Ruth Thoma, seen here grinding cabbage at her home in Center Township, is looking to pass her sauerkraut recipe and demonstration business on to a younger person

CENTER TWP — It's Oktoberfest time. And what's Oktoberfest without sauerkraut? And what's sauerkraut without Ruth Thoma making and selling her own version of the dish?

Well, starting next year, Butler County sauerkraut fans are going to find out. Ruth Thoma, 86, of 278 Holyoke Road, is hanging up her apron and cabbage grinder this month as both a sauerkraut maker and demonstrator.

“I'm a sauerkraut demonstrator and I'm known in the Zelienople area,” she said. “For 25 years, I've been at the Zelienople Fall Festival and at the Cooper Cabin in Cabot.”

She's leaving at the top of her game, said her husband of 25 years, Wayne Thoma.

“She had 80 jars that sold out at the Zelienople Festival. We were out of there by 4 p.m.,” said Wayne Thoma.

“I am 86 years old. I'm looking for someone to take over. I don't want this tradition to die,” she said.

“There are a lot of people that are making it for themselves, but the young people are not interested in making it,” she said.

Wayne Thoma said, a successor “would have to buy the equipment and quart jars.

A full story appeared in the Butler Eagle.