Trustees Honor Roll

Castagneri, Floyd

Polka Disc Jockey (1928-1994)
Inducted on: November 26, 1994

Floyd Castagneri, Minnestoa's "Mister Polka Man," immersed himseld in Cleveland-Style polkas, hosting the Iron Range's longest-running polka radio show for eighteen years and taking the lead in polka promotion. He fist played buttonbox at age ten. Floyd took top honors in a Pueblo, Colorado, contest in 1981. Inspired by Joe Mlakar and Frank Yankovic, he played for twelve years with the Wast-West Buttonaires an dperformed for charities, nursing homes and even the Governor of his state. He served as President of the Range Polka Club, from 1972 to 1979, and was a member of Minnesota's Polka Hall of Fame committee. Floyd was homored by the Slovenian National Home in Chisholm, Minnesota, in 1987, and by Ironworld USA in 1993. Durin his career, Floyd amassed more than 1,000 polka albums and 280 accordion figurines. Floyd's own words best express his commitment to Cleveland-Style polkas: "It aint music 'til it's polka!"