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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSefcik Halllittle time zone' For many, Sefcik Hall in Seaton wins home to music and memories CLAY COPPEDGE zple Daily Telegram SEATON - Sefcik Hall isn't changed much since ~m Sefcik built it in 1923. fie downstairs tavern floor the same one he built. The ~wnstairs bar is the same slid 20-foot mahogany bar originally installed. Behind the bar is a long Mirror decorated with neon gns advertising Pearl beer, fie only beer Sefcik would ~rve. "You can have any beer ~u want, as long as it's earl," he used to tell his This was the same man who, when asked by an optometrist if he could read the last line on the eye chart labycakes. "They were the first band I remember playing sere that had that real long lair," she says. The Downbeats, a 1950s rock n' roll band, staged a 50th ~eunion concert at Sefcik Hall n April. Big Jim Lawrence, he band's bass player, said hey chose Sefcik because the sand was closely associated Kith the dance hall. "Our crowds at Tom's were Iuite a mix -very young peo- ~le in their early teens, high school kids and some in their early 20s," Lawrence says. "One of the things that was xid, as I found out later, was that these kids were from all around. They came from Tem- ple, Cameron, Lott, Rosebud, Rogers and all the little com- munities in the area. "Another thing about Tom's that I'll always remember was that I never saw a fight there. Not one." A local musician, David Zychek, staged a series of wild- ly popular Christmas night shows, which he recently res- mother's maiden name!" Tom~Sefcik's daughter, Alice Sulak, has owned and operated Sefcik Hall since 1970, a year before her father died. Despite appearances, there have been some changes at the old dance hall. The solid oak dance floor upstairs was redone in 1953. Air conditioning was installed in the early 1980s. Other than that, the revered old dance hall is pretty much the same as it ever was. Sulak, 74, was born in and still lives in the house next door to the hall. Not only does she run a dance hall that was recognized in 1995 as a Pioneer Dance Hall by the Country Music Hall of Fame, but she still plays a pretty mean saxophone. Polka bands were the first to play at Sefcik Hall, but country musicians began hitting the Sefcik bandstand as polka's popularity faded, even in the Czech communi- ties like Seaton, where it was nurtured. The first songs Sulak learned were sung exclusively in Czech. She still speaks with a lilt- ing Czech accent. times a year. Sulak enjoys the ~'. -' national acts, but the bands she mentions are bands like `' Happy Dan and the Melody Boys from Granger and the Kouhouks Band from West. Then there were Gene Mor- '. gan and the Belltones, Roy Robinson and the Availables, ':~ CJ and the Jewels, Marvin Gruene and the Casuals, the Patek Orchestra from Shiner,: the Vrazel Polka Band, the Divis Band and the Gentrys. "There's many more," she said. "So many good bands." Music and laughter still abound at Sefcik Hall, whether it's at a weekend dance or a weekday evening, when the regulars stop by for a cold one on their way home. Birthday parties and weddings dot the hall's social calendar. "A lot of people met here and got married," Sulak says. "A lot of those people still come here, only now they bring their kids with them. ~' This is more of a family-type place. Kids have a good time here. It's not aclub-like deal." That's the way it's been here for more than 80 years, through drought and flood, the Depression, World War II, the McCarthy Era, the Beatles, recessions, booms, busts, scan- dals and 14 U.S. presidents. For Sulak, as it was for her "We used to get 700 people here for those dances," Sulak recalls. "Those are some of the biggest dances l remember." Zychek, recalling the first time he saw Sefcik Hall, said, "It was like stepping back into a little time zone." These days, Brave Combo, a two-time Grammy winning polka-influenced band, plays at Qnfrilr at lnact a rn77nlP of father, the job has been its own reward. "I don't make that much money here, but you have to enjoy what you do," she says. "I sure ain't getting rich, not by far. I love to see all the peo- ple come here. I love to see them enjoy themselves. I appreciate everyone who comes here, and I hope they all rnmP hack." "You have got to change ~. with the times if you are going to be successful," she :` says. "People around here `` started liking country music, so that's what we played." The first rock group Sulak remembers playing at the hall was an Austin band, the AP photo/Andrew Nenque/Temple Daily Telegram Alice Sulak inherited Sefcik Hall in 1970 from her father, Tom Sef- cik, and helped keep the small town dance hall alive for more than 82 years. "1 love to see atl the people come here," she said.