EVERETT — Jeff O’Donnell takes a dish full of steaming-hot corn on the cob and puts it through an open ground-level window in a building on the Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of Perpetual Help grounds.
He yells, “corn,” and a pair of hands picks up the dish on the other side. By the end of Sunday, he expects to help clean, cook and sell 1,200 ears of corn.
O’Donnell, 33, of Everett, helps run the Everett Sausage Fest stand that sells corn dogs, hot dogs and corn on the cob. The annual festival is this weekend.
O’Donnell has volunteered at the festival for years with his parents. On Friday afternoon, he had this message for visitors: If you want corn on the cob, do not wait. It likely will be gone by Sunday. The juicy, locally grown corn is $3.
The Sausage Fest, currently in its 34th year, raises money for students at the Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of Perpetual Help School. The festival attracts more than 25,000 people and brings in as much as $75,000 each year.
O’Donnell was once a student at Immaculate Conception. He has been helping at the festival since he was 10.
“It’s almost like a way of life. Each year, we think: We’ll take three days out of our lives and earn money for the school,” he said.
Dozens of volunteers work to make the festival happen. About 40 people signed up to lend a hand at the sausage stand alone, said Neansai Magee of Arlington, who has been in charge of the stand for 20 years.
Like most festival volunteers, Magee is no stranger to the parish. Her three kids went to Immaculate Conception. Her daughter, now married, is running the kitchen in the dinner hall for the first time this year.
Magee works as a supervisor at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett. A handful of co-workers were working the sausage stand with her Friday. Volunteers from Marysville police and fire departments were expected to stop by, too.
The 36,000 pounds of pickled cabbage — which is how much will be sold this weekend — takes three days to make.
“We stink like sauerkraut for days,” Magee said.
It’s all worth it, because the Sausage Fest is a beloved tradition for many families in Snohomish County. Ronne Bogart of Everett hasn’t missed a day of the festival in years. On Friday, she came with daughter Kaylee, 6, and her friend Julia, 9. Armed with pink golf balls, the girls set out to play mini golf.
Katya Yefimova: 425-339-3452, kyefimova@heraldnet.com
Sausage Fest
The Sausage Fest runs through Sunday at the Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of Perpetual Help grounds at Everett Avenue and Cedar Street. Hours are noon to midnight today and noon to 7 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free. Parking shuttles run every 30 minutes from South Lot B at Everett Station. More info at everettsausagefest.com.
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