Wally Pikal (1927-2017)
\nInducted 2001<\/p>\n
Wally Pikal grew up near Brownton, Minnesota. His father had played trumpet for years and often performed at local barn dances. Wally earned his own trumpet after graduating from high school in 1944 and played in The Minnesota Derbies and with Jerry Dostal & His Orchestra. In the late 1940s Pikal fine-tuned his trumpet skills by taking lessons at the MacPhail School of Music in Minneapolis. Wally and his wife Alice moved to Hutchinson in the early 1950s and he decided to launch his own band Wally Pikal & His Dill Pickles, performing in the upper Midwest and on several tours to Texas. Alice often joined the group playing piano. “This was my full-time job from 1950 to 1964” said Pikal. He remembers playing “Dawn Dances” in the Dakotas because dancing wasn’t allowed on Sundays. The band would play from Midnight to 4AM Monday mornings! Wally also chose to create an unusual solo act combining his musical abilities with entertaining chatter to truly set himself apart from the competition. He learned to play two trumpets simultaneously while jumping on a Pogo Stick. Pikal eventually added a third trumpet, creating the special mouthpiece so he could play all three at the same time. He performed with Conway Twitty, Frank Sinatra Jr., Victor Borge, Doc Severinsen, and Jim Stafford. Most notably, Wally appeared on the national television programs The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson,<\/em> and The Mike Douglas Show<\/em>. He admitted “For a little guy like me, appearing on The Tonight Show<\/em> was the big time.” Pikal started a retail musical instrument store on Main Street in Hutchinson in 1964, hauling pianos and organs into basements, third floor apartments, and onto church balconies. Wally also got involved in broadcasting by hosting The Pikal Patch<\/em>, a talk show at KDUZ radio in Hutchinson for 52 years.<\/p>\n