67th Uniontown Sausage Feed returns Sunday
February 27, 2020
On the calendar since 1954, the Uniontown Sausage Feed returns Sunday, March 1, a benefit for the community center which serves plates of sausage, applesauce, mashed potatoes, green beans and sauerkraut. Pie completes the meal, beginning 10 a.m. Sunday and running until 5 p.m., or when last of the line is served.
Volunteer Ken Oenning is in charge for the 17th year.
“I hate to tell you that, but yes,” he said, with a laugh.
The event has lately brought in $9,000-$11,000 each year, its proceeds going to maintenance and upkeep of the community center, which is rented through the year for weddings, funerals, the annual Uniontown Co-op dinner and more.
On Monday, Oenning and another volunteer went to get two pick-up loads of supplies from Lewiston – everything but the pies and sausage ingredients.
“I don’t ever want to run out of anything,” said Oenning.
After the event Sunday, he takes a few things back to their seller at URM.
For the pies, volunteer Janet Murai brings them in.
“She buys ‘em from all over the countryside,” said Oenning, a retired McGregor Company man in Uniontown.
Upstairs at the community center, volunteer Brian Bannen runs the beer garden, serving beer in bottles to the 20 to 30 people who fit into the upstairs room at a given time.
Main entrée
On Wednesday, Oenning was set to go back to Lewiston to pick up 2,100 pounds of boneless pork shoulders.
“They used to call them shoulder butts, but then they said it was profanity,” he said.
On Thursday at 9 a.m., a group of volunteers descend on the community center to make the sausage. They cut up the pork and season it, according to a secret recipe, and put it into casings supplied by a man from Genessee. The 25-30 volunteers work until about 1 p.m.
“It works slick as a whistle,” Oenning said. “The first Sunday in March is the Sausage Feed and the week before that is sausage-making week.”
On Sunday morning, work starts again about 8 a.m.
The volunteers take the prepared sausage and start dropping it into 18-quart roasters, running on 450 degrees.
“The highest you can run ‘em, all day long,” Oenning said. “You don’t want to stuff (the roasters) too full ‘cause they won’t cook right.”
The Sausage feed price is $13 for adults; ages 6-12 $9 and under-6 $2. Music will be performed by Bodie Dominguez for the people in line.
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