By William Smith
Dawn Johnson is a hard-working opportunist, but she was sick and tired of working for corporate America.
So she quit and started working for herself. Johnson, with her husband and mother Donna, started a food truck in Middletown on July 4 — Cowbell Concessions. Johnson had several jobs before opening, including cleaning.
“I was a painter’s helper and janitor, and was like, if we’re going to work this hard, we’re going to work for ourselves,” Donna said.
Located on the curve of old U.S. 34 that connects Middletown to Danville, Cowbell Concessions can be easy to miss if you don’t glance over your shoulder. But a prominent sign near the road has attracted attention, and customers.“We’re going to have some fun,” Dawn Johnson said.
Johnson didn’t open the food truck without a plan. She’s expecting an influx of new workers from the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant within a year. She’s also working with the IAAAP to sell food directly to the workers, on IAAAP grounds.“The only place we have here is Casey’s and so we thought, well, let’s give it a whirl,” Johnson said.
Dawn and her husband, Rodney, started preparing for the new business in October of last year, purchasing a 1975 Nomad camping trailer to act as the home of Cowbell Concessions.“It was in such bad shape, I can’t even believe we got it home. So we gutted it and we redid it all ourselves,” she said. “He did most of it, I should say.”Johnson and her family are natives of Dallas City, Ill., and have lived in Middletown for seven years. They transitioned to Burlington in between but wanted to live somewhere quieter.
It doesn’t get any quieter than Middletown. Johnson sees enterprising opportunities beyond Cowbell Concessions, but right now, she’s focused entirely on the new food truck.“I love it here,” Johnson said.
Johnson said Cowbell Concessions focuses on simple food that can be served quickly. That includes everything from biscuits and gravy in the morning to loose meat sandwiches and pulled pork later in the day.
The menus don’t focus on just the savory. There’s quite a selection of doughnuts as well, which Johnson initially thought might be the focus of the food truck.“We kind of got the idea we were going to try donuts because it’s like the doughnuts your mom made you when you were a kid. My mom made these doughnuts for me, and it’s been a hit,” Johnson said.
Johnson is stressing the economic side of Cowbell Concessions as well. The lunchtime special is called “The Cowbell,” consisting of one loose-meat sandwich, pulled pork, and tater tots for $10.
It’s family cooking for people who don’t have time for family cooking. So far, the idea is catching on.
“We have a big family, so we know how to cook economically,” she said.
The name of the food truck can be taken two ways. On its surface, it’s just a nice, Iowa-friendly, country title. And they certainly serve plenty of cows.
But Johnson named it after the infamous Saturday Night Live skit starring Christopher Walken and Will Ferrell, where Ferrell emphatically and repeatedly rings a cowbell during a rehearsal of the song “Don’t Fear the Reaper.”
Johnson thought it was one of the funniest things she’s ever seen.“She’s liked cowbells ever since,” her mother Donna said.
