Grade 8-9 students at Rochester School got to rub shoulders with a professional athlete while making a good hearty lunch Mar. 1 as they made sausages with Edmonton Eskimo defensive lineman David Beard.

Grade 8-9 students at Rochester School got to rub shoulders with a professional athlete while making a good hearty lunch Mar. 1 as they made sausages with Edmonton Eskimo defensive lineman David Beard.

Using products purchased and provided by the Rochester and District Agricultural Society, the students made four different types of sausages, including hot Italian, northern maple breakfast, apple and pork and beef.

Ag society president Dwayne Rawson said they students have made sausages at the school for the past four years.

“The whole idea of this is to show them the skill,” Rawson said. “We also had some of our members there to help them out, and tell them what it was like to grow up around the Rochester area and how they made sausages as they were growing up.”

Grade 8-9 teacher Jocelyn Arthur said the kids love to do it every year.

“They really enjoy the hands-on learning,” Arthur said. “It’s also a good opportunity for the children to interact with the community at large. As well as the Ag society, we also had members of the Athabasca FCSS there, and of course some helpful community members.”

Rawson said about 100 pounds of the four different types of sausages were made during the morning.

“We alternate some of the different types of sausage we make every year,” he said. “After the work was all done, we cooked some up with some pirogies. We then sat done and had lunch together, and then the kids took all the sausage home.”

Also making an appearance at the day’s events was David Beard, the 6’5” offensive lineman from the CFL’s Edmonton Eskimos.

“I first met Dwayne through a hunting exercise,” Beard said. “It was there that he invited me to hand out with the kids in the community and to tell them the importance of making positive choices within their lifetime.”

Beard, who originally hails from Olds, said he really enjoys being in the smaller communities.

“Rochester is exactly my kind of place,” he said. “I really enjoy the small-town feel, and it is actually my long-term goal to get out of the big city once my football career ends.”

Beard said it’s a really cool operation run by the students.

“Making sausage is a valuable skill to have,” he said. “I first started playing football when I was in Grade 9, and got really good at it. It must have been all the sausages I ate that gave me all the energy to play.”

Two Grade 7 students from Edwin Parr Composite School in Athabasca also took the time to join in on the festivities.

One of them, Halle Reid, said her grandfather, Dwayne Rawson, wanted her to experience making it.

“It was really fun,” Reid said. “I really enjoyed making it, and then trying it afterward as well.”

Other students to took part already have experience making the product.

One, Grade 9 student Trifon Gerritse, said he really enjoys doing it.

“I make the stuff regularly at home, often using wild game like moose, deer or elk,” Gerritse said. “It’s very satisfying to make it, and I enjoy getting the opportunity to do it with my friends at school.”

Grade 8 student Brooklynn Brosky-Blais said her family also makes the stuff at home.

“It’s really cool to do it at school,” Brosky-Blais said. “It’s a great time to hang out with my friends as we put the meat into the casing, and it’s an interesting and cool experience to have.”

Rawson said the casing used is made out of pork intestines. He added that learning the skill also encourages the kids to be proud of their community.

“Rochester School is a great country school,” he said. “They have some great teachers there, and its great to see the children learn hands-on skills for the future.”