All good things…

Winnipeg

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This article was published 21/05/2025 (288 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s better to go out blazing then fizzle out, and Dennis Nykoliation is doing the former as he prepares to retire for the second time in early June.

Nykoliation, a violinist, and his band — accurately named the Dennis Nykoliation Band and featuring himself, Stephen Kiz, Paul Pododworny and Bill Scherbatiuk — will be wrapping up a long musical career travelling the province with a final show in Fraserwood, Man., on June 8. Although the venue is about a 45-minute car trip north of Winnipeg, Nykoliation considers the quartet a Winnipeg-based band, more often than not playing gigs in Transcona and the southeast.

The team has a heavy focus on classic, lighthearted polka music, as well as rock and classic country. Primarily things people like to dance to, Nykoliation said, and although he now lives in Barrie, Ont., he has continued to make the plane ride out to the prairies to see the same people at the same venues in and around Winnipeg, as well as the Interlake, where he grew up.

“It makes you feel good. People smile,” the 81-year-old said, adding that although many of the band’s audiences are in the older demographic, they tear up the dance floor. “I could have been a funeral director. Well, the business would have been very steady, but I’d be bored to hell and also sad coming home … so I’m glad I took the other route.”

“Performing is sort of an addiction, almost. It makes you feel good. People said say things about me like, ‘he’s never seen a microphone he didn’t like,’” Nykoliation continued, with a laugh. “You want to be wanted. It’s so gratifying to see people laugh, people happy. What I’m saying is, if there’s a small crowd there and they’re not dancing, they’re looking at you glum-faced, that would be a killer.”

On April 24, in honour of his retirement, Nykoliation was recognized at the Manitoba Legislative Building for his music career, which technically started when he was 13. This was done by Derek Johnson, MLA for the Interlake-Gimli. Johnson went into detail about Nykoliation’s career, which was kick-started by his time with the Regent Ramblers before moving on to the Interlake Polka Kings in the 1960s. Although he stepped away from the violin for 30 years to make room for a business career that had him moving to Toronto, Ont., he would pick things right back up from where he left off, going on to reunite the Kings in 2002. Finally, he formed the Dennis Nykoliation Band in 2008.

“His lifelong commitment to music and community is truly inspiring,” Johnson said.

“We’ve had a really fun time,” Nykoliation said. “I’ve been really lucky in the sense that I retired from my career in 2007 and was able to focus on the music and my family and some travel, so lucky that that worked out that way. But I just thought that all good things come to an end, most times, and it’s really time that I move on.”

“(The recognition) was kind of surreal,” he continued. “I was really humbled by it, and grateful to have that two-minute, 32-second speech. It was good, and now we’re going to wrap up.”

The show on June 8 will take place at the Fraserwood Hall (10140 Route 231) from 1 to 5 p.m.. Entry is $20, which includes a hot lunch.

For more information on the band or Nykoliation, including clips of their work, visit www.dennisnykoliation.com