- Hi, I'm Jake and this is my band, The Chardon Polka Band.

You are going to hear us play a lot of music on this show.

There's Mike, Mitch, Bob and the guy with a mustache is Brian.

Since I was 16 years old, polka music has been my job and at that job I get to see and do some pretty crazy and interesting stuff, and I want to share those experiences, and the music I love so much with all of you.

This is "The World According to Polka."

Summer is finally here.

It's a balmy 83 degrees, you know, that's warm enough to merit ice cream, but not so hot that the pavement is bubbling.

Traveling alphorn salesman, Robert Brazelton warms up next to an alarmingly blue waterfall and all is right with the world.

(alphorn music) It's summertime here in our little town.

That means change into your flip flops, your cutoffs, smear on the sunscreen, put on your shades because we're going to take a polkarific look at some of our favorite summertime places and activities right here in Chardon, Ohio.

(wings clicking) And you know, summer wouldn't be complete without the perfect soundtrack.

And of course today, that soundtrack is being provided by the Chardon Polka Band.

In towns in communities all across the Midwest you can find the summer concert series at town gazebos and band shells just like ours.

A summer concert series like this one is a great way to bring your community together in the warm summer air.

Would it be summer without a concert from the Chardon Polka Band?

- No, or more.

- It makes the thing right?

- Right.

- I love it.

- It's wonderful.

- I love the family, hometown, everybody, friends from everywhere come and everybody loves you.

(upbeat polka music) ♪ In the good old summertime ♪ In the good old summertime ♪ Strollin' down the shady lane ♪ ♪ With my baby, mine ♪ I hold her hand and she holds mine ♪ ♪ That's a very good sign ♪ She's my tootsy-wootsy in ♪ The good old summertime ♪ I said, she's my tootsy-wootsy in ♪ ♪ The good old summertime (upbeat polka music) (upbeat polka music continues) (upbeat polka music continues) ♪ I hold her hand and she holds mine ♪ ♪ And that's a very good sign ♪ That she's my tootsy-wootsy in ♪ ♪ The good old summertime (crowd cheering) In addition to sharing music from our very own hometown, Chardon summer concerts series today on the show, we're also looking at a few of our favorite summer go-tos.

The kind of places you wanna spend you summer at.

Which is what brings us here to Chip's Clubhouse, miniature golf course.

More than 130 million people play miniature golf every year.

(bagpipe music) While some say the origins of the game point to a ladies putting club in Scotland in 1827, others say mini golf can actually be traced back to China, between the years of 937 and 975 A.D. And still, Dutch historians swear the sport originated in Denmark around 1297.

Given the predominance of windmills on many a golf course, the Dutch link certainly seems possible.

(Golf ball trundling) For generations people have spent their summertimes playing miniature golf at groovy little courses just like this.

And I dig this place so much, we're gonna see if we can find the owner today.

Oh my goodness.

Here she is.

Surprise.

- Hi.

- It's my wife, Emily Kouwe.

How you doing Emily?

- I'm great.

- [Jake] Emily and I loved miniature golf and Chip's Clubhouse so much that we purchased the business back in 2021.

And just like our work with the Chardon Polka Band, it's a way we can put smiles on faces.

- [Child] Here yo.

- Emily, you are the light of my life but you also bring the life into this place.

You run this place, the day-to-day operations.

I run like social media and clean out the ponds once in a while.

I wanna know about running this place.

What is your favorite part of running this place and having Chip's Clubhouse, Miniature Golf Course?

- I'm bringing joy to people in the community and bringing people together and they're having a good time.

They're laughing, they're enjoying themselves and having fun.

First and foremost, it's bringing all the friends, family out to play, to just have a place to gather and have a good time at the same time.

- So I heard bringing people together, right?

- Yeah.

- And you mentioned friends and family.

- [Emily] Yes.

- Well, it just so happens right over there, I've got a couple of friends and they are family, not to us, they're family to one another.

- Right.

- They're part of our musical family and I think we can probably convince 'em to play a song.

- I think so.

- Let's go do this.

Folks, this is one of the things I love about this place.

You never know who you're gonna find on a miniature golf course.

Check it out.

This is our good friend Bob Buzecan.

You guys know him.

You've seen him play with the Chardon Polka Band a few times but this young guy, you may not know.

