After a run of 27 years, Great Bend’s Polka Days is coming to a close. But not without more than six hours of continuous live music on Sunday at the Great Bend Convention Center.
“This is our last year,” said Angie Kaiser, president of the local Polka Lovers of America Kansas Chapter, commonly known as the Po.L.K. of A.  The three-day event opened Friday evening. By the time the Blue Notes band from Garden City played its first request, “Under the Double Eagle,” dancers from 13 states had signed in.
Kaiser said the public is welcome to attend today. Doors open at 9 a.m., with a Polka Mass at 10, followed by a parade of flags. Then three bands will take turns at one-hour sets until the closing ceremony, around 6 p.m. Today’s bands are Julie Lee’s White Rose from North Dakota, Top Notchman from Wisconsin and Larry Olsen Band from Minnesota. Admission is $12 per person, with concessions available from the Highland Hotel.
“We try to have a variety of music,” Kaiser said, noting country and western music and waltzes can be heard as well as polka music. Indeed, members of the Blue Notes promised to take requests from their play list, mixing polkas, waltzes and two-steps.
Bob and Angie Kaiser, along with LeRoy and Marilyn Degenhardt, were among the couples who first started Polka Days in the 1980s. They own and maintain a 60 by 80-foot wood dance floor that is used each year. The city-owned Convention Center sets up seating for 600. Bob Kaiser died nine months ago, but the plans for this year’s Polka Days had already been made. “It’s a lot of work,” Angie said.
The Po.L.K. of A. members, wearing their red and white vests and matching pants or skirts, welcomed dances Friday and Saturday. Great Bend’s is one of three polka chapters in Kansas, with a combined membership of about 225, Kaiser said.  Great Bend’s chapter started in 1983.