It doesn't take too long after meeting Del Heins to hear a joke...or a tune on the accordion...or both. And Thursday night, August 17, at 7:30, people will have the opportunity to hear both in the Grand Hall of the Turner Hall of Monroe. This informal evening of music and merriment is being presented as part of the 2006 line-up of Turner Hall's on-going Swiss Heritage Series.

Del, originally from Calamine, WI, has played accordion since he was 8 or 9 years old. His first accordion was an 8-bass Sears & Roebuck Silvertone that he purchased from his cousin when she decided to buy a bigger instrument. Although he took a few lessons in Janesville, Del is for the most part self-taught, and never uses music.

Del and his two brothers, Guerdon and Frank, played together as the Heins Brothers Trio for about 25 years, with Guerdon on drums and Frank on banjo and violin. In the group's latter years of existence, Tom Eyler joined the trio on electric bass. They played throughout Green County and the surrounding area, including Freeport, Madison, Janesville, Darlington and Mineral Point.

Del's gift of entertaining story-telling came to the fore in the late '60s when he was on the Green County Cheese Days entertainment committee with Martha Bernet. Since he had the reputation of being a "good b.s.-er", as he put it, he wound up on the Cheese Days entertainment stage as its Master of Ceremonies, a role he has held every Cheese Days ever since. He also credits longtime accordionist and entertainer Betty Vetterli for giving him the inspiration to combine his talents as an M.C. with his accordion playing, as Betty always talked about her pieces when she performed them.

Although Del no longer regularly plays in a group, he entertains on Friday nights in the Turner Hall Ratskeller every 3rd and 5th week of the month, and is generous sharing his time entertaining at area nursing homes and retirement facilities. Before his retirement from The Swiss Colony, Heins at one time owned Strickler's Market, which was on the west side of Monroe's Square, and also worked as a meat cutter, an insurance salesman and a car salesman. He and his wife Joanne have two adult daughters, Cindy, in Monroe, and Jolene, in Canada. Del also serves as a director on the board of the Turner Hall of Monroe, as a member of Turner Hall's Heritage Programming Committee, and is a member of Turner Hall's New World Swiss Club. For many years, Del also helped organize accordion jamborees at Turner Hall.

There is no admission charge for this program, but free-will donations will be accepted for Turner Hall's debt retirement fund.

More information on Turner Hall's Swiss Heritage Series is available here.