Yuma’s Walt Kammann Sausage Fry marks 60th year
One way to measure an event’s enduring popularity could be to count the number of years it has taken place. By that yardstick, the Walt Kammann Sausage Fry could be chalked up as an unqualified success.
On Friday, the Yuma Rotary Club will host the 60th annual sausage fry from 4:30-8 p.m. at the Yuma Civic Center, 1440 W. Desert Hills Drive.
There are some crowdpleasing events in the area that have been around longer. For example, Yuma Jaycees’ Silver Spur Rodeo will celebrate its 74th anniversary in February. The Yuma County Fair will be 68 years old in 2019.
But most other shows, exhibitions, festivals or gatherings that are well attended from year to year nonetheless have shorter histories than the sausage fry.
For example, the Caballeros de Yuma’s Friendship Tower Lighting and Holiday Pageant marked its 33rd year last month. Two other popular events staged by the Caballeros – the Colorado River Crossing Balloon Festival and Midnight at the Oasis – began in the early 1990s. Wellton’s tractor rodeo celebrated its 40th year, and Somerton’s tamale festival is marking its 11th year this month.
Rotarian Jeff Kammann, whose grandfather’s sausage recipe inspired the annual fry, said the food is one part of the dinner’s continuing success. Another part is fellowship.
“It’s a great time for people to come out to see other people they haven’t seen for a while. There’s a lot of socializing that goes on.”
And there is also the music. A DJ will play music inside the civic center during the dinner, while the Troublemakers, a classic rock band from Yuma, will play outdoors on the Sunset Terrace.
But those who don’t have time for a sit-down meal in the civic center can do takeout. This will be the third year in a row the Rotarians will serve sausage dinners to go from a drive-thru window in a portable trailer in the civic center parking lot.
“(The window) has gone really well,” Kammann said. “It kind of frees up lines so people inside can get served faster, and it pleases people who want to get it to go.”
Kammann has been involved with the event since his boyhood, when he would help his grandfather, Walt Kammann, prepare and serve sausage at the event’s former location at the Yuma County Fairgrounds.
The sausage fry evolved from what had been the International Buffet, a competitive cook-off staged by Yuma Rotarians. After Kammann’s secret sausage recipe claimed top honors in successive years, the Rotarians decided to serve it as the main course at an annual dinner.
The Walt Kammann Sausage Fry was born. The year was 1958.
Its popularity growing, the event moved more than two decades ago to its current venue, the civic center, where Jeff Kammann has continued to serve as a cook each year for the fry.
Yuma Rotarian Don Olsen supplied the sausage for fry for decades, always preparing the meat according to the original recipe created by Walt Kammann. Olsen passed away in 2016 but his store, Olsens Marketplace IGA, continues to provide the sausage.
“We carry on the tradition,” said Bryanne Olsen, who has continued to run the business following her husband’s passing. “We’re proud to support the event.”
She said Olsens Marketplace IGA will supply 2,200 tons of pure pork sausage for Friday’s fry.
Apart from the sausage, diners will be served coleslaw and bean sides, a dinner roll and a drink. Beer will be available for purchase from a cash bar inside the civic center.
Tickets for the fry are $10 per person and can be purchased at the door or in advance from Yuma Rotarians. For those doing takeout, tickets can be purchased from Rotarians standing beside the drivethru lane.
Proceeds from sales go to help pay for various Yuma Rotary public service projects.