Jessie Crawford, 27, waits tables at Pop's BBQ, a southern style barbecue restaurant that draws a crowd of tourists and locals seven days a week.
Danny Glenn, 25, mixes pulled pork with barbecue sauce at Pop's. The restaurant served up roughly 46,000 pounds of meat in the form of pulled pork sandwiches, brisket reubans, ribs and other menu favorites this year.
Pop's owner, Adam Ferguson opened eight years ago. Locals didn't think his business idea would work, but Adam has made an impact on the community in Morehead. The smoker runs around the clock. Some meat is wrapped in foil, others are laid on the open grill, as they are smoked for up to 22 hours at a time. Adam uses this method to keep the smokey flavor in his meats.
Adam has full-time and part-time staff that typically come back the following year.
Mike Winer, left, a Pop's BBQ regular, greets Adam. Adam fosters the values of community and family at Pop's. "Sometimes he comes in for five minutes to talk, sometimes it's 30 minutes," says Adam.
Adam has a good friend, Zach, who runs a taxidermy service and sometimes will make silly scenes out of animals. 'Kenny' is the squirrel that plays the banjo.
"One day he drove 30 miles just to put gas in an employees tank who had ran out on the highway," Kayla Harlow says about Adam. He's light hearted and hard-working, taking time to crack a smile with his employees, like Danny, right. He and Adam watch a video Adam made of his employee Marshall several weeks ago.
Finding time to connect with his family isn't only hard on Adam, but also hard on his family. Noah, 3, comes into Pop's normally once a week to eat lunch with his dad. He and his wife Lisa take time to travel in and out of the United States during the off season, sometimes bringing their sons, Noah and Seth, 6.
Adam and the Pop's team rotate every week, as they take turns loading the meat in and out of the smoker. "It's a big job that can easily wear you out," Adam says. "That's why we rotate."