Battle Creek educator cooks up White Star Coneys stand, with nod to Michigan roots

A steady flow of customers waited and watched as Jim and James Sirks juggled orders on a warm and windy Thursday afternoon outside Bailey Park Thriftway.

After three summers selling their Jackson-style coney dogs from their White Star Coneys stand at the parking lot of the small grocery store in Pennfield Township, the father and son duo have developed an efficient process for serving customers. Aside from high visibility along the heavily trafficked Capital Ave. NE, their location at the market also affords them convenience.

"Do you have any pickle relish?" one customer asked.

"No we just ran out," Jim Sirks replied, before his son James ran inside the market to buy some.

"If we run out of something, we can just run right in," Jim said.

After his tenure as pastor at a local church ended after 25 years, Jim pursued a career in education. The father of four adult children earned his master's degree in special education, and is now working at Lakeview Middle School while "preaching on the side" he said. Looking for a summer job he described as more of a hobby, he created White Star Coneys in 2018.

The mobile hot dog stand operates in the summer outside Bailey Park Thriftway from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Its signature coney dogs are a nod to Jim's upbringing in nearby Jackson, a city (among many) that claims to be the original home of the coney dog.

Historians disagree on the precise origin of the hot dog dish decorated with meat sauce and other toppings, but variations of the classic hot dog sprung up in the early 1900s, developed independently by Greek or Macedonian immigrants.

The "Jackson style" consists of ground beef or ground beef heart with chopped onions and a stripe of mustard on a steamed bun, created by Macedonian immigrant George Todoroff in 1914 — predating Detroit's American Coney Island by five years.

Lt. Kevin Hirakis of the Calhoun County Sheriff's Department was treating himself and two fellow officers to some White Star coney dogs, saying he became a loyal customer after the Sirks began selling from the location.

"I usually get the coney dog. It's an old-style, genuine coney dog," he said. "I haven't really found them anywhere else in town that has them like that."

White Star Coney uses Flint-based Koegel Meat Company to supply its hot dogs. "I've always liked the snap," Jim said of the frankfurters, "and it's a family-owned business and they make my dogs fresh for me every week."

White Star Coney was named in honor of the Sirks family heritage. Jim said his great-great grandfather established a trucking company of the same name in Coldwater in 1917, named after the White Star Line shipping company that operated the Titanic.

James, 20, is studying engineering at Anderson University in Indiana. Over summer break, he's helped his dad run the stand, with a tip jar labeled "college fund."

"It's fun to be able to hang out with him throughout the day," James said of his dad. "It's not too hard and we're cheaper than anywhere else. Nothing on our menu cost more than $5."

White Star Coneys also sells regular hot dogs, chili dogs, cheese dogs, Italian and Polish sausages on a deli bun as well as soft pretzels with cheese sauce.

"There's a lot of love that goes into this coney," Jim said. "It's something I grew up with over in Jackson. People who love the old-style coney's, my sauce is simmered for over 12 hours, so it gets nice and tender. There's a lot of good coneys here in town, but I like mine better."

Contact reporter Nick Buckley at nbuckley@battlecreekenquirer.com or 269-966-0652. Follow him on Twitter:@NickJBuckley

This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: BC teacher cooks up White Star Coneys stand, with nod to Michigan roots