This is... - Sawyer Buzecan.

- Sawyer Buzecan.

And you are a young person, right?

- Indeed.

- How old are you?

- I'm 13.

- He's 13, which means he's rebellious, right?

- [Bob] That's right.

- But he's not so rebellious that he can't hang out with his old man on the miniature golf course.

What do you think about that Emily?

- I think they're having a great time and they're helping everybody else here to have a great time.

- Oh hey, great times, summer times.

What song do you have for us about summer times and great times?

- We're gonna do "A Summer Breeze" polka style, by James Scott.

(upbeat polka music) (upbeat polka music continues) (upbeat polka music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat polka music continues) (upbeat polka music continues) - Wow, dudes, this is my favorite thing ever.

Oh my goodness, Friend and neighbors, it's a beautiful, sunny day here on the golf course.

I'm here with my good friends, Bob Buzecan and Sawyer Buzecan, they're having the time of their lives and we're having the time of our lives at Chardon's own Chip's Clubhouse.

- Alright, we are gonna head to Chardon's favorite ice cream place, King Kone.

So I can chat with my friend Gail.

But before we do that, let's see if we can get Sawyer and Bob to play us another tune.

(upbeat rock and roll music) We're here at one of my favorite places, King Kone.

- King Kone is a big deal around here.

It's a local ice cream stand with a big personality.

- Their custom creations are one of a kind.

- [Jake] And they've got a whole fleet of ice cream trucks.

- We love King Kone.

And today we're lucky we have the owner, Gail on site to talk to us about her business and the community.

(upbeat rock and roll music) All right, we are here with Gail and she's the owner of King Kone.

Gail, what is it like to run King Kone?

Why did you decide to just jump right into that?

- My husband had been looking at this place.

We used to come here occasionally and it was just something though that we loved in the community.

My husband is a teacher and the head football coach at Chardon, so we just thought it was another great little business that we could clean up and have in the community and we thought it would be fun basically.

I have no background in food (Emily laughing) and we just kind of went for it.

Then we started out with about 10 employees.

This year we have about 35 employees, so it's grown immensely.

It's a gathering place for everybody to come.

We love it down here and we love what people are able to experience down here.

- Around here, King Kone is a summer must have.

- So you can see we're backstage or behind the scenes at King Kone now, and you can really see that things are starting to heat up.

I think a daycare just arrived with about 30 kids and they're just racing around trying to make as many orders as they can.

It's a mad house.

- Whoa.

All this ice cream is really making me hungry.

But I'm also hungry for some more polka.

Here's a song called "The Two Sisters Polka".

(upbeat polka music) (upbeat polka music continues) ♪ I am a mess, I simply must confess ♪ ♪ See I met girl that I adore ♪ Then she introduced me to her sister ♪ ♪ I just could not resist her ♪ I'm not sure who I fancy more ♪ ♪ I'm in love with two sisters ♪ I'm in love with two sisters ♪ Not sure what I am gonna do.

♪ I'm in love with two sisters ♪ I'm in love with two sisters ♪ Hope they are in love with me too.

♪ (upbeat polka music) (upbeat polka music continues) ♪ It's a tough diagnosis ♪ I wish I could undergo mytosis ♪ ♪ And split my body down from head to toe ♪ ♪ Whoa, then there would be two of me ♪ ♪ You see then I would be free, ♪ ♪ And one of me to each sister I would go ♪ ♪ I'm in love with two sisters ♪ I'm in love with two sisters ♪ Not sure what I am gonna do ♪ I'm in love with two sisters ♪ I'm in love with two sisters ♪ Hope they are in love with me too ♪ (upbeat polka music) ♪ I'm in love with two sisters ♪ I'm in love with two sisters ♪ Not sure what I am gonna do ♪ I'm in love with two sisters ♪ I'm in love with two sisters ♪ If you're lucky maybe I'll give one to you ♪ ♪ If you're lucky maybe I'll give one to you ♪ ♪ If you're luck maybe I'll give one to you ♪ (crowd cheering) - [Jake] That's "The Two Sisters Polka" friends and neighbors.

That's one of ours from back in the day.

- Alright, they have Let me loose in the back of King Kone and I'm going to make a no name, Mackaleigh's gonna help me out here.

Alright, so go slow and I'm gonna... - [Mackaleigh] Yeah, three times around.

