What a Fantastic Oyster Fry!  First of all I wanted to thank everyone for all their help in making the event a success.  I would certainly run out of space if I tried to name everyone, so I won’t even try.   It is truly a great event, mostly due to the Frederick community coming together and doing their part.  Groups that I do know helped were: Frederick FFA members, Frederick High School and Middle School Student Council, Bomber Cheerleaders,  and Basketball players as well. A big thanks to Ruth Ann Hoover and Randy Biggs for getting lots of the students out to help us, especially that morning to bread oysters!  Without them we could not have breaded all 30,000 of them!!

Many businesses help out and donate with the event, a big Thanks to Box, Inc, Tillman Producers Co-op for the cottonseed oil, and John Worthington of Farm Bureau Insurance for the propane to cook the oysters!!

Of course a thank you to Louis and Betty Box,  Dan and Twyla Elsener, Bobby and Georgia Jackson, and Dr. Greg Howard who are the heart of the Oyster Fry Committee.

We served about 950 oyster eaters, many of those were out of towners who took time to visit our many attractions and shop around town. The Pearls of Art Art Show and the Ramona Theater had a constant stream of visitors, as did the Crawford Collection and the Pioneer Townsite.   We also had 3 busloads of visitors from the Norman, Putnam City and Jones areas! Thanks to everyone who came out to enjoy the oysters and craft show, it was a great day for Frederick!!  

It’s a special week for one of the groups that helped out at the Oyster Fry. That is the Frederick FFA Chapter, who will be celebrating National FFA week this week.  FFA is active in all 50 states as well as Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.  FFA members have opportunities to attend national leadership conferences, develop an agriculture experience-learning project, and learn life skills. Another important aspect of FFA is community service.  Our local chapter was essential in helping with the Oyster Fry.  These young folks helped in many ways: crushing crackers, making cole slaw, breading oysters, cooking oysters, setting up and taking down the cooker tent, setting up the craft show, and anything else that needed doing.  A very big THANK YOU to the outstanding youth of the Frederick FFA Chapter!

To learn more about FFA, go to www.ffa.org.

The fun for Fredericks FFA Chapter and other agriculture groups isn’t over yet.  This Thursday the Tillman County Junior Livestock Show begins at the Tillman County Fairbarn.  The Schedule is as follows:  Thursday, Feb 25th: Sheep judging starts at 5:30pm. Friday, Feb 26th, Beef heifers and steers are judged starting at 5 pm, followed by diary heifers.  On Saturday, Feb 28th, Hog judging starts at 9am, while the goat classes 2”30.  All throughout the weekend, the 4-H Club Food Booth will offer baked potatoes with various toppings, smoked beef sandwiches, Frito-chili pies, homemade pies, cakes and other desserts, as well as drinks.  Come out and support and cheer on our future agriculture leaders!

The Livestock Show Awards Banquet will be held on Monday, March 8th at 7pm at the Prather Brown Cafeteria.