The sauerkraut is fermenting and will be ready to serve Friday, Oct. 13, at the Okarche Lions Club German Dinner.

Last Monday evening in the Okarche Elementary cafeteria, Kraut Master Keith Griesel and Tony Stangl, Kraut Master Emeritus, directed club members to pound, season, and pack 600 pounds of shredded cabbage into barrels, a Lions Club culinary duty, as they prepare for the 49th annual dinner which will be served in Holy Trinity Catholic School gymnasium from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Advance dinner tickets may be purchased from club members.

Tickets are also available at Community National Bank and First Bank Okarche. Dinner tickets can be purchased at the door, but at a slightly higher price.

Sauerkraut and sweetened kraut will be served next to German sausage, potatoes, green beans, bread and dessert for the dinner.

Tom Schaefer, club treasurer, said 675 pounds of sausage has been ordered from Fisher’s Meat Market of Muenster, Texas, to be served and will be available to purchase to take home.

Schaefer estimated Lions will serve about 600 guests and prepare 200 take-out dinner boxes.

In addition to sauerkraut and sausage, dinner guests may purchase tickets to enter a drawing for either a shotgun or rifle, $400 cash, one of two $100 German beer steins, or a handmade quilt.

The owner of the first ticket drawn will choose first from the offerings. The second ticket drawn will choose from the remaining four items and so on until a total of five tickets are drawn upon the conclusion of the dinner in October.

Tickets may be purchased at the dinner $5 per ticket or six tickets for $25. Ticket holders for the drawing need not be present to win.

Okarche Lions Club has been serving the yearly dinner as a fundraiser to fuel support for the Okarche community.

Members of the Okarche boys basketball team and fifth and sixth grade students help serve the meal and stack tables and chairs upon conclusion of the dinner.

Lions Club members support scholarships, Center of Family Love, Camp Goddard field trip for Okarche sixth grade students, Okarche Educational Foundation, Okarche Community Fair and Christmas Connection, in addition to community needs as presented.

Lions Club International’s “Sight First” campaign makes eyeglasses possible for individuals in need of corrective lenses and Okarche Lions work to provide eyeglasses for students and adults especially in need.

Christmas Connection, a community project to provide for Okarche families, was started by the late Frank and Betty Borelli.

A 50-year Lions Club member, Borelli and his wife sought donations for Christmas gifts and food baskets for families needing help during the holidays, a practice continued by their daughter, Jan Petty.

The German dinner provides an opportunity for present and past community members to gather, visit, and be entertained with music by The Masopust Polka Band.