Huntley pub's annual fest stands test(icle) of time

Pete Cortopassi plucked a deep-fried nugget from his bowl with two fingers and jiggled it in front of his friends.

"This may not be cooked all the way," said Cortopassi, who lives in Lake in the Hills.

He ate the hot morsel anyway, savoring the batter-fried turkey testicle doused with Tabasco sauce.

Cortopassi and his friends made their annual trip to Huntley Wednesday for the 26th Turkey Testicle Festival at the Parkside Pub.

Cortopassi, a bow-and-arrow hunter dressed in full camouflage gear, tried to persuade his friend to taste the testicles.

"Some of the sickest things are some of the most delicious," Cortopassi said, recounting how he had eaten bear and zebra, and hoped to one day eat Rocky Mountain oysters - bull testicles.

But his friend, Steve Puschmann of Chicago, wasn't sold. It was Puschmann's first time at the festival.

"Yeah, and my last," Puschmann joked. "I got to get back to the city where the real party's going on."

In the big tent set up outside the pub, members of the American Firefighters, a motorcycle club for union firefighters, enjoyed beers, testicles and live music.

"Beautiful. First time I've been here, but I'll be back," Mundelein resident and Wheeling firefighter George Leahy said. "It's a nice day to ride a bike, and he likes nuts," Leahy said as he pointed to his friend, Mike Matthews.

Matthews had already gobbled down three bowls of testicles.

"We head to every testicle event there is," Matthews said as he bared his T-shirt from the Byron, Ill. turkey testicle festival held in September. "We decided to pay tribute to the manhood of all turkeys," the Deerfield resident said.

Parkside Pub co-owner Mark McDonald said he mixed up the lineup of bands this year but kept everything else pretty much the same.

"I don't have much room to do anything else," McDonald said.

One noticeable difference was a more visible security presence, with police and security staff guarding entrances, checking I. D. s and roaming the crowds looking for troublemakers.

It took 1,280 pounds of testicles and about 75 gallons of oil to keep this year's festival going from 11 a.m. to last call at 1 a.m.

The pub owner said he was pleased with this year's turnout, which could reach more than 3,000 people.

"It's a tradition, so they're going to keep coming," McDonald said.

McDonald hoped to raise more than $10,000 for local charities this year.