Cape grad is top dog on Wienermobile
Maggie Dawson is on a roll.
Well, as the driver of the world-famous Oscar Mayer Wienermobile, it’s more like she’s in a roll.
The 2021 Cape Henlopen High School graduate got to bring the big dog to her hometown for a week.
Every hotdogger has a special name; hers is Meatloaf Maggie. Her co-pilot for the Delaware trip was Tailgate Trey.
Their first stop was Jan. 30 at Thompson Island Brewing in Rehoboth Beach.
“I’m lucky to get to bring the Wienermobile back to the beaches and other places in Delaware. We’ve been here two days, and it’s already been so special,” Dawson said.
After Cape, where she played field hockey, Dawson got an advertising degree from the University of Tennessee. She then was accepted for a coveted slot at Hot Dog High, a two-week training program where she learned everything about Oscar Mayer, how to drive the Wienermobile and every hot dog pun in the book.
“That’s where I got my ‘bunder-graduate’ degree,” she said. “Oscar Mayer hires a new class of hotdoggers every year. I was one of the lucky 12 who cut the mustard.”
Growing up in Lewes, she said she never wished she were an Oscar Mayer Wienermobile driver. In fact, she said, she never saw one until she got to Hot Dog High.
But now, she said she relishes her time behind the wheel.
“I like meeting all the different people and seeing different places. The Wienermobile brings happiness to people,” Dawson said.
While it was her first time bringing the Wienermobile here, the vehicle did visit the Delaware State Fair last summer and even arrived on the Cape May-Lewes Ferry in 2024.
The first Oscar Mayer Wienermobile hit the road 90 years ago. There are currently six in the fleet. Meatloaf Maggie’s Wienermobile is a 2022 model that has about 100,000 miles on the odometer.
She said it does handle well in the snow.
“We came in from Indiana where they had about 16 inches. We’ve been traveling since June in all kinds of terrain. Once they hit the hot dog highways, they’re pretty sweet,” she said.
Meatloaf Maggie and Tailgate Trey will be driving around the Delaware beaches, handing out wiener whistles, until Saturday, Feb. 7.
Bill Shull has been covering Lewes for the Cape Gazette since 2023. He comes to the world of print journalism after 40 years in TV news. Bill has worked in his hometown of Philadelphia, as well as Atlanta and Washington, D.C. He came to Lewes in 2014 to help launch WRDE-TV. Bill served as WRDE’s news director for more than eight years, working in Lewes and Milton. He is a 1986 graduate of Penn State University. Bill is an avid aviation and wildlife photographer, and a big Penn State football, Eagles, Phillies and PGA Tour golf fan. Bill, his wife Jill and their rescue cat, Lucky, live in Rehoboth Beach.
