AIR FORCE COOK STILL HOT STUFF AT LOCAL SOUP KITCHEN.

Byline: Bettie Rencoret Senior columnist

Once a cook, always a cook could be Coy Daffern's credo.

The former staff sergeant, who cooked for Air Force personnel during the Korean War, now spends most of his Mondays and Thursdays slaving over a hot stove to feed the homeless.

Cooking during his wartime service, from 1950 to 1953, was an enjoyable experience that netted him many perks, Daffern said, perks that have stood him in good stead in his volunteering.

One of them was attending cooking school in Carsville, Texas.

``I had to pull `KP' all the time I was in the school,'' he said, ``but after I graduated I never had to pull it again and I served as shift leader.''

Daffern was stationed most of the time in Fort Worth, Texas, but did one temporary stint in Goose Bay, Labrador, a jumping-off place for troops on their way to England.

``For one week out of every month I was the mess sergeant, and the officers all had to pull KP. That was pretty satisfying,'' he said, grinning.

The Air Force often assigned its cooks to specialized training in varied techniques, and Daffern thoroughly enjoyed that. One of his learning assignments, for instance, was to work at The Worth Hotel in Fort Worth, under a master chef who tutored him in the art of ice sculpture.

On one occasion when Daffern was airborne, the pilot discovered that the plane's emergency exit window was open and asked him to go back and close it.

He had never done that before, so he didn't know that all it took was to put the bottom of the cover in a slot and the rest of it would automatically slip into place and close.

``We were cruising at about 400 miles per hour, and I didn't do it right,'' Daffern said. ``The cover slipped through the hole and started to pull me with it. One of the guys behind me shouted at me to `Let that thing go!' and pulled me back. He called me a fool and then he told me how to do it.''

When he left the service, he went to work as a cook at the Tulare Hotel in Tulare, but after a few months that palled. He decided he didn't really want to do that for a living, so he turned to land leveling, a trade he had learned as the result of growing up with a father who loved to farm.

His father was in charge of the flour mill in Colton, where Coy was born Nov. 9, 1928. The senior Daffern was disenchanted with the mills and dreamed of having a farm.

One day when Daffern was 7 years old, his father came home from work and made a decisive announcement. ``That's it!'' he said. ``We're goin' farmin'.''

``He moved us to Old River, Calif., just outside Bakersfield, rented 80 acres and planted it,'' Daffern said. ``The next year he doubled that to 160 acres, and the following year he went to 320.''

The young Daffern learned how to operate farm equipment. That later helped him master more sophisticated land-moving machinery such as backhoes and graders.

In 1954 he went to work for Kern County and was on the job ``when every street in Boron was ripped up and replaced. They don't do their own work like that anymore.''

On Nov. 16, 1953, when he was just out of the service, Daffern and Joyce Adams, a native of Delano, went to Las Vegas and got married. They have two children, Rick of Quincy, Ill., and Tamara Roach of Rosamond. They also have six grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Joyce still works part time at Rosamond Elementary School.

``She used to be a reading guide, but she's an instructional aide now,'' he said, ``and I'm a househusband.''

Daffern retired from Kern County in 1985 for medical reasons.

``One thing I'm thankful for,'' he said, ``is that I went down below to Good Samaritan Hospital for a routine checkup when I did. They discovered my aorta was plugged up. They did an angioplasty, inserted a metal sleeve into my artery, and I haven't had any problems since.''

He loves to volunteer at Lancaster United Methodist Church on soup-kitchen days, and works about nine hours a week. He's not sure how many total hours he's chalked up, but knows it's a lot.

``I get there about 9 o'clock in the morning to start chopping onions, then the rest of the time I cook,'' Daffern said. ``I do most of the soups, meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy.''

He said the soup-kitchen crews feed about 150 people each Monday and Thursday.

``They're not all homeless,'' he added. ``Some are just penniless. You know, families down on their luck. They bring a lot of children with them, and it's good to be able to see they get a good meal. It must be pretty good; we have repeaters all the time.''

Daffern enjoys woodworking and gardening in his spare time, and he and Joyce take occasional trips to their mobile home in Pismo Beach.

PALMDALE - How the 1997 Medicare reform bill affects the average senior consumer will be discussed Friday at the meeting of Chapter 2195 of the American Association of Retired Persons.

The meeting will begin at 1 p.m. at the Palmdale Senior Center, 1002 E. Ave. Q-12.

A speaker from the Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program will discuss the changes and options that have resulted and answer questions.

AARP Vice President Jo Strate said the discussion will include plan choices, out-of-pocket costs and changes that may affect home health care benefits.

She said all seniors should find the event informative and that visitors are welcome to attend.

LANCASTER - The multipurpose room at the Antelope Valley Senior Center, 777 W. Jackman St., will be open again Monday after being closed for a week to refinish the hardwood floors.

LANCASTER - Menus for the week at the senior life nutrition sites in Lancaster, Palmdale and Pearblossom have been announced. All meals include bread, margarine and coffee, tea or milk for the suggested congregate donation of $2.

Monday: Hot turkey sandwich, mashed potatoes, parsleyed carrots, marinated beets, apple.

Tuesday: Baked fish fillet, parsleyed noodles, stewed tomatoes, garden salad, pineapple chunks.

Wednesday: Sloppy Joes, macaroni salad, cauliflower with carrots, lettuce-and-tomato salad, fruit.

Thursday: Pinto beans with ham, cornbread, broccoli, lettuce-and-tomato salad, lemon pudding.

Friday: Baked chicken, au gratin potatoes, peas and carrots, fiesta coleslaw, apple brown Betty.