“IT’S NOW OR NEVER,”

Ken Ramage told me over a big glass of tea.

“I grew up in Paducah where my dad was a bricklayer by trade, but always loved to barbecue. He combined the two by opening up his Plantation Barbecue. I had a lot of fond memories of that place as a kid. It burned down in 1953. I have a mass of nickels all melted together from that fire.”

Murvin Ramage never did reopen—he went back to laying brick—but he was highly sought after to build pits, which he did all over Western Kentucky.

Ken’s dream of opening up a barbecue restaurant was put on hold. He got drafted and served in Vietnam, where he earned a Purple Heart. As part of his recovery, he was sent to Louisville, where he met Sharon, who was a singer in the U.S.O. They married, settled down, and Ken took a job on the railroad.

“I had just turned forty and I knew if I waited any longer I wouldn’t have the energy to do it, so I enlisted the help from my dad and we built this place from the ground up. I couldn’t have done it without him.”

They built in an open industrial part of town. It has plenty of room for the trees that lie in Purgatory at the edge of their parking lot, waiting to be carved up and burned in the pits.

Like their building, everything at the Ole Hickory Pit is made from scratch. Sharon specializes in the baked goods, which are made fresh daily. (Image 71)

Image 71

Son Mike gets into the act in his own unique way. He is very proud of his hot sauces. He literally makes them from the ground up, growing his own peppers. “I got red, black, habaneros, jalapeños, Scotch bonnets, cayenne, vasicio and even one called Macho Camacho,” he says.

They have not had any fires, but the local fire department gets together there for their monthly meetings. Sharon told me with a big smile, “One of those times, a local television news reporter was driving by and saw our lot filled with fire trucks. He thought that he was first on the scene. Was he disappointed when he found out that there was no fire!” (Image 72)

Image 72: Ole Hickory Pit 6106 Shepardsville Road • Louisville, KY • (502)968-0585