Since 1978, locals have known the secret to getting good sausage is to go to the Elberta Volunteer Fire Department’s Sausage Festival.

Held twice a year, in March and October (the next festival is Oct. 25) the festival is a fundraiser for the Elberta Volunteer Fire Department and all the civic and church groups that have booths at the festival,

But did you know that all that delicious, line-up-early to get some, sausage is made in Robertsdale?

It is.

“We have been making every bit of sausage for the festival since 1979,” says Charles “Chuck” Childress, owner of Farm Fresh Meats.

Childress recalls that the first order was for about 200 pounds of sausage.

Today, the small store on Highway 59 makes 7 tons of the meat, some of which which is sold in links for people to take home and freeze, while. the rest hits the Fire Department grill and is sold as hot sandwiches.

The festival attracts about 30,000 visitors, according to the EVFD Web site.

This has just snowballed,” said Childress.

In addition to the sausage, the EVFD site lists German style filled cabbage, potato salad, goulash, red beans & rice, hamburgers, hot dogs, BBQ sandwiches, ice cream, popcorn and peanuts as just some of the goodies available Saturday.

But as popular as the festival has become, one thing has not changed.

“We use only whole muscle and beef chuck,” said Childress. “We don’t use scrap.”

The sausage recipe, a closely guarded secret, is unique to the festival.

“We only make the sausage from Alfred Stucki’s recipe,” said Childress, adding that that recipe is “exclusive” to the Sausage Festival . The late Stucki was the manager of, according to Childress, the now-defunct “Locker Plant” in Elberta.

To help make all the sausage needed for the festival, Childress has invested in a high-speed sausage making machine.

“It’s a quarter-million dollar piece of equipment,” said Childress of the German-made machine, adding that the company had to send technicians from Kansas City to help set up the device.

But, the machine has saved countless hours.

“It used to take five days (to make the sausage,” said Childress. “Now, we work Wednesday and Thursday before the festival.”

“But it’s “Pop” Stucki’s recipe that keeps people coming back,” Childress says.

“We have other limited recipes, but this one’s the big deal,” Childress says.

And Childress has one piece of advice for festival goers — get there early.

“We sold out by noon last March,” he said.