Verboort’s 74th sausagefest connects diners to home

By Debby De Carlo

The Forest Grove News-Times, Nov 5, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009

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Nikki is an occupational therapist at Marquis Care in Forest Grove. “We even gave up watching the [University of Wisconsin] Badger game,” she noted.

The Harklerodes moved to Oregon nine years ago from Wisconsin, a state where sausage and sauerkraut are also very popular. “This looks like any number of small towns back in Wisconsin,” Mike Harklerode said.

“Except there aren’t any bars,” his wife joked.

They kept Owen busy on the playground equipment as they waited for their turn to dine.

Back inside, Doug and Elena Englund of Portland sat down to dinner with Elena’s parents, who are visiting from the Ural Mountains area of Russia, near Kazakhstan.

Elena’s mother Ludmila, 71, and her father Gennadiy, 80, seemed to enjoy the food. While they came to the United States to visit family, and not for the sausage dinner, they were likely the couple traveling the farthest.

After eventually eating what Harklerode said was the best sausage he’d ever had, the family stayed on, waiting in line to buy bulk sausage.

“We met some cool people standing in lines. People were very neighborly. I was astonished at what a smooth operation it is,” he added.

The Badgers and Green Bay Packers both lost, but regardless of football outcomes, Harklerode said they would be back again next year.

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