Post Eagle Newspaper

Friday

Feb 14, 2025

32°F, scattered clouds
New Jersey

Time Now

12:00:00

Gruber Family Band In Fontana Memorial Day

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Donna & Stephanie Clay with Fern & Harold Scheel

The Gruber Family Band (GFB) rocked the house at the Slovene Hall in Fontana over Memorial Day weekend. Fontana is a 400 mile journey from GFB’s Northern California home, so the folks in Southern California don’t get to see this group very often.  GFB spiced up the polka-waltz fare with swing, country western, and two-steps, and the dancers responded enthusiastically filling the dance floor for both days.

I misspoke in my previous article. There are three polka radio stations in California not one. Tom Haslett broadcasts on KCAA 1050 AM from Loma Linda between 6 am & 8 am on Saturday mornings. Craig Ebel broadcasts on the same station between 4 am & 6 am on Saturday mornings. And Skip Svoboda broadcasts on KSPC 88.7 FM from Claremont between 8 am & 11 am on Saturday mornings. Skip provided good notice of this event, bringing in a lot of new faces who enjoyed Skip’s music selections, which included cuts from GFB’s CDs.

Josie Torres surprised everyone by popping in for a visit. Josie partners with her husband Joe in a polka band in Arizona. She was in town for a family event and took a little time out to visit with her polka family. And Donna Seibert Clay, leader of Polka Power, surprised everyone by attending the event with her daughter Stephanie. Like GFB, they live 400 miles away – so this was a special trip and Donna wasn’t even performing.