Peggy Sue is a big girl with a fire in her belly.
She’s up there in years, almost 40, but after a complete overhaul last year, looks young and spry.
Shiny and polished, she’s dressed all in black save for strategically placed logos that look like interlocking Chanel C’s, but they are red B’s: the logo for Benchmark Bank.
She didn’t have big plans for the week between Christmas and New Year’s. Peggy Sue was going to hang out in the parking lot of Benchmark Bank on Hillcrest, smoking while a few friends from the bank, including Benchmark’s Corby Ferrell, president of the Park Cities region, shot the breeze. Corby had invited some bank customers to bring their butts, briskets, and brats over since Peggy Sue was in the neighborhood for the evening.
But that day, Dec. 28, Corby received a call from his friend and bank customer Michael McCoy, also known as Chef to the Shelters. Mike needed help; he had 400 pounds of pork butt that needed to be smoked so he could deliver meals to his clients, residents at some 34 sober shelters, centers, and homes throughout North Texas, in time for New Year’s Eve.
Peggy Sue Smoker, the 5,000-pound Oyler rotisserie smoker that cranked out tons of barbecue during her career at Snider Plaza’s Peggy Sue BBQ and her owner, Benchmark Bank, came through in a big way.
Corby, some friends, employees, and volunteers from Chef to the Shelters unboxed, unwrapped, seasoned, and loaded the smoker with pork. Together with the 100 or so pounds of protein Corby and other bank customers had smoking, Peggy Sue was at max capacity that day and into the night.
Smokers like Peggy Sue must be fed regularly to keep the temperature and smoke levels up to make perfectly moist and tender meat. After a long day, Corby had to get home. Thankfully, an officer with the University Park police department was able to help with the 2 a.m. stoking.
Chef McCoy is grateful for many things: his sobriety, his Chefs to the Shelters mission to prepare and serve meals that speak of dignity and respect to people in recovery, and Benchmark Bank. He gives much credit to Benchmark Bank’s chairman Mike Barnett, who he’s known for years, and Corby, for helping Chef to the Shelters fulfill its mission.
It’s just a coincidence that Benchmark owns the smoker that came to the rescue that day. Chef McCoy usually uses his Big Green Egg, but this job was too big.
Acquiring Peggy Sue Smoker was Corby Ferrell’s brainchild. He, Barnett, and Benchmark had her restored and brought back home to serve the community.
Whether in big ways, such as smoking the pork that fed bodies and souls, or small, such as enabling Corby to cook breakfast burritos for employees and customers in the bank parking lot, Benchmark’s Peggy Sue is a valued part of the community.
