STROUD TOWNSHIP -- With Christmas just a little more than a week away, many people are starting to buy food for their holiday dinners, and that includes meat products.
Gary's Meat Market near Stroudsburg has already cranked out thousands of pounds of meat for customers to enjoy.
Ring bologna is a holiday staple there. Owner Gary Oney cranks out thousands of pounds of this stuff each year.
"We love it, love it," he said. "The nicest thing is a couple days after Christmas and you get a call saying, 'Oh, that was the best bologna, roast, steak,' or whatever."
Gary with the help of his "elves" put hours into casing and tying up the rings. The bologna smokes for several hours just outside the market in a smokehouse. It goes from a brown raw product to a nice rose color. Then it's brought outside to cool.
"We are probably tying 600 pounds of bologna a week," said worker Chris Marek. "It takes quite a while to grind it, tie it, smoke it, box it up. It's busy."
Throughout the holidays, Gary's expects to sell about 3,000 pounds of ring bologna.
"Every year, we sell anywhere from 3,000 to 3,500 pounds through the holidays between Christmas and New Year's," Gary said.
Imogene Rinker from Paradise Valley is a regular at Gary's Meat Market. She says she can always find what she needs at Gary's.
"We use quite a bit of ham and whatever they might have. The meats are good and they have been around a long time," said Rinker.
After the holidays, Gary says business will quiet down a bit but that doesn't last long. The lines start forming once again come spring, just in time for Easter kielbasa.