17th annual Slovenian Sausage Festival, polka bands draw hundreds to dance, eat in Kirtland, Ohio

Andy Hocevar, 94, center, is surrounded by three generations of his family as his Maple Heights Catering takes top honors at the 17th annual Slovenian Sausage Festival. (Submitted)

Music from the rousing good time enjoyed by more than 1,300 people at the 17th annual Slovenian Sausage Festival rang out through the woods surrounding the SNPJ Farm in Kirtland on Sept. 15.

Ten polka bands alternated from the stage inside the large dancing hall, as dancers circled the floor counter-clockwise, catching their collective breaths between numbers. Other instrumentalists gathered outdoors to jam with their accordions, button boxes, squeezeboxes, drums, tubas and banjos. Among them was 94-year old Andy Hocevar, co-founder in 1956 of Hocevar’s Maple Heights Catering.

Maple Heights Catering won the judges’ vote for Slovenian Sausage of the Year, while Bill Azman’s Quality Meats won the People’s Choice Award.

I was among the judges tasting small slices of the sausages made by four area companies. They were served from vendor booths along a midway next to the dance hall. Many other foods, such as potica, blood sausage and a sausage-based dish called zelodec also were available. A full bar was indoors, along with an area for baked goods.

All Slovenian sausage (kranjske klobase in Slovenian) is made with cured and smoked pork, to which garlic and a blend of seasonings is added, so you’d think they’d all taste the same. But judges had to grade each anonymous taste in five categories including appearance, texture and uniqueness and taste.

Smoked Slovenian sausages are grilled after being boiled by Maple Heights Catering. (Janet Podolak)

“I am a caterer, not a butcher,” said Steve Hocevar from Maple Heights Catering. “I make and prepare our sausages for customers, and I’m the one who hears what they have to say about them.”

Three generations of the Hocevar family work for the catering company, which is now busy catering clambakes for groups.

His vendor stand also sold German bratwurst, sweet Italian sausages, and a mango-flavored sausage.

“We sold out of everything,” he said.

The reason the annual festival is on a weekday is because many of the sausage makers are mom-n-pop stores and they don’t have the staff available for a weekend festival, said Joe Valencic, who founded the event nearly two decades ago. It was canceled last year because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Ray and Mary Newcomb of Mentor dance a lively Cleveland-style polka. (Janet Podolak)

My fellow judges included others with a strong Slovenian background. They were Cleveland City Councilman Mike Polensek; Jane Srnick Monreal of Monreal Srnick Funerals & Cremations; Randal Johnson, longtime chef-owner of now-closed Molinari’s in Mentor; Greg Volpe, president of SNPJFarm; and 18-year-old polka musician TJ Likovic.

Buttonbox, squeezebox, accordion and other instrumentalists from Detroit jam at the edge of woods during the Slovenian Sausage Festival in Kirtland.

The National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame and Museum in Euclid benefits from the event.

Valencic, a founder of the Polka Hall of Fame and Museum, explained that Cleveland-style polka was begun after World War II with traditional Slovenian folk tunes modernized with touches of the waltz, jazz, country and other music styles.

“It’s very danceable,” he said. “And it was just what people needed after the war.”

The sausage makers

Here are the participants in the Slovenian Sausage competition:

Hocevar’s Maple Heights Catering — First place winner
Where: 17330 Broadway Ave., Maple Heights.
Info: 216-663-7733; mhcatering.com.

Azman Quality Meats— People’s Choice winner
Where: 610 E. 200 St., Euclid.
Info: 216-481-0826.

Raddell’s Sausage Shop Inc.
Where: 478 E. 152nd St., Cleveland.
Info: 216-486-1944; raddellssausage.com.

Azman & Son Market
Where: 6501 St. Clair Ave., Cleveland.
Info: 216-361-0347; azman-son-market.business.site.