The Undo's Upper Ohio Valley Italian Festival kicks off this week in Wheeling, but some of the major preparations are happening across the river. In fact, one of the festival's favorite foods is made at the Sons of Italy in Bellaire, where they finished Tuesday making more than 3,000 pounds of sausage.

“We prepare 3 weeks in advance,” Sons of Italy President Doug Hartlieb said. “We start on Monday of each week and we cut, grind and package the sausage.” The secret sausage recipe is a favorite over at the festival, and it takes a ton of work and manpower to be able to feed that many people. Up to 25 volunteers have put in a lot of time to make about 7,500 sandwiches worth of sausage this year.