st. paul

For nearly 30 years, hot dog vendor George Weckman was a fixture in St. Paul's Rice Park, slathering on the mustard and relish for mayors, judges, lawyers, Wild hockey players, hotel guests, Winter Carnival visitors, cab drivers, Ordway Theatre patrons and the homeless.

He took pride in a clientele that knew no class distinctions. Even former President Bill Clinton once sent a Secret Service agent to grab him a dog while staying at the nearby St. Paul Hotel.

Weckman died Thursday from heart failure. He was 58.

"I've served the rich and the famous all the way to the many street people I've gotten to know over the years," Weckman wrote in a farewell letter last year, when his failing health prompted him to sell his stand. "I've been here a really long time and I've loved every minute of it."

Born in Creston, Iowa, in 1951, Weckman's childhood was punctuated with delinquency. At 23, he was caught robbing an Iowa bank and served 10 years at a federal prison in Sandstone, Minn. He developed into a renowned weightlifter behind bars and, upon his release, landed a job as a bouncer at the Oz nightclub near St. Paul's City Hall.

Weckman opened his first stand on Wabasha Street in 1980, but he soon moved to Rice Park.

"He loved the park and he loved the people," said his son Daniel Weckman, of St. Paul's East Side, the youngest of his three children. "He was always faithful to Rice Park. That was his home."

When California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger filmed "Jingle All the Way" in St. Paul in 1996, he frequented Weckman's stand, which makes a brief cameo in the movie. It also shows up in "The Mighty Ducks," his son said.

"He was one of the few long-time downtown street vendors who made a presence, provided an experience and became a classic St. Paul character," said John Marshall, a longtime City Council aide who now works at Xcel Energy.

In a 1987 Star Tribune interview, Weckman said that America was built by immigrant vendors, who came to New York, Chicago and other cities with little more than the clothes on their back, selling produce and garments from street-side stands.

"That's how this country started -- with vendors," he said.

His daughter, Jennifer Weckman, who lives in Red Wing, said: "My Dad always cared about two things and only two things: his kids and his hot dog stand."

Daniel Weckman said doctors had long urged his father to quit smoking and lose weight, "but he just did the opposite. At times, he'd say, 'I need to get healthy' and get gung-ho. I just want to remember him as he was in happy times."

In addition to Daniel and Jennifer, Weckman is survived by his son Earl Weckman of Red Wing and four grandchildren. His children said they are planning a springtime memorial service in Rice Park, when the weather warms up and they can invite his former customers.

They hope the city will place a plaque in Rice Park as a memorial to their dad.

Curt Brown • 612-673-4767