BRAD HORN/Nevada Appeal Chris Collis, of McGill, watches over the mesquite-grilled turkeys that began roasting before sunrise while at Fuji Park during the 11th annual Basque Festival Sunday.
Not everyone was Basque who spent hours cooking chicken, lamb and turkey for the 11th annual Basque Festival, but many did drive hundreds of miles to Carson City to work in the hot steam rising from grills and homemade coals.
Mike Lemich of Ely said the reason was simple.
"We all like to eat," he said Sunday as he grilled a lamb chop at Fuji Park. "That's the number one requirement, so we all learn to cook."
His son-in-law, Joe Gill, worked across from him.
"The skinnier guys get the pieces that aren't done," he said.
Many of the dozen men from Ely Nevada's Sacred Heart Cooks or Molly's Gourmet Cooking and Catering who burnt mahogany logs for coal, seasoned the food as it roasted or kept the coals hot under that meat drove from rural Nevada towns including Yerington, Ely and Eureka.
Some were there because they had a brother who cooked or because they learned about the festival through a friend they bow hunted with. They said it was important to be there to help.
"Everybody jumps in on a certain thing and goes for it," Gill said, smiling. "All the easy jobs are taken first and then you get stuck with what's left over."
The men worked all morning inside a gate by the park entrance next to a table lined with spices and a half gallon of vodka until hundreds of people came for lunch at the festival that celebrates the city's Basque heritage through food, music and dance.
Money raised goes to St. Teresa School, a Catholic elementary and junior high school in Carson City.
This was the first year for Bob Ingram, who watched turkey roast over the coals that morning. He said he went to the nearby Bodines Casino earlier that day to put in bets for football and saw the smoke coming from the park.
"So I just came down and took a look, went home and got my wife and grandbaby," he said. "They're over on the swings right now."
To keep the turkey cooking that Ingram watched, Hugh Ricci of Reno used a shovel to dump new coals and ash under the meat.
Ricci said the air gets hot, but the mahogany wood they chop down themselves and make into coal there gives the food a great taste.
"It's a lot of work," he said, "but it's a lot of fun."
• Contact reporter Dave Frank at dfrank@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.