Saturday night, while the American Legion hosted a ceremony for veterans upstairs at their post overlooking the Kentucky River, the cramped kitchen on the ground floor was filled with busy cooks, all covered in flour up to their elbows.

Duff Wolfinbarger is carrying on the family tradition of preparing an oyster supper each year to honor veterans.
They worked in an efficient assembly line as they dipped oysters in a beaten egg and cream mixture seasoned with a bit of Worcestershire sauce, and then rolled them in cracker meal. The cooks then lowered the oysters into hot oil until they were golden brown and crisp.
Mimi Tucker, a member of the Post 79 Ladies’ Auxiliary, has been helping with the dinner for nearly 30 years now. Besides frying oysters, she makes homemade tartar sauce and helps prepare the hushpuppies and slaw.
The Ladies’ Auxiliary has quite the reputation for putting on a spread on more than this occasion.
“We’re known across the state for the way we feed our veterans,” said Mimi.
For most of those who help, preparing the food is a labor of love done in remembrance of the veterans in their own families.
Mimi says she comes from a long line of veterans. Her husband Billy is a Vietnam veteran, and her dad and eight uncles were WWII veterans.
There’s some uncertainty about when the annual oyster supper for veterans began at the American Legion.
Duff Wolfinbarger, also busy in the kitchen, remembers his father “Peachseed,” or E.A. Wolfinbarger, saying that it was going on when he came home from WWII.
That was in 1946. The story goes that Peachseed’s father, a WWI veteran himself, picked Peachseed up from the rail station and took him straight to the American Legion, where he immediately signed up to join. That’s when he got to start attending oyster suppers.
There are others who think the oyster supper started in the 1930’s.
Regardless of its origins, the tradition is still going strong.
Duff says Peachseed long played a part in keeping it going. Now Duff and other family members pitch in to feed dozens of veterans on the Saturday night before Veteran’s Day each year.
Duff’s brother Eric has been a member of the American Legion for 40 years now and contributes too. Eric remembers driving to Louisville to pick up fresh oysters back in the 60’s.
“We just do it to honor the Veterans,” he said.
At least one of the Wolfinbarger family has helped with the oyster dinner for as far back as Duff can recall.
Both Eric and Duff give credit to the American Legion Ladies’ Auxilary, Unit #79, who help cook the slippery seafood every year.
This year, they fried up 11 gallons of them, which Duff estimates to be about 1650 oysters. Stop and Shop grocery orders the oysters, which are shipped fresh from Chesapeake Bay.
Bud Tucker, Mimi’s son, and Frank Cox head up the crew who fry up a mountain of cod fillets and make cole slaw, hushpuppies, French fries and several desserts.
All involved with the preparations for the supper refuse to take individual credit and insist it’s a team effort.
Mimi says it’s not only the cooks who work hard. A crew spends the week before the event cleaning, painting and sprucing up the place. Once the last oyster is fried and devoured, another crew takes on the task of cleaning up the place.
And chances are, they’ll be right back at it next year.