DANVILLE -- Polka lovers say it's the contagious rhythm that makes the music special.

So ravishingly upbeat, they claim, you must get up and move with it.

"As soon as you hear the beat, your feet go," said Shirley Paulhamus, of Williamsport, who joined hundreds of polka fans Thursday night for the Iron Heritage Festival's annual outdoor party with Stanky & The Coal Miners. "It's more lively than most other music. You can really get into it."

Paulhamus has recently made it a tradition to catch the band's performance with her fiance, Bob Demshock, of Shamokin. The two have developed a love for polka dancing.

"She taught me how to dance, and I've enjoyed it ever since," Demshock said. "Plus, it's great exercise."

Within seconds of the first tune, Julia and Russ Bachert, of Bloomsburg, were off doing the signature polka hop-step-close-step.

"I really like the sound," said Julia Bachert, who emigrated from Bolivia to the United States two years ago. "It's very happy, and I enjoy dancing to it."

Russ Bachert said it didn't take long for his wife to enjoy the rhythm of polka. In fact, their enthusiasm for polka made them change their plans once they learned Stanky & The Coal Miners was coming to Danville.

"We had to be here," Russ Bachert said. "It's our favorite type of music. I can hardly sit still when I hear it. I would dance all night if I could."

Gerry Gordner, of Muncy, was among many first-timers who made their way to the party after the festival parade along Mill Street. It wasn't long after the band started playing Gordner realized he made a good choice to stay.

"I grew up with it," Gordner said. "I remember dancing to it as a boy.

"You can't keep your feet still. There's something in it that makes you want to get up and go."

Although the crowd was a mix of young kids and adults, Demshock said polka will always be favored by the older generation.

"If you ask any young kid what polka is," Demshock said. "They will probably say it's something to eat." E-mail comments to jnorth@thedanvillenews.com.