WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. (WKBW) — For more than a decade Jerilyn Brown and Peter Breitsch of Williamsville, New York have celebrated Halloween with a twist. Instead of giving out just candy, they also give out hot dogs, chips, and waters. The neighborhood kids call their house, the Hot Dog House.
"You'll hear kids walking down the street, and their parents [saying] 'Hey, it's the hot dog house.' 'Let's go to the hot dog house,'" Brown said.
The tradition began in 2008 after Breitsch decided he wanted to bring the community together.
"Growing up in Queens we did everything together. We had block parties, block picnics and we don't really have that here," Breitsch said.
Brown and Breitsch spend around $150 every Halloween on hot dogs, snacks, and candy but to them it's worth it.
"It would pain me more not to do," Breitsch said.
So the ultimate question — why hot dogs?
"Everybody up here likes hot dogs. There's more hot dog places than ever," Brown said. "There's Ted's, Red Hots, so I thought let's just do hot dogs people like them."
Last year the couple gave away 135 hot dogs and this year, even with the rain, they gave away more than 80.
"I'm already looking forward to next year," Breitsch said.
