Insert hot dog pun here
By JESSICA COLLIER, Enterprise Staff WriterArticle Photos
SARANAC LAKE - Why yes, that was a giant hot dog you saw driving through the Tri-Lakes this week.
An Oscar Mayer Wienermobile has been traversing the scenic highways of the Tri-Lakes, bringing confused looks and/or smiles to many faces as it passed.
"Everybody just lights up when the Wienermobile drives by," said hotdogger John Dobson, one of two recent college graduates traveling in the vehicle.
The hotdoggers (yes, that's their official job title) were in town to make an appearance at the Northeastern Police Ski Championships at Whiteface Mountain Ski Center Monday and today, handing out wiener-shaped whistles, posing for photo opportunities and generally "spreading smiles," they said.
Dobson, a recent graduate of the University of Missouri from outside Kansas City, Mo., and Mary Kate DeCoursey, a recent Pennsylvania State University graduate from outside of Pittsburgh, arrived Sunday after spending some time in Watertown and Fort Drum.
Oscar Mayer gets about 10,000 requests for Wienermobile appearances a year, and the company is able to fulfill about 1,500 of them, Dobson said.
Dobson and DeCoursey are members of Oscar Mayer's Hotdogger program, which hires 12 recent college graduates for one year to drive around the company's six Wienermobiles. They were trained for two weeks at Hot Dog High in Madison, Wis., where Oscar Mayer has its headquarters - the company is owned by Kraft, which is based near Chicago - in public and media relations, then set free on the open road.
"We're essentially the faces of Oscar Mayer," DeCoursey said. "It's a very well recognized program."
They were paired up with other partners for six months in different regions, then they were placed together about three months ago to traverse the Northeast.
Neither of the two have ever been to the Adirondacks before, but they said they had some fun renting snowmobiles Sunday from behind Gus's Diner in Gabriels. DeCoursey's arms were sore from riding, but "I don't think the smile came off my face for two hours," she said.
Both said that one of the best parts of the job is seeing new places, meeting new people and getting to know local culture.
"You get to see the country," DeCoursey said. "Traveling is great."
With the few hours they had Monday, they said they planned to visit some of Lake Placid's Olympic attractions.
The two have to drive the 27-foot-long vehicle - which has a V-8 engine, a 32.1-gallon fuel tank and a horn that sings the Oscar Mayer wiener song - wherever they go. When DeCoursey broke her leg, they had to drive the Wienermobile to a hospital.
But the benefits of driving the huge hot dog far outweigh the problems, the hotdoggers said. DeCoursey said she decided to be a hotdogger when she found out how the program teaches good public-relations skills.
Dobson said he was a huge fan of the Wienermobiles when he was growing up, and he always hoped to apply to be a hotdogger once he finished with college.
"I just wanted the experience of driving an American icon," he said.
Both Dobson and DeCoursey are applying for jobs right now, since they only have three months left as hotdoggers. DeCoursey said she'd like to find a job on the West Coast, preferably near Portland, Ore., in public relations, marketing or sports. Dobson said he plans to move home and try to find a job in sales or marketing.
To read more about what it's like to drive around a Wienermobile for a year, go to hotdoggerblog.com.
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YouKnowImRight
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03-09-10 6:28 PM
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My Baloney has a first name... It's O S C A R....
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veritas
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03-09-10 12:58 PM
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"Oh, I wish I were an Oscar Mayer wiener, That is what I truly want to be; 'Cause if I were an Oscar Mayer wiener, Everyone would be in love with me".
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TLParent
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03-09-10 12:21 PM
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We could use this to bring back bottles. What do you think Babe?
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