"Jolly" Joe Timmer

Living Category - Inducted 1990 

The other inductee to the 1990 living category is virtually from the other side of the country from Myron Floren, Jolly Joe Timmer of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.  Jolly Joe Timmer has a radio show, television show, polka band, music store and picnic grove all strongly promoting polka music.  When asked when and how he became involved in polka music Joe said, "My time started after high school, 1948.  

Before I had my band, I used to go dancing every Saturday night at the Lincoln Hall in Miller Heights, PA. I danced every polka, waltz and oberek.  Prior to that when I was a little boy, my mother took me to clubs that had polka music.  I liked the music and started playing." The Jolly Joe Timmer Orchestra has seven albums to their credit.

Jolly Joe's House of Music is located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.  The store is stocked with numerous items dealing with polka music and also carries a large selection of records and tapes from artists across the country.

He began events at Timmer's Grove located in Point Phillips, Pennsylvania in 1970.  The grove features polka music by some of the country's best bands and on a regular basis.  They serve home cooked foods and the grove is heated for the winter months and has picnic tables out for summer picnics.