My mother loved "The Lawrence Welk Show," and she wanted me to love it, too. But no adolescent rock fan in the 1960s was about to follow his mother's tastes in music - even if some people did call Myron Floren "the Jimi Hendrix of the accordion."

My mother loved �The Lawrence Welk Show,� and she wanted me to love it, too.

But no adolescent rock fan in the 1960s was about to follow his mother�s tastes in music � even if some people did call Myron Floren �the Jimi Hendrix of the accordion.�

(Floren, Welk�s star musician, was actually pretty amazing, although I wouldn�t have admitted it.)

I bring this up because WOSU-TV (Channel 34) is taking reruns of the Welk show off the air after 30 years.

The final repeat will be offered at 6 p.m. next Sunday, after which the slot will be filled by the BBC drama �Miss Marple.�

Loyal fans are lamenting.

�I just think it�s a cultural shame to lose a program of that caliber,� said Ken Nicol, 65, of Marysville.

A musician himself (who performs with his wife as Ken and Mary�s Turbo Accordion Express), he has shared venues with former �Welk� cast members and continues to love the show.

�Most people who have not watched it don�t know what they missed,� Nicol said.

Well, that�s the problem: As the aged fan base has disappeared, too few people have watched.

The series once ranked in the top 10 of the WOSU lineup.

In the past few years, it has struggled to crack the top 30, said Stacia Hentz, TV program director.

The show � with its big-band music, polkas, hymns and performers dancing and singing in Hollywood-esque costumes � was already looking like a throwback when the last episode was made in 1982.

Welk didn�t mind sanding off the edges of the occasional contemporary number (check out �One Toke Over the Line,� performed by Gail Farrell and Dick Dale, on YouTube), but he was grounded in an earlier era.

Which helps explain the continuing appeal for Pat Ronsheim, 91.

The show evokes memories, said the Westminster-Thurber Community resident.

�The dresses they wear and the songs they sing � it takes me back to my younger days,� Ronsheim said.

Latter-day conversions also occur.

Marley Greiner grew up hating the show. Sometime in adulthood, though, she gave Welk a second look and became hooked.

�I think he�s really corny, but I love him,� the 70-year-old said. �He had a wonderful crew of musicians.�

She has since joined a couple of internet fan groups.

Just as Grateful Dead loyalists are known as Deadheads, Welk fans call themselves Welkheads, Greiner said.

Of course, the show is far from gone: Even after it leaves WOSU, it can be caught on YouTube, DVDs and streaming services.

But watching the reruns on any platform makes me long only for what I really want: to watch my mother watch �The Lawrence Welk Show.�



Joe Blundo is a Dispatch columnist.

jblundo@dispatch.com

@joeblundo