Local Polka celebrity Billy Belina will be hosting “Breakfast with BB”, on WSKB each Saturday morning live from his studio in Chicopee, Ma. (WNG file photo)
by Ken Stomski, contributor
Polka music can now be heard over the airwaves in Westfield on Saturday mornings between 6AM and 10AM on WSKB 89.5FM during the community radio portion of their broadcasts. Community radio is broadcast seven days a week from 6AM to 10AM and the schedule can be found in the Westfield News.
On Saturdays between 6AM and 8:30AM a national feed from the “Polka Jammer Network” will be broadcast, and then from 8:30AM to 10AM local Polka celebrity Billy Belina will be hosting “Breakfast with BB”, live from his studio in Chicopee, Ma. You may remember hearing Belina as a host of the “Polka Bandstand Show” on WMUA for years.
Belina is a prominent musician, vocalist, and radio DJ who has dedicated his career to Polka music. He was a member of several bands before starting his own band, the Bay State IV, and has made numerous recordings. His notable achievements include the Bay State IV “Salutes the Polka Stars” album, and a 1988 performance at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C. Since 1979, Belina has produced a popular polka radio show, “The Polka Bandstand Show” on station WMUA at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, MA until the station stopped all polka broadcasts on Saturday mornings last year. With the help of the Internet, his live Saturday morning show has garnered thousands of listeners and has enhanced the popularity of polka music.
Belina has demonstrated a formidable dedication to preserving the continuance and growth of Polka music. His peers have determined that he is deserving of being inducted into the Polka Music Hall of Fame.
Breakfast with BB began airing on the internet on Saturday mornings in January of 2016 after WMUA’s student management stopped the weekend Polka programming, wiping out all Polka programs on Saturdays.
WSKB can be heard at 89.5FM and at wskb.org. The video feed for community radio is on local cable channel 15 and at westfieldtv.org.
