Serve ’em up: 7,600 hot dogs grilled at Sterling’s annual Hot Dog Day

STERLING – Sterling’s annual Hot Dog Day was back Friday, offering 25-cent hot dogs, chips and water at locations downtown. More than 7,000 hot dogs were grilled as a fun, cheap lunch in Sterling.

Building Lasting Impressions that Never Die (BLIND) student leaders also were offering help during the day.

The fun continued Saturday when Explore Downtown Sterling’s “Taste of Sterling” kicked off from noon to 4 p.m. with discounted food and drinks, free activities, live music, shopping, prizes and more. The event featured 54 businesses and covered more than four blocks, stretching from Second Avenue to just beyond Locust Street and from Fifth Street to just past Third Street. DJ Cabralio of Sterling dropped the beats while patrons visited multiple food and vendor locations. Visitors picked up a free Food and Drink Boarding Pass punch card featuring discounted deals on food and beverages.

From noon to 3 p.m., visitors could try their luck at the dunk tank in the YWCA parking lot to sink Sterling Mayor Diana Merdian and Whiteside County Sheriff John Booker, or enjoy a round of putt-putt golf.

Other activities include a cake walk, candy bar bingo, a scavenger hunt, a quarter in the haystack game, balloon popping for prizes and more.

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Lydia Huizenga (left), of Fulton, Alayna Young of Polo and Courtney Davis of Polo wrap up hot dogs Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, at Air Play in Sterling. Sterling provided 7,680 hot dogs for Hot Dog Day, which has been around for more than 40 years. (Alex T. Paschal)