Bill Azman Meat Market takes two titles at Polka Hall of Fame Sausage Fest

The Bill Azman Meat Market scored a twin win at the ninth annual Slovenian Sausage Festival on Wednesday, September 12, hosted by the National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame and Museum.

More than 1,000 hungry music-lovers enjoyed a picture-perfect day of polka music and savory sausages at the SNPJ Farm in Kirtland, Ohio. Sixty musicians and accordionists, including Canada’s Polka King Walter Ostanek, volunteered to perform seven hours of music at the annual fund-raiser for the Polka Hall of Fame.

Between dances, visitors sampled sausages from vendors and voted their favorite. Both the People's Choice Award and the Best of Sausage Fest jury prize went to the Bill Azman Meat Market of Euclid, Ohio. Azman achieved notice a few years ago when U. S. astronaut Sunita Williams took Azman’s signature sausages aboard a Space Shuttle flight. Williams was born in Euclid.

As winner of the Best of Sausage Fest, Azman’s prize sausages will be served at the Polka Hall of Fame’s three-day polka dance marathon over Thanksgiving weekend, November 22, 23 and 24 at Cleveland’s Downtown Marriott Hotel.

First-time entrant Jeff Godina of Sharon, Pennsylvania, was the jury’s runner-up for top sausage. Hocevar’s Maple Heights Catering of Ohio took runner-up for People’s Choice.

"It’s great to see generations of families sharing the fun,” said Cecilia Dolgan, President of the Polka Hall of Fame and Museum. "When everyone’s smiling, you know they’re having a good time."

"Good food, good music and good people – what a great time!” said Peter Pattison, a visitor from Australia who served on the festival jury. “I’m glad I made the trip.”   

Slovenian sausages (kranjske klobase) are regional American specialties prepared from recipes brought to the United States by immigrants from Slovenia. They are made from pork, often accented with garlic, and then cured and smoked. More than four hundred pounds of sausages were consumed at the event as well as countless strudels and poticas, a Slovenian nut roll pastry.

The National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame and Museum celebrates the city's indigenous dance music with audio exhibits, historic photographs and original instruments. The music genre emerged from the city’s Slovenian neighborhoods a century ago and became a nationwide sensation in the decade after World War II. Each year, the Polka Hall of Fame’s 1,500 members nominate and vote for polka performers and recordings in various categories. The 25th annual awards ceremony on Saturday, November 24, 2012, at Euclid Auditorium, is the high point of the Polka Hall of Fame’s Thanksgiving weekend music festival.

The Polka Hall of Fame is located at 605 East 222nd Street in Euclid, Ohio, in the city’s historic former city hall. For more information, check the website at www.polkafame.com or call (216) 621- FAME. ###

Joe Valencic is the President of the National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame and Museum.