Family and friends gathers at MMHF for Johnny Helget Day
Lavonne Helget with her three daughters Cindy, Jackie and Tammy (Photo by Amy Zents)
Young Wendinger brothers Peter and Paul stand beside acclaimed musician and band's leader Johnny Helmet (Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame)
Lavonne Helget with her three daughters Cindy, Jackie and Tammy (Photo by Amy Zents)
Young Wendinger brothers Peter and Paul stand beside acclaimed musician and band's leader Johnny Helmet (Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame)
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NEW ULM -- The Minnesota Music Hall of Fame (MMHF) held Johnny Helget Day earlier this month to recognize the New Ulm concertina player and bandleader.
The event was billed as Celebrating Oktoberfest -- Johnny Helget Day, honoring Helget (1939-2022), inducted 2018, as a New Ulm original, a concertina legend and a tradition to remember.
The program included showings of the Hall’s legacy film “Music Lives On”
Johnny L. Helget, 83, of New Ulm, died May 6, 2022. He was born in Sleepy Eye. He played concertina and led the Johnny Helget Band.
Helget performed at Polka Days and other celebrations in New Ulm for decades, performing with Cliff Hermel on Drums. Helget was inducted in 2018.
Recordings by the Johnny Helget Band include “Grandpa’s Polka,” “New California Polka,” “Johnny’s Polka,” “Goosetown Polka,” “Paloma Blanca,” “Lake Side Waltz,” “Ellen Polka” and “Marching Medley.” The band’s recordings are listed by Cy Pfannenstein Music Service.
Helget famously gave concertina lessons in New Ulm. Among his students were Peter and Paul Wendinger, whose father Herbert Wendinger, purchased a concertina from the Christy Hengel display in New Ulm.
Carol Schumacher, a cousin of the Wendinger brothers, attended Johnny Helget Day. She said her aunt Eleanor Wendinger took her sons for lessons in Hutchinson and told Helget, “the boys haven’t got it” and asked Helget to “get the boys into the right groove.”
The Wendinger Band later recorded “New California Polka,” which the band learned from Helget, and “Our Mike Polka.”
LaVonne Helget, 85, widow of Johnny Helget, attended the event with family.
LaVonne Helget said the gathering was “Wonderful.”
She stays active by driving a school bus and working around the fairways at the country club where her husband worked as greens superintendent. Recently she returned from a trip to Ireland with friends on a Wendinger Travel tour.
In reference to her being healthful and active, LaVonne Helget said, “I thank the Lord every day. We figured we’re gonna keep dancing until we can’t dance.”
Helget’s display at the Hall of Fame includes photos of Helget as a young musician and later in his career, along with memorabilia and photographs that are part of the Hall’s collection honoring nearly 200 inducted Minnesota musicians.
Attendees received posters from the event to give to family members.
The museum is open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday through Saturday from April 1 to Oct. 31. The museum will close for the season Oct. 31.
Prince Legacy Day will be Saturday at the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame, 27 N. Broadway, New Ulm. The event will feature a tribute to Prince and will include its collection of Prince memorabilia, believed to be the second-largest collection of Prince artifacts on public display. Showings are at 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.