Brother Scott Hartog

Name: Scott Hartog

Position:  Whisky Expert in Training

Home Base:  Windermere, FL

First Adventure:  Death Valley National Park

Quote:  “You’re not going to play that Soviet propaganda song are you?”

Story:  So, how did Scott get a bid to join up with the Brotherhood?  It’s a crazy story.  Gregg & Don had known Scott for years through our kids in scouting, but got to know him better after our kids left home and our wives put together a lot things we did socially as couples.

Being a guy who’s not much of a drinker, who did not care for cigars, and not one who seemed like he would appreciate the type of pompous silliness & shenanigans that this little fraternal organization is known for, we never considered inviting Scott to join us.  He was good friend, but we just assumed that this was not his cup of tea.  Let’s face it, we are a silly drinking club of old guys who happen to go on cool hikes once in a while. 

It is still unclear exactly how Scott wormed his way into the Brotherhood, but we all seem to agree that it happened on a booze-fueled night on Armando’s back patio after a couples evening out seeing a jazz quartet at the Timucuan Arts Center.  The big talk that came with the alcohol was from a couple of the brothers, but not Scott, since he had volunteered to be designated driver that night.  As the saying goes, when you are the only sober person in the room…..you “own” the room.

Because we were caught off guard on Scott pressing us to join up, and had our doubts that he could tolerate our crazy bullshit, we did something we had never done to an A-B pledge before…..we hazed him.  We told him that in order become part of the group, he would have to sing a select aria from a Gilbert & Sullivan opera while wearing a pink dress, at our next A-B meeting. To his credit Scott did just that (except for wearing the dress which we only thought about after the fact).

Being an electrical engineer & natural trouble shooter, Scott brings his advanced technology skill set, which was sorely needed for this group of Luddites.