1026 East 36th Street
Baltimore, MD 21218
Phone: (410) 235-3073
Email: president@nfbmd.org
Unlimited Possibilities
Ken Canterbery: Successful Entrepreneur
(Taken from an address at the 2004 State Convention)
Good morning fellow Federationists. Welcome to Ocean City. I first want to ask you a question. Have you ever, had a hot plump juicy and delicious hot dog from Ken’s Hot Diggity Dogs? I’m located at the Dundalk Post Office in Dundalk and I want to tell you how I got started. Briefly, I was at the Motor Vehicles in Essex, selling my hot dogs, and a panel of Federationists came to see me - Sharon Maneki, Judy Rasmussen, Mildred Rivera, and others. They sought me out, drew my attention to the NFB, and we formed the Baltimore County Chapter. I was treasurer and then president. That was my first start with the NFB. Shortly after that I had some problems. When I moved down to Dundalk (where I’m at now) there was some opposition. Sharon got right behind me and we took it to the Baltimore County Council. Their old laws stated that you had to continuously keep moving unless you had a customer. Well this makes it a little impossible sometimes if you’re blind, so we went to the County Council – we fought ’em and we won! I thank the Federation for that.
Then I had showed them my hot dog cart and they said, “No chili or cheese in Baltimore County.” So, I went to the County Council again. I called the Health Department and they said, “That’s a county law.” I asked, “How do I change it?” They said, “You got to go to the County Council.” I said, “Okay, good.” The County Council had that law changed. In the interim I developed this sauce that I called ‘hot diggity dog’ sauce. When I won the case, we put an article in the paper that said, “We Won!” and talked about how we went and fought it and won. Even with chili and cheese, everybody said, “We like that hot diggity dog sauce.” So I kept the hot diggity dog sauce because it was the favorite.
One day, the owner of Tulkoff, heard about my sauce and he said, “I’m coming down to try your sauce.” He loved it and he asked me to send a sample. I went through the attorneys and they advised me to send a letter of secrecy and confidentiality and all this to them, and I did. It has now been patented. But also years ago, because of my involvement in the community, then Baltimore County Executive, Dutch Ruppersberger, who is now our Congressmen, gave me a proclamation and named a street corner in front of the Dundalk Post Office, Canterbery’s Corner. And as you go by, there are big signs that say Canterbery’s Corner. Tartkoff is the company that’s purchasing the rights to my sauce. I tried to patent Hot Diggity Dog Sauce but couldn’t, so they called me one day and said, “How about Canterbery’s Corner Deli Sauce.” I was okay with that.
The sauce just came out last weekend at Gerard’s, and they announced that it is going to retail for approximately $2.50 an 8 ounce jar. It will also be sold at Mars Supermarkets, Geresbeck’s Grocery, and Box ‘N’ Save. There’s a picture of a hot dog vendor on the jar. Next Thursday, the eighteenth of November, you are welcome to come down to the Baltimore County Pavilion in Dundalk – right across from the Dundalk Eagle. We’re having a celebration and endorsement. Tartkoff is going to be there, Congressmen Dutch Ruppersberger is going to be there, and County Executive Jim Smith is going to be there. We’ll have a disc jockey, and we’re going to celebrate the bottling of this sauce. They’re not coming because it’s a governmental matter. I have, through the NFB and through my own, been involved in politics. I ran Democratic State Central Committee in the last election. I lost by only 490 votes in Baltimore County. That’s not too bad for first time out. I plan on running again in 2006, and I want to thank the Federation for allowing me to come and talk about myself. I hope that you’ll see it in the store and you’ll buy it. Tulkoff is a local company from Baltimore, but they’re also in California. They are nationwide and they expect to bottle it nationwide. It is also being sold in 32 ounce tubs for businesses, restaurants and places like that. Hopefully, we will get a big break somewhere, and Fox Network News will do a story about my sauce. I will find out about that shortly. Thank you very much for allowing me to speak about this sauce. If you get a chance when you’re down in Dundalk, come and say hi to me. Thank you.