Girl's Hot Dog Cart Dream Comes True

It wasn't exactly tense. Nobody was on the edge of a chair. In fact, for the first time since they started an odyssey to create a summer business in Tosa, Mike Isherwood and his 12-year-old daughter, Megan, were not even present at an important meeting in the process — in this case, the final approval.

Mike Isherwood was busy Tuesday night and couldn't take Megan to the Tosa Common Council meeting. But it wouldn't have mattered. There is no public comment at Common Council meetings anyway, and the aldermen approved his and Megan's proposal unanimously, with all members present and with no debate.

In a meeting that took all of 10 minutes, they approved a host of small matters in large batches, the Isherwoods' included. But then again, the Isherwoods' request for a conditional use permit for a weekend hot dog cart in a parking lot wasn't really such a small matter.

Earlier Tuesday, detailing the Isherwoods' proposal. In a nutshell, Mike Isherwood had a brainstorm in October: He would buy a hot dog cart, and he and Megan would operate it over the summer.

She would learn all about how business and government intersect or collide as they went through the process of incorporating M&M (Mike and Megan's) Hot Dogs, LLC. She went to meetings and helped fill out forms for incorporation, insurance and all the bureaucratic steps involved in starting a business.

But another reason for doing it was to give the father and daughter a great reason to spend time together this summer.

In one case, Megan had to answer a couple of questions from the mayor. "I was a little nervous but I really want to have this hot dog cart with my dad," Megan said.

Mike Isherwood was only waiting for Tuesday's approval before ordering the hot dog cart, which will be set up in the parking lot at 10506 W. Blue Mound Rd. at a business owned by Mike's brother-in-law, Jake Wood. The cart will be open 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays as long as the weather holds or through November, whichever comes first.