The biography of Darren “Bruce Lee” Hartsock

Darren “Bruce Lee” Hartsock is a “Lifer.” No, I don’t mean in the correctional institution kind of way, but in the “I found the work and company I like to keep” kind of way. Darren really has been working for Meadowbrooke his entire adult life and even a little before that, when he was just a young and impressionable lad.

When Darren was fourteen, his parents heard about an opening for a summer job picking strawberries for a local farmer. Recognizing the opportunity to supply their son with a way to make money and, more importantly, a way to get him out of the house, they signed him up without delay. Darren rode his bike, five miles, uphill both ways, and found that he had an inherent talent for picking strawberries in a speedy manner. His ability to work both fast and hard eventually lead Mr. Bear to keep him on for the rest of the summer as part of the farm crew.

A few years later, after the gourds became part of the equation, Darren found himself promoted to making parts for the fledgling gourd products. He and a few others made wire handles, birdhouse hangers, corn cob pipes, and noses for snowmen out of blueberry wood. Their “parts department” was set up inside a sedentary tractor trailer bed that was, eventually supplied with electricity and an AC unit for the summer months.

Darren continued his parts work at the Potato Road location, as well as attending wholesale shows, throughout college where he studied business management as his major. After graduating, he didn’t go too far, in fact, he didn’t go much of anywhere and here he still is.

Officially, Darren is the wholesale accounts manager, but in reality, he is the happy voice on the end of the phone or the tired looking guy at the wholesale shows. There are a few other things Darren is besides a gourd selling machine; he is married with two lovely young children and in the past several years he has taken up running and not because he’s being chased. In a few weeks, he will be participating in something called a Tough Mudder race, which apparently involves running, obstacle courses and a whole lot of mud. It sounds like fun…I think?

When Darren isn’t tired and muddy, he likes to watch baseball/football while enjoying a good craft beer or his favorite show, Game of Thrones. He has also read the books and is in the process of rereading them before the new season comes out. Between his life at the gourd farm, his family, and personal interests, Mr. Hartsock is a very busy fellow.