‘The best in the world’: Vose Korndogs has a new stand in a familiar place

Savoring the first bite of her Vose’s korndog Sunday, Diane Larson joked that she had tried to find out what kind of hot dogs the seminal Springfield concessionaire uses.

“They won’t tell you,” she said. “It’s a secret. And I don’t know how they make their batter, but it’s better than anyone else’s. This is crispy and just the right amount of sweetness.”

“I’ve had a lot of (other competitors) and (Vose’s) is the best I’ve ever had,” chimed in Diane’s husband, Mick Larson. “It’s the taste of the coating on the dog.”

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The Larsons, who are planning on moving back to Springfield from Florida, were the first ones in line Sunday morning, along with a friend, Mary Lou Jones, as Vose’s opened its new stand.

The airier building is 16×36 with an 8×16 attachment, said Ken Vose, who took over the operation with his family several years.

His father, Bob Vose, known as “the Korndog King” and a fixture at the Illinois State Fair, died on Feb. 20 in Sherman at age 94.

Vose was also part of Springfield’s first aldermanic city council, representing the northside Ward 5 for three terms.

Ken Vose said the building, in its familiar placement on Grandstand Avenue, had long been planned and replaces a stand from around the mid-1970s.

Vose bought the shells of both buildings and had been working on it “day and night” at his house since October.

“It’s a little more work-friendly to get around,” Vose said, just before the opening. “(The old stand) wasn’t real functional anymore. It kind of lived its life.”

Vose’s has two trailers and the family makes a handful of local events, like the recently wrapped-up PrideFest and the upcoming Church of the Little Flower’s Heritage Days June 2-4.

Making a pilgrimage to the fairgrounds Sunday, said April Vinyard, with her son, Payton, both of Springfield, seemed like the authentic thing to do.

“We heard about the grand opening and whenever we’re out here, we love to come by,” said Vinyard, finishing up a corndog with ketchup and a lemon shake-up. “For corndogs, this is the spot.”

Ron Rose and his wife, June, and three other couples – Tom and Cheryl Neal and Max and Sharon Strasbaugh, all of Springfield, and Gary and Jill Main of Rochester – made a picnic of opening day, setting up folding chairs in a rocked area across the street from the stand.

Ron Rose of Springfield said he knew Paul Vose, Bob’s brother, who operated a separate stand with another brother, David, and asked him years ago to get him some of the corndog batter mix.

Rose recalled Paul Vose telling him it was more than the batter. There was “a process” to it.

“It didn’t turn out good for me,” Rose recalled. “It didn’t turn out like these dogs, not at all.”

Bob Vose started working at American Ice and Fuel Company, which became Central Illinois Ice Company, when he was at Lanphier High School. Not long after graduating in 1947, he started delivering ice to the State Fair and continued until 1951 when he joined the U.S. Army. He returned to that job in 1953, but by that time he had also caught on at City Water, Light & Power.

A concessionaire Vose knew fell ill prior to the 1966 State Fair, so Vose and some family members filled in. Four of the Vose brothers started a stand the next year. Bob Vose struck out on his own in 1969 and was soon selling corndogs, then referred to as “dog on a stick.”

“From stories Grandpa has talked about, (the corndog) was something different and he wanted to try it out,” said Kelsie Vose, 36, the oldest of Bob Vose’s 14 grandchildren and Ken Vose’s daughter. “He said he liked them, and people liked them. I don’t think it was such a fair food back then.”

It didn’t take long for Vose’s corndogs – Vose spelled it “korndog” to stand out, Ken Vose said – along with Culler’s French Fries and mini donuts to become “gotta have” foods.

“They’ve all got a certain path that take,” said Ken Vose, about fairgoers’ food routines.

Diane Larson said her friend, Jones, used to text her pictures of Vose’s korndogs when she was in Florida to goad her.

“The best in the world,” Larson said, describing the korndogs.

And to each their own with condiments.

For Mick Larson, it’s just mustard.

For Diane Larson, it’s both ketchup and mustard.

“I’m just ketchup,” Jones said. “And I like to make a little design, usually just squiggly lines, to make it look nice.”

Kelsie Vose admitted Sunday was “a bittersweet day” without her grandfather around.

“Even the last time, I visited him, (the new stand) was what we talked about,” she said. “He knew more about it than I did. My dad would tell him daily what process he was in with it. He wanted to be part of it until the end.”

The family is trying to find a way to commemorate Bob Vose, perhaps with a plaque at the stand.

“The last conversation (we had), he was wondering if they got the concrete poured out here yet,” Ken Vose said. “He wanted to know all the details.

“I just wish he would have been able to hang around to see it. He got to see the building sitting out at my house. The plan was always to keep (the concession) going in his honor. It wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t be here today.”

Vose Korndogs at the Illinois State Fairgrounds will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. this coming Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, [email protected], twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.