Yeah, go really slow.

- Three times around, I don't know guys.

Whoa, it comes out really fast.

Woo.

Alright, that is something like that.

Now where do we go?

- Okay.

- Lay it down.

- [Mackaleigh] Yes, hand me a spoon.

Pile the pretzels on top.

And of like help it out?

- Yes.

'Cause we don't wanna ruin the foundation of the cone.

- 'Cause I can use all the help- - And then wait, we're not gonna put it in yet.

- Okay.

- So we're gonna walk over to the chocolate dip right there.

- Oh boy.

- [Mackaleigh] Really quick.

Like flip it back up.

- In and out.

Here we go.

- Yes, really quick.

- [Emily] In and out.

Oh my goodness.

I did it, I did the dip.

- [Mackaleigh] And then we're finish it off with some sea salt, so just sprinkle some on the top.

- Sprinkle some sea salt.

Oh yeah, oh yeah.

Okay.

- And then some caramel.

As much as you want, we put a lot on.

- Caramel sauce.

I mean everything is just over the top here and it is wonderful.

- [Mackaleigh] And spoon it up and you're finished.

- Oh my gosh, I believe Jake is going to enjoy this one.

- Alright, this no name looks delicious.

- I actually made that myself.

- You made it?

- With my new friend Mackaleigh, yeah.

- And I'm gonna eat it.

- And you're gonna eat it.

- This is the coolest segment we've ever done.

- This is awesome.

- Basically.

- This is our job folks.

- Look at this.

This is a size small.

- This is delightful.

All right, while we're chowing down let's send you guys to another polka.

Speaking of tasty treats, this one's called "Polka Round Your Sweetheart" There's a song you created, like you created this no name.

You created this song.

- I think I did a little better on the song.

- Oh well, you know, we'll see, we'll see.

- Here it is, our music video for "Polka Round Your Sweetheart".

(upbeat polka music) (upbeat polka music continues) (upbeat polka music continues) ♪ Polka round the bar ♪ Polka round the clock ♪ Polka round your sweetheart till you polka no more ♪ ♪ Polka near and far ♪ Polka round the bar ♪ Polka round your sweetheart till you polka no more ♪ ♪ I'm in this band to play the polka so that you can dance ♪ ♪ We hear that brand new polka, let's give it a chance ♪ ♪ And then it's time to do the polka ♪ ♪ In a new trendy swance ♪ Before you know it you'll be in a splendid romance ♪ (upbeat polka music) (upbeat polka music continues) (upbeat polka music continues) (upbeat polka music continues) ♪ I'm in this band to play the polka so that you can dance ♪ ♪ We hear that brand new polka, let's give it a chance ♪ ♪ And then it's time to do the polka ♪ ♪ In a new trendy swance ♪ Before you know it you'll be in a splendid romance ♪ (upbeat polka music) (upbeat polka music continues) - All right, you might have noticed that that last video was a little bit vintage.

- Yeah, that featured one of the band's previous lineups.

Mike Franklin and me, we were still there.

We're always there.

But Emily Kouwe was in a starring role and our buddy Joey Dahlhausen, the salty sailor himself, was on drums.

It was a bit of a throwback.

- Definitely a little bit of a throwback.

That was vintage and now we are here at our last location, which is also vintage.

- Yeah.

The Mayfield Road Drive-in.

Now this place has been around since 1945 when it was known as the Hazelwood Drive-in.

- [Emily] We are so fortunate to have this place in our community.

Another wonderful place for families to gather.

- It is, and it's not just for locals.

People flock from all over to check out this classic piece of Americana, the drive-in theater.

- Let's go check it out and talk to some folks.

- The drive-in means to me, a family tradition.

We do it every summer.

It's something we have to do before school starts.

- Drive-in movie theater for us, is super important in the summer because we get to spend outside, with our family and just enjoy the summer.

- We Love the drive-in.

- We love the drive-in.

- [Jake] Louder.

- Your idea of a perfect summer might come from an ice cream cone.

- It might come from a splash in the community pool.

- Or a family barbecue, or road trip.

- You know, for us, so much of our summers have always revolved around music.

That that's what I think of is like the perfect summer night.

I'm on stage playing music and that's a lot of what our show is about today.

We're gonna do one more song from the Chardon Square and this one is called "Rockin' Robin".

