VERBOORT, Ore. — The small village of Verboort in Washington County will serve thousands of sausage dinners this Saturday in an annual event that raises funds for its church. The history of the event reaches back nearly a century, and its heritage is shared by many folks today.
In Verboort, Oregon, fixing a dinner for the first Saturday each November is monumental work! It’s never easy making sausages and all the fixings to feed 8,000 people, but it’s work that feeds the soul. Not far away, another gathering enjoys the soul-satisfying rewards of a meal based upon the successes of seasonal hunting trips in the Oregon outdoors. Roger and Janet Van Dyke’s family and friends connect with the Verboort sausage story in historic fashion.
Roger’s grandmother, Margaret Van Dyke (Maggie), prepared and helped serve the first Verboort dinner back in 1934. Back then, 100 meals were served and Grandmother Maggie Van Dyke managed it all. These days, the Van Dyke kitchen is in constant motion as diners pitch in to offer their versions of sausage that they made from their deer and elk harvests.
The recipes include breakfast sausage, chorizo sausage, Italian sausage, summer sausage and more. “A lot of hard work goes into this each year. Everything we do, from camping to the hiking to the hunting, getting the animals we harvest all the way up to camp,” said family friend, Eric McOmie.
“Countless hours we put in on the ground finding the animals, bring them back home and process .
