FARMINGTON – He’s one of the first harbingers of spring’s arrival in Farmington – the fellow who, in nice weather and awful, from March through November, can be found manning a little hot dog stand on the side of routes 2 and 4 in the Sandy River Realty parking lot.
The man, his dog, and his hot dog stand are “the first sign we see (that) spring is here,” arriving before buds on the trees, and before the ice melts on the banks of the Sandy River, said Wandalyn Dorr, who works at the salon next door.
For 70-year-old entrepreneur Richard James, spending every day outdoors with his puppy Sloopy meeting new people and bringing them one of his favorite childhood memories is better than the small fortune some folks say he must be making selling hot dogs.
“I’ve been eating hot dogs since I was a little kid. I can’t pass up a roadside stand,” he said.
He describes working as a truck driver in his youth, driving into New York City from the suburbs or beyond and picking up hot dogs as often as possible. And his memories of the good, old-fashioned food and the good, old-fashioned prices drive his business in Farmington today.
RJ’s Hot Dogs is one of the only stands around where Mainers can reliably find the bright red hot dogs of yore, and the only place around that sells homemade sauerkraut to go with the dogs. And though the prices aren’t exactly what they were 20 years ago, they’re low enough to make James’ patrons very happy.
Becky Maxim, the secretary at Coldwell Banker, gets the special: two red dogs, a coke and a bag of chips for under $4, noted her colleague, Paula Buchanan.
The disclosure prompted laughter from Maxim and others in the office, none of whom wanted to admit quite how much they patronize the hot dog stand.
Candy Clark, from Luanne’s Cuts next door was a bit more forthcoming.
“Oh, yeah, you’re talking to the hot dog queen here,” she laughed. But even better than the good food is RJ himself, she said.
“I like that he’s so friendly, that he’s there every day, that he’s got good hot dogs …”
“And that dog (Sloopy) – that’s the topping – that’s the Kodak moment,” broke in Wandalyn Dorr.
James began the business last spring, five years after retiring.
Business took off from the start. “It hasn’t skipped a beat,” he said.
He sells between 70 and 80 dogs a day, and occasionally caters events. And he’s there on his corner every day, in almost all weather. It makes him happy to make people happy, he says.
“For many of my customers, as soon as they see the cart, they know spring is on the way, and they gotta have hot dogs; it’s a tradition.”
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