Retirement a la cart

Richard Stave serves a Hummel dog and a Coke. Below, Cliff Ttrafton, a longtime Milton resident and excavator, exchanges hellos before getting his lunch at Stave's cart. (Harrison Thorp photos)

MILTON - Hot dog, he’s having a good time.

Most weekdays between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. you’ll find Richard Stave manning his hot dog cart serving up tasty dogs, cheeseburgers and chili in front of Milton Pump and Filter on White Mountain Highway.

But not always. After all, there are fish to catch and trees to cut, some of the other pastimes this 72-year-old semi-retiree enjoys.

Stave worked for 40 years as a salesman for Hummel Bros., a well-known hot dog company out of New Haven, Conn.

When he retired from Hummel, he moved to Jug Hill Road in Milton Mills, where he already had a summer house and before long he’d set up his cart, where he continues to sell those delicious Hummel dogs.

Just how good are they? Let’s just say he’s still a good salesman.

They’re the best, he says, adding they’re on a par or better than a Schultz or

Schonland natural casing dog.

“All those families knew each other,” he says of the three hot dog dynasties.

Besides hot dogs, he sells hamburgers, cheeseburgers and chili.

Stave said he doesn’t do this to get rich. (Sometimes he goes home with barely 20 bucks.)

“I enjoy people,” he says. “After being on the road for 40 years, I enjoy talking to ‘em.”

His customers seem to embrace him as much as his hot dogs, exchanging friendly handshakes and jibes as they get their noontime meal.

Stave bought his used stainless steel hotdog cart in New Haven for $4,500. It has lots of bells and whistles, he says, adding you can pick up a lesser model for as little as $800.

He said he goes through a typical home-size grill propane tank in about a week and a half.

He operates the cart yearround, adding with a grin he can’t afford to be a snowbird and go to Florida.

The customers seem to be happy about that, too.