happy Music For Happy People

Board members of The Polka Lovers Club of Texas Museum are excited to invite members and the public to their first event since COVID 2019: “Happy Music for Happy People.” Many renovations and upgrades have been made to the museum since March of 2022 and now it is time for polka enthusiasts to come see what all is going on.

The event is in conjunction with the Texas Czech Herigage and Cultural Center’s (TCHCC) Slavnost “May Fest” celebration. The museum will open on Sunday, May 21 at 10 a.m. and will conclude at 4 p.m.

The main attraction of the day will be wine tasting… “Happy Music for Happy People” from Noon to 4 p.m. by Majek Vineyard and Winery hosted by Randy and Lynne Majek, owners and operators, of the winery.

Featured will be The Leo Majek Orchestra Exhibit along with the wine tasting opportunity to indulge in the various wine options from the vineyard and winery. Highlights of The Leo Majek Orchestra “Happy Music for Happy People” will begin at 2 p.m. with family member and story teller, Randy Majek. The wine tasting for Members is complimentary and $10 per person for the Public.

This is a must see in person event, as the Leo Majek Orchestra is The Oldest Czech Family Band in the U.S. They originated in Corpus Christi, and celebrated 100 years as a Czech family orchestra in 1997. Their humble beginnings began as a “one-man band” in Slovkoz, Moravia in 1897, when Leo Majek, Sr. began performing at the age of 12. As hard as life was in Moravia at that time, there were always parties, weddings and music. When his working day at the local sugar factory was complete, Majek would pick up his treasured accordion and walk sometimes two to three hours one way to provide music to appreciative listeners in and around Slavkov.

Majek married in 1908 and had a son within a year. By 1913, Europe was on the brink of war and the Majeks were urged by her brother to join him in Texas. By this time, they also had a daughter, so Leo went first to provide for a smoother family transition. His wife and children came a year later, sailing on the last ship leaving Europe before the war. The couple rented a farm at Marak, Texas, a small community in Milam County, where they had to learn the rigors of cotton farming.

Leo Majek, Sr. continued playing his accordion, riding to house dances on horseback, earning as much as $1 for a night of playing. Eventually the family grew with the addition of five more sons. All six sons, Julius, John, Joe, Frank, Charlie and Leo, Jr., inherited their father’s musical abilities and freewheeling sense of adventure and joined him to develop the Majek Orchestra. They utilized their natural musical ability to inject a sense of spontaneity into their music. The group spread the Majek sound throughout Central Texas, performing at weddings, church feasts and parties.

The family moved to Corpus Christi in 1940 where Leo Sr. took a job in a shipyard. The band continued to thrill crowds in South Texas. Their popularity became legendary as their recordings were played on many radio stations throughout Texas. The group eventually spanned four generations of Majeks to provide “happy music for happy people.” They have provided entertainment for over 1,500-plus weddings since the orchestra’s beginnings. In 1978, they toured Europe and took their music back to the homeland, with stops in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Liechtenstein.

In 1992 the orchestra received the Texas Polka Music Award Lifetime Achievement Award for the “Family Band Dedicated to Preserving and Promoting Polka Music for 95 Years.” In 1997, The Leo Majek Orchestra of Corpus Christi celebrated its centennial celebration as the longest-performing Czech family orchestra in the country, they received a proclamation from the Texas House of Representatives as well as greetings from many dignitaries and organizations, all of whom loved their music.

In 2006, of the six Majeks sons, Leo Jr. and Charlie were still playing in the orchestra. Julius, Frank, and Joe Majek were deceased and John Majek had retired because of poor eyesight. Still very much a family band, at that time the members were Leo Majek, Jr. (accordion), Charlie Majek (drums), Michael Majek (trumpet, son of Charlie), Jerry Majek (bass and band manager, son of John) Martha Ann Majek (piano, wife of Jerry Majek), Jerome Majek (bass horn, lead guitar, son of Jerry and Martha; and fourth generation), and Randy Majek (guitar, son of Frank); and story teller for the event.

Two of the surviving Majek sons passed away in 2010.

Charlie Majek, Sr. died on October 24, 2010. In addition to performing as drummer for the orchestra for sixty-five years, he had served in the United States Army infantry during World War II and was awarded two Bronze Stars during the Pacific Campaign, and two Bronze Stars in the Philippines Liberation.

John Majek died on December 8, 2010, at the age of 96. His tenure as a musician in the Leo Majek Orchestra lasted an astounding 88 years.

Throughout the years, The Leo Majek Orchestra recorded four albums, two eight-tracks, two cassettes, eighteen singles, and a video. In June 2015, the Leo Majek Orchestra was inducted into the South Texas Music Walk of Fame, and a new generation carried on the family’s musical tradition.

To hear the rest of the story; you will have to come to the event to hear Randy Majek, owner/operator of Majek Vineyard and Winery tell us what The Leo Majek Orchestrata is doing today and where it will be in the future.

The Polka Lovers Club of Texas Museum is located at 275 W. Fairgrounds Rd., La Grange, with a mission to preserve, promote and educate polka music and dance. For more information go to plctm. com.