BY RICHELLE THOMPSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
WAYNESVILLE -- Like so many of the 2,500 village residents, Matthew and Virginia Wilson spent all week getting ready for the Sauerkraut Festival. They hunted for rocks along the Little Miami River. They carefully painted each, spicing up some with fake eyes and feathers. Then the 9- and 7-year-old siblings set up their pet rock shop, and waited for the crowds.
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The Wayne Township Fire Department has a live camera set on Main Street that will feed every 20 minutes to its Web site, www.interaxs.net/pub/wtfd/livecam.htm |
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IF YOU GO
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![[map]](/editions/1998/10/09/waynesville_205x285.gif)
What: Ohio Sauerkraut Festival.
When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today.
Where:Downtown Waynesville.
Parking: Available along some streets. Organizers suggest parking at Waynesville High School and taking the free shuttle service to Main Street.
Directions: Waynesville is near the intersection of Ohio 73 and U.S. 42. Police Chief Allen Carter suggests festivalgoers look for alternate routes. Traffic on Ohio 73 tends to back up, with up to two-hour waits possible.
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They didn't wait long. Some of the 200,000 or so expected visitors to the northern Warren County festival hit the craft booths along Main Street nearly two hours before the festival opened. By 9 a.m., the official start, the streets were jammed elbow to elbow.
Matthew and Virginia played in the front yard of their Third Street home in the path of people walking to and from their cars. Scratched-out prices showed the pet rocks dropped from $1 at the start of the day to 25 cents in a couple of hours. The boys earned $8 by lunchtime.
Although the event has grown to one of the largest in the Tristate, it's still about tradition. All of the 30 food booths are operated by local clubs, churches and school groups, many of which earn their yearly operating budget in two days.
The Waynesville Area Chamber of Commerce mandates that each of the 400 booths from 22 states feature handmade crafts. There were no Beanie Babies or imported trinkets.
That suited Pat Rupp just fine. The Fairfield resident did most of her Christmas shopping last year at the festival.
Her grandchildren, Jacob, 7, and Amber, 8, were hankering for the star of the show, the sauerkraut.
"I love it," grinned Jacob, of Hamilton. "I just can't stop eating it."
The Rupps certainly had their choice. The festival featured sauerkraut pies and brownies, fudge, donuts, pizza and bread. And then there were the cabbage rolls.
When members of Saint Augustine Catholic Church brought out the first pan, about 50 people lined up.
Three hours later, "the turnstile has not been empty," said volunteer Pat Dowe. Church members toiled throughout the week to make 11,000 cabbage rolls. They expect to earn about $25,000 this weekend, which rivals a year's weekly bingo games.
Carol Huf of Springboro waited in line with her Tupperware container. She planned to buy at least four cabbage rolls to take home.
"I've waited for them all year," Mrs. Huf said. "They're the best attraction here."
