Business notebook: Fruitland memories help spawn The Hawg Pit

Kenny Seabaugh holds fond memories of a Fruitland truck stop and restaurant called the Owl Shanty.

"That was the happening spot in Fruitland," he said. "And I frequented it every day when I got off the bus from school."

Now he's using his passion for barbecue to give Fruitland a place like that again.

The Hawg Pit, which he expects to open late March or early April, will be a place where people can sit down, have sliced barbecue sandwiches and, as Seabaugh pointed out, not text each other.

"No texting," he said. "From table to table, it's gonna be talking."

The Hawg Pit restaurant on U.S. 61 in Fruitland stands in the old Gerecke's small-engine and auto-repair shop.Andrew J. Whitaker

The restaurant's theme will be the history of Fruitland, he said, with historical highlights printed on the backs of the menus.

"A lot of people don't know this, but Fruitland used to be called Pleasant Hill," he said. "It's just a small community, but that's where I grew up."

He said his family first suggested he start a restaurant, especially his daughter, Brittney, who died in 2011.

"She always said, 'You gotta open up your own barbecue place, Dad,'" he recalled. "It just kinda stuck."

He said he learned how to barbecue when he was 15.

"I started there at Kinder's Grocery Store and Meat Market, which is now the old Stooge's," he said. "Started out on a Brinkman smoker."

High-schoolers, he recalled, would frequent the deli counter at lunchtime, so Seabaugh cooked three pork butts to add to the menu one day, and they sold like crazy.

"I still to this day remember we made 105 sandwiches," he said. "And from then on, it was history. We continued barbecuing."

He left Kinder's in his early 20s but kept barbecuing for friends and family.

"It's a bucket-list kind of thing," he said. "And now I'm doing it."

The decision, he said, came down to a day of conversation when the opportunity came up to buy the land at 5598 Highway 61 North, where Gerecke's small-engine and auto repair shop was.

He said the building's up, and the smokers are being installed.

"We're going to do it all the old-fashioned way," he said, by having a sandwich counter and aluminum plates, and special menu items he said will be revealed when the Hawg Pit opens and aren't available in the area.

"We're gonna make it a real fun atmosphere," he said. "I'm looking forward to seeing a lot of the old Fruitland-ites, as I call 'em."

BOLD Marketing earns gold ratings

The Service Industry Advertising Awards committee granted BOLD Marketing the highest possible award for each of the four items the Cape Girardeau firm entered.

More than 1,900 entries were submitted overall as part of the national competition.

The work BOLD Marketing submitted included a social campaign for a local brewery, a health-care-related website and an infant-mortality video for social-media platforms.

"It's always a great moment when the BOLD team gets recognized for the creative, strategic work they do for clients every day. I am in awe of their talents and appreciate the clients who let us do what we do best," BOLD Marketing owner Dana Thomas said. "While this recognition is cause for celebration, we're always in the mindset to be better than the year before."

SE Missourian wins state Honors

The Associated Press Media Editors newswriting and photography contest winners were announced Thursday in Jefferson City, Missouri.

The Southeast Missourian won several awards in Division III, for daily newspapers with circulations between 6,000 and 19,000.

Photographer Laura Simon took top honors in feature-photo, photo-story and sports-photo categories for "Meet Miss Dortha," "High Water Images" and "Race to the Finish," respectively.

Photographer Andrew J. Whitaker finished third in the feature-photo category for "Homecoming Celebration."

In the public interest/investigative or in-depth-reporting category, reporter Ben Kleine won first place for the series "Life Without," and the Southeast Missourian staff finished second place for its "Mental Illness Series."

Reporter Tyler Graef's "Renee Boyd Series" won first place for feature writing.

Sports editor Josh Mlot's "Where There's a Wills ..." finished second for sports feature writing.

Southeast Missourian sports staff finished second in spot sports for "To the Next Level," and online editor Erin Unerstall finished for "MLB Calls."

The Southeast Missourian's website finished second for overall website.

tgraef@semissourian.com

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