Community donates more than $30K to Pik N Pig after devastating fire
People have poured in thousands of dollars to rebuild one of the state's beloved barbecue restaurants. A large fire burned the Pik N Pig to the ground Sunday morning in Carthage.
Posted — UpdatedA large fire burned the Pik N Pig to the ground Sunday morning in Carthage.
The restaurant sits at a small airport, and pilots travel hundreds of miles just to have lunch there.
On a sunny Tuesday, when pilots should be landing for lunch, the runway is silent and the tables empty.
Roland Gilliam, who owns the small airport next to Pik n Pig, said that the restaurant means a lot to him, because that's where his traffic came from.
"And we've had as many as 65 airplanes at one time on the ground here," he said.
Gilliam also owns the building that used to house Pik N Pig. He's the one who convinced Ashley Sheppard, who'd been smoking and selling his barbecue on the side of the road, to move here in 2007.
"We've got one guy that flies in here from Rochester, New York, just to eat lunch -- and flies back," Gilliam said.
When word spread about this disaster, pilots from the Carolinas to Connecticut came calling.
"It's our life," Sheppard said. "We put a lot of work into this place. A lot of blood, sweat and tears."
The restaurant is insured and the family has already started rebuilding.
"We drive 80 miles to get there," one fan wrote.
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