Annual Oyster Fry Slated for March 1 In Frederick, Oklahoma

Oklahoma doesn't have the luxury of fresh seafood, but one day a year in Frederick, Oklahoma, people can get oysters straight from the gulf. The annual Frederick Fantastic Oyster Fry is set for Saturday, March 1 and will serve up fried and raw oysters.

The Frederick Fantastic Oyster Fry will take place from 3-6 p.m. Saturday, March 1 at Prather Brown Elementary in Frederick. A craft show will precede the oyster serving starting at 11 a.m. in the Frederick Middle School gymnasium.

Advance tickets are currently available for $25 and can be purchased at various locations in Frederick, including ACE Hardware, BancFirst, Box Inc., Frederick Chamber of Commerce, Frazer Bank and Jackson Funeral Home. Advance tickets can also be purchased online by emailing the Frederick Chamber of Commerce at frederickcc@pldi.net.

The oyster fry is a longstanding history in Tillman County.

The Frederick Fantastic Oyster Fry has served as a fundraiser for the Frederick Chamber of Commerce for over 40 years, but the oyster fry itself has a longer history in Tillman County. In 1952, Bramlett Johnson brought back a bucket of oysters from the Gulf Coast to Manitou, Oklahoma. He fried up the oysters and served to the Manitou School Board. Soon the oyster fry became an annual fundraiser for the Manitou School Board.

The oyster fry fundraiser resided in Manitou for 30 years before it outgrew the small town. It was then picked up by the Frederick Chamber of Commerce, and not much has changed about the oyster fry since the first in 1952. The Frederick Fantastic Oyster Fry still uses the same recipe for frying oysters since the 1950s. Each plate comes with locally made cocktail sauce, bread and a handful of chips.

The Frederick oyster fry also carries on the tradition of driving down to Port Lavaca the day before the oyster fry and brings back 140 gallons of freshly caught oysters. And early in the morning the day of the oyster fry, Frederick residents, civic groups, sports teams and school organizations pitch in to wash the oysters, bread them and prep them for frying.

Then in the afternoon, residents and farmers fry the oysters outside the small town's elementary school and serve the fried muscles to over 1,000 people. Some of the people who help out at the oyster fry or come to eat the oysters have been around since the oyster fry first started in Manitou.

For more information about the Frederick Fantastic Oyster Fry, visit the Frederick Chamber of Commerce website or follow the chamber on Facebook.