Ray Serafin died on May 3, 2023 at 81 years old after a brief illness.
Ray “grew up with the polka” in Rochester, New York on the north-east side of the city in a predominantly Polish-American neighborhood along Hudson Avenue. He remembered hearing polka music everywhere: at church dances and picnics, local taverns, family celebrations and holiday parties. Like his uncle, Ray took up the accordion and put his first polka band together at age fifteen.
Ray’s band recorded several polka albums: Polkas from the Flower City on Century Records, and Here We Go Again with Polkas on the LeMans label (LPC76). In addition, several 45 rpm records were also recorded by the group.
In addition to playing polka music, Ray was also a collector of polka recordings, and had a library of over 7,000 polka albums, tapes, and compact discs. A big part of this collection was made up of recordings from the 1950’s and 1960’s, including bands like Frank Wojnarowski, Al Soyka, The Connecticut Twins, Ray Henry and others.
In August 1981, Ray saw an opportunity to share his polka recordings with a listening audience, and on August 2,1981, The Polka Bandstand Show made its debut on WGMC-FM (90.1) on Sunday afternoons from 5 to 6 p.m.
In 1993 the show was moved to Saturday morning and in 1995 the show expanded to two hours. Much of the effort that went into expanding the show was due to the efforts of Al Meilutis, show co-host, who joined with Ray in 1994.
Ray was a member of the International Polka Association as well as an elector for the Polka Hall of Fame. Ray always said, “Polka music is happy music for all ages and ethnic groups.”
Ray’s family wishes to thank his listeners for their decades of support.