By GAYLE WEBER

gweber@dailynews.net

RANSOM -- It used to be an annual tradition, but several years without it has made local residents anxious to bring back the Ransom Oktoberfest.

And they're going to do it Saturday with 13 hours of activities for children and adults.

"We would like to have it as it used to be," said Matt Burdette, president of the Ransom Oktoberfest Committee. "If it works this year, we'll try to make it bigger and better next year."

Burdette is part owner of the Longhorn Bar and Grill in Ransom. The bar tried a mini-version of Oktoberfest last year and decided to take it to the community this year.

"We've only had a month to put this together," Burdette said after the committee got permission from city officials.

The Ransom Oktoberfest is from 11 a.m. to midnight Saturday all along Vermont Street.

There will be games for kids, including a duck pond, football toss and prize wheel, and games for adults such as horseshoes, washers and sumo wrestling suits.

Local students also will get the opportunity to throw pies at local teachers as part of the event.

A car show, with no registration fee, will feature classic cars, sprint cars and maybe even a tractor or two, Burdette said. There also will be a street dance at 8 p.m.

Oktoberfest, of course, will feature food and music relating to the area's German heritage.

"You open up the phone book, and half of the people here are German descendants," Burdette said.

Bierocks and bratwursts will be on the menu for sure, and Burdette still is working to get other vendors with a wider variety of foods for the event. There also will be a beer garden.

Just as Utica has its annual May Days and Ness City has the county fair, Burdette said he hopes Ransom can be known for its Oktoberfest.

"It'll be a whole day's worth of fun," he said.