Wienergate

Don Wallace, 54, of Hampshire peers into the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile while tailgating Saturday afternoon at Huskie Stadium in DeKalb. Wallace said the vehicle brought back childhood memories. “The color scheme has always been quite unique,” Wallace said. Chronicle photo KATE WEBER

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Wiener whistles are not allowed at Huskie Stadium. Northern Illinois University students may have requested the famous Oscar Meyer favors, but football officials at Huskie Stadium quickly nixed the idea. The Oscar Meyer Wienermobile pulled to a stop to tailgate with NIU students and fans Saturday, in cooperation with NIU's chapter of Alpha Phi Omega, to help raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. While grilling up the well-loved hot dogs and allowing interested spectators to take a look inside the Wienermobile, Oscar Meyer representatives began passing out the wiener whistles. “An NIU staff member came over and told us that we couldn't give them out anymore because the whistles would distract from the officials' whistles during the game,” said 22-year-old Hillary Erickson, vice president of Alpha Phi Omega. “It's kind of sad because everyone was asking for them.” With or without the whistles, the Wienermobile was a hit with the crowd. Despite age differences, it seemed everyone enjoyed the nostalgic trip back to their childhood. “A lot of the younger kids are excited, older people are excited and the college kids love it,” Erickson said. The Oscar Meyer staff donated 150 hot dogs to the service fraternity, added to the 640 hot dogs purchased by the frat for the fundraiser. Each grilled dog cost $1 and all of the proceeds from the day were to be donated to the Muscular Dystrophy Association. The cause was a main reason the Wienermobile made the trip to DeKalb. “We had the whole week to plan events around the Rockford area, and this is the biggest college around,” said Wienermobile driver Betsy Brenner, 22. “My second cousin actually has muscular dystrophy, so we just thought it would mean something extra to come.” Both Brenner and fellow driver Emily Volpini, 22, are recent college graduates and were happy to be around familiar faces again. “We've never done a tailgating event before, but it kind of feels like home to us,” Volpini said. Mike Van Der Harst, public relations chair for Alpha Phi Omega, said that although his age group may not have grown up with Oscar Meyer commercials continuously running on their television or the Wienermobile at every neighborhood gathering, being able to see the vehicle in person was a treat. “No one didn't recognize it; no one didn't know what it was,” the 20-year-old Van Der Harst said of the Wienermobile. Downing five hot dogs by 2:30 p.m., Van Der Harst was a personal fan of the Oscar Meyer tailgating staple. Erickson agreed that the colder temperatures added to the grilling atmosphere. “Tailgating is all about the hot dogs,” Erickson said. Kate Weber can be reached at kweber@daily-chronicle.com.