MELISSA LEE / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Saturday, August 5, 2006 7:00 pm
WILBER — Kirk Weber is 46. Guess how many times he’s polka-danced at the Wilber Czech Festival?
If you said 45, you must’ve been at Weber’s side that one fateful year when he played in an all-star high school basketball game, held — can you believe? — the same weekend as the Wilber festival.
“I missed it,” Weber said Saturday, shaking his head sadly. “Boy, I missed it.”
Weber, a Grand Island native whose mother is Czech, doesn’t plan on skipping the festivities ever again. And why would he? There’s the dancing and the pivo (that’s beer) and, most importantly, there’s a kolache-eating title to defend.
Last year, Weber was the fastest to scarf down the doughy, fruit-filled treat and whistle through his teeth, and he expects to be the champion again this time around.
Not up to challenging him? The festival has plenty more to offer.
Thousands have poured into Wilber, population 1,761, for the three-day festival, which features a parade, historical demonstrations, bands and a Miss Czech-Slovak USA pageant.
Wilber, about an hour southwest of Lincoln, claims to be the Czech capital of the nation — and it follows through. During the festival, the town’s main street is clogged with sightseers from near and far, browsing tables of traditional Czech heirlooms, polka CDs, ruffled dresses and, of course, food.
Kris Riechers, who farms near Wilber, was selling tasty pork loin with her husband, Tim.
Riechers, who’s half-Czech, has been coming to the Czech festival for as long as she can remember.
“You just don’t leave town,” she said. “The fun part is all the people that come here.”
Families whose members have scattered often reunite in Wilber during the festival. That was the case for Deb Hazim, whose Czech father has remained in Nebraska while she’s moved to Topeka, Kan.
Hazim, camped out in a shady spot before the parade began, reported she’d already enjoyed some poppyseed kolache and, yes, a little bit of pivo.
“That’s real beer!” piped in her father, George Kratina, who wore a T-shirt that said, “Proud to be an American. Proud to be Czech.”
“It’s nice to be able to get into the culture a little bit,” Hazim said, laughing.
Nearby, Robert and Agnes Novak awaited the parade’s start in starched white shirts and vests.
The Yankton, S.D., couple came to Wilber to listen to accordian jamborees and eat polish sausages.
“It’s all pretty nice,” said Agnes Novak, whose grandparents are Czech.
The buttons on Robert Novak’s vest were so very Czeck. One read, in the native language, “Give me a kiss.”
The other: “I (heart) pivo.”
Reach Melissa Lee at 473-2682 or mlee@journalstar.com.
Sunday in Wilber
7:15-11:15 a.m., breakfast at St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church
8:15 a.m., community worship, outdoor theater
9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., motorcycle show, Dvoracek Library
10-11:30 a.m., accordion jam, bandstand
10 a.m., Czech heritage demonstration, Wilber Museum
10:30 a.m., travelogue with Evelyn Schleis-Roesler, T.J. Sokol Hall
11:30 a.m., Wilber Czech Dancers, bandstand
Noon, Meet the Czech Queens, bandstand
Noon, Czech heritage demonstration, Wilber Museum
2 p.m., parade
4 p.m., welcome program, introduction of State Czech Queen, outdoor theater
4-5 p.m., dance with the Milligan Brass Band, bandstand
4 p.m.-close, dance with the Dave Salmons Band, Hotel Wilber
4:30-5 p.m., Kramer Sisters, outdoor theater
4:30 p.m., Ostry Family Singers, T.J. Sokol Hall
5 p.m., kolache eating contest, bandstand
5-5:45 p.m., Wilber Junior Czech Dancers/Beseda, outdoor theater
5:45-6:15 p.m., Alumni Band, outdoor theater
6:15-6:30 p.m., Dave Salmons Goodtime Czech Band, outdoor theater
6:30-7 p.m., dance contest, outdoor theater
7 p.m., Miss Czech-Slovak USA Pageant, outdoor theater
6-10 p.m., dance with the Math Sladky band, T.J. Sokol Hall