The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Sausage Festival draws big crowd
The National ClevelandStyle Polka Hall of Fame sure knows how to throw a party.
For the 15th year, it proved it in fine style during its annual Slovenian Sausage Festival at the SNPJ (the Slovene initials for “Slovenian National Benefit Society”) Recreation Center, 10946 Heath Road in Kirtland, as attendees enjoyed “great food, great music,” got a chance to savor flavors that have been passed down through generations and “meet wonderful people,” one participant affirmed.
“See the small children here? See the (senior citizens) who are using walkers and oxygen tanks? That’s what this is all about — all these generations, from newborns to great grandmas and great grandpas, coming together to share heritage and history,” said Canton resident John Brown, who came to the event with girlfriend, Chrissy Juhasz of Akron; her sister, Concord Township resident Susie Pegoraro, and their mom, Chris Juhasz.
Brown summed it all up further.
“People you don’t even know become your family here,” he said. “And, all the while, people are learning about their heritage and showing respect. I mean, where else can you hear such great music, eat great food like grandma made and meet such wonderful people that become your family?”
The group added that this year’s Slovenian Sausage Festival has taken on extra-special significance in their lives because Chris Juhasz husband of 49 years, an avid accordion player and polka-band member/ promoter, passed away exactly three weeks prior to the event.
But there were no tears
among them as they enjoyed the camaraderie of their extended family Sept. 12. In fact, Juhasz, her daughters and Brown all agreed the event made them smile while they might otherwise have been crying.
“My husband used to play. So, any time there was polka music, he would come and bring his accordion and play with everyone. So, this brings back lots of happy memories. My husband and I were married 49 years and this is what we did,” she said, adding that, like daughter, Susie, she also plays the drums and that she and her late husband, Charles, would in recent years go to nursing homes together to play for the residents. “It was something we did together, the music. And listening to it, being here, brings so many memories of happy times together to mind.”
Pegoraro, who has made it into the Polka Hall of Fame at least seven times through her work with polka bands the Fairport Jammers and Captain’s Crew, said she and her sister grew up with polka in their genes.
“My dad always played the accordion and he was always in a band and we
were always his little roadies,” she said with a grin. “Eventually, we got to performing, ourselves, and it just kind of stuck.”
Chrissy, who is a singer, concurred.
“I mean, we grew up with this,” she said. “I started on stage with my dad at 12 years old. I was five years old when I first stood on stage and it just stuck. It’s just a part of our lives. It’s in our blood. I mean, we learned how to polka standing on our grandfather’s feet. But we didn’t just learn how to polka. We learned about the history and the heritage behind it, too.”
She added that “my mom always said we learned how to polka before we learned how to walk.”
But the polka music and the lively dancing that went along with it weren’t the only two main attractions at the Sept. 12 event - far from it, in fact - because, as its name would suggest, there were likely miles of sausage and all the fixin’s to be enjoyed there, as well.
In fact, one of the Slovenian Sausage Festival’s highlights is a friendly competition for bragging rights and the opportunity to be the official sausage source for the National ClevelandStyle Polka Hall of Fame’s annual, three-day Thanksgiving Polka Party Weekend at the Cleveland Marriott Hotel.
This year’s People’s Choice winner, who gets that honor, was Azman’s Meats, located at 610 E. 200 St. in Euclid. The same purveyor of Slovenian Sausage won runner-up in the Judges’ competition this year.
Raddell’s Sausage Shop, located at 478 E. 152nd St. in Cleveland took top honors in the judges’ competition and scored runner-up in the People’s Choice arena.
Thirteen Cleveland-Style polka bands and entertainers helped keep things lively at the SNPJ venue, according to National ClevelandStyle Polka Hall of Fame President Joe Valencic, who added that numerous acts traveled quite a way to be a part of the lineup, Some of these included Canada’s Polka King Walter Ostanek and Nashville’s Joey Miskulin.
Valencic said about 8 p.m. that, by his last count, about 1,200 attendees passed through the gates for the event, some hailing from as far away as Albuquerque, Atlanta, Moundsville, Wv. and even Slovenia, itself.
Overall, he said it was a great turnout and he was happy so many people came to share the joy of polka music and dance, great food and great company.
“We had a fantastic turnout,” he said, adding that “the weather was a big benefit.”
Valencic said it’s good to feel the support of so many people.
“They’re out here to support the National ClevelandStyle Polka Hall of Fame, as well as to support everything we do to promote America’s good-time music,” he said, adding that the polka bands there perform at no charge.
“We have a lot of good food, a lot of good friends and a lot of good fun,” he said.