DIGITAL DETAIL S
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NOTEWORTHY
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RECIPES
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FE ATURES
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LOCAL HEROES
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GOOD NEIGHBOR
C L AY C O L E M A N ’ S B A R B E C U E B U S I N E S S M AY H AV E B E E N L AU N C H E D I N D E S P E R AT I O N, B U T I T Q U I C K LY B E C A M E — A N D C O N T I N U E S TO B E — A DELICIOUS SUCCESS STORY. WRITTEN BY LESLIE CRISS
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PHOTOGRAPHED BY JOE WORTHEM
n late February, just before people began to quarantine because of COVID-19, small business owner Clay Coleman began planning. He spaced out the tables inside Clay’s House of Pig, his barbecue eatery. But when restaurants were notified they could only operate curbside service or pickup orders, Coleman gave thanks for his outside walk-up window. “That outside window was already established,” he said. “That saved us. That and lots of prayers.” Perhaps some of the most powerful prayers were sent up nightly by Coleman’s five nieces, ages 5 to 13, in South Carolina. “My brother called me early on to tell me they were all praying for the business,” Coleman said. “He’ll sometimes text me the girls’ prayers. They will melt your heart.” Five-year-old Ivy’s prayer one night in April was, “Dear God, don’t let Clay’s shop get canceled for that virus.”