- That's one of my favorites.

I think you are top-notch at that song.

- I think I'm top notch at that song too.

Thank you, honey.

♪ He rocks in the tree top all day long ♪ ♪ Hoppin' and a-boppin' and a-singing his song ♪ ♪ All the little birds on Jaybird Street ♪ ♪ Love to hear the robin going tweet tweet tweet ♪ ♪ Rockin' robin ♪ Rockin' robin ♪ Blow rockin' robin 'cause we're really gonna rock tonight ♪ ♪ Every little swallow, every chick-a-dee ♪ ♪ Every little bird in the tall oak tree ♪ ♪ The wise old owl, the big black crow ♪ ♪ They flap their wings and say go bird go ♪ ♪ Rockin' robin ♪ Rockin' robin ♪ Blow rockin' robin 'cause we're really gonna rock tonight ♪ - Let 'em have it Mitch.

(saxophone riff) ♪ A pretty little raven in the bird-band stand ♪ ♪ Taught him how to do the bop and it was grand ♪ ♪ They started going steady and bless my soul ♪ ♪ He out-bopped the buzzard and the oriole ♪ ♪ He rocks in the tree top all day long ♪ ♪ Hoppin' and a-boppin' and a-singing his song ♪ ♪ All the little birds on Jaybird Street ♪ ♪ Love to hear the robin going tweet tweet tweet ♪ ♪ Rockin' robin ♪ Rockin' robin ♪ Blow rockin' robin 'cause we're really gonna rock tonight ♪ (crowd cheering) - We love to live in an area that offers such rich summer experiences and we are so grateful that we got to share them with all of you today.

- Yeah, we visited the miniature golf course.

- [Emily] King Kone.

- And we're wrapping up here at the drive-in, some of our favorite summer spots.

Now these experiences aren't just limited to our small town Chardon, Ohio.

You've gotta go find these spots where you live and enjoy these experiences.

Find these local hangouts and go check 'em out.

- Go find Summer in the world around you.

- Yes.

The world.

You know which world we're talking about?

We're talking about "The World According to Polka".

Thanks for joining us on the program today.

We had a blast sharing our summer experiences with you guys.

- And I think it's time to go grab your popcorn and get your seats, 'cause the movie's about to start.

- That's right.

It's showtime.

And I think you're gonna like today's feature at the Mayfield Road Drive-in.

(film projector clicking) - How do things look, doctor?

- Not good Captain.

They've gone from bad to worse.

- That asteroid is definitely going to hit Earth.

- An asteroid like that impacting the Earth, could wipe out the entire planet.

- Hold on, I'm picking something up.

- What is it?

- It's like something from out of this world.

- A spacecraft perhaps?

- And here it comes.

(engine whirring) (spacecraft exploding) (dramatic music) (dramatic music continues) - [Alien] My name is Goliath and I am from the planet Zorkon.

I will help you destroy the asteroid.

- Yeah.

We can do it.

(saxophone solo) (upbeat polka music) (upbeat polka music continues) ♪ I saw a rainbow when I saw you ♪ ♪ I saw your red lips, blue eyes shining through ♪ ♪ I saw your brown hair, it caught my eye ♪ ♪ Just like a rainbow in the sky ♪ ♪ And as the sun ♪ And as the sun ♪ Came shining down ♪ Came shining down ♪ Upon your rainbow colored gown ♪ ♪ A pot of gold ♪ A pot of gold ♪ Fell in my heart ♪ Fell in my heart ♪ As I embraced your rainbow charm ♪ (upbeat polka music) (upbeat polka music continues) (upbeat polka music continues) (upbeat polka music continues) (upbeat polka music continues) ♪ I saw the rainbow when I saw you ♪ ♪ I saw your red lips, blue eyes shine ♪ (laser blasting) ♪ I saw your brown hair (asteroid exploding) ♪ It caught my eye ♪ Just like a rainbow in the sky ♪ (film projector clicking) - All right, one (upbeat polka music) ♪ I said, summer time ♪ Summer time ♪ Summer time ♪ Summer time ♪ There ain't no school so don't be a fool ♪ ♪ You gotta enjoy that summer time ♪ ♪ All the time ♪ Summer time (both laughing) - All right.

(both laughing) - You said summer time and looked right at me.