Dust off that old accordion or button box that's been sitting in the attic for years and bring it to the Turner Hall's Ratskeller every third Tuesday evening of the month! Squeeze Box Night, an informal monthly jam session, was introduced in May 2007 by Turner Hall's Swiss Heritage Series as part of an on-going schedule of programs and events that feature Swiss traditions and folk culture. Intended for all ability levels and all types of accordion-like instruments, local accordionist Del Heins is on hand to lead the playing and even offer helpful tips and advice for those who perhaps haven't touched an instrument in years.

Many sessions of Squeezebox Night draw in a whole ensemble of toe-tapping instrumentalists, including accordionists, guitarists, a bass player, banjo player and an autoharpist, not to mention a room full of diners enjoying the music of the informal jam session. One of the accordionists, Steve Palm of Machesney Park, IL, has noted that "there is nothing like this in the Rockford area and was well worth the drive to play", and shares some Irish tunes with the group. Another accordionist, 91-year-old LeRoy Wuethrich of Monroe, has had no trouble keeping up with his younger counterparts, especially on the old Swiss tunes. Bass player Margie Schilt, also of Monroe, has nostalgically pointed out that she is pictured in Turner Hall's entryway playing bass with the legendary Rudy Burkhalter accordion school band, and here she is, 75 years later, again playing bass with accordionists at Turner Hall.

There was a time in Monroe's past when taking accordion lessons was as common as taking piano lessons. Rudy Burkhalter (1911 - 1994), an immigrant from Basel, Switzerland and the upper Midwest's foremost Swiss-American traditional musician, opened an accordion school in 1938 with his wife, Frances, teaching throughout south-central Wisconsin. Once a week, the two would travel to Monroe, New Glarus, Darlington, Dodgeville, Watertown, Beaver Dam, Richland Center, Reedsburg and Baraboo, advertising two months of free lessons as well as furnishing the accordion. Eventually teaching up to 500 students per week, with classes of 20 to 40 students, countless people in Green County learned to play the instrument. Two local Burkhalter students, Roger Bright and Betty Kneubuehl Vetterli, came to be well-known Swiss musicians in their own right.

With that kind of history in Monroe and a renewed interest in accordion playing across the country, the Heritage Programming Committee of the Turner Hall of Monroe felt the time was right to offer people a chance to re-acquaint themselves with the instrument in a fun and non-threatening way, as well as offering veteran players a chance to come together and play. The Ratskeller Restaurant's menu offers a wide variety of fare for those enjoying listening while dining.

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