Seattle’s Iconic Bartender Dennis Berg: Tales from 43 Years in the Space Needle

Welcome to Exploring Washington State! Host Scott Cowan sits down with Dennis Berg, a bartender who’s called the Space Needle his workplace for an astounding 43 years.

In this episode, recorded at Here Today Brewery and Kitchen, Dennis shares decades of stories, insights, and memories from Seattle’s most iconic landmark, along with his passion for Washington’s vibrant wine and bar scene. Tune in for a lively conversation full of nostalgia, quirky facts, and a peek into Seattle’s evolving culture.

Show Highlights:

• A Life in the Clouds: Dennis talks about working in the Space Needle since 1982. From enduring high winds to witnessing Seattle’s landscape transformations, he offers an insider view of life atop Seattle’s skyline.
• The Space Needle Then and Now: Get a firsthand look at how the Space Needle has changed, from the 1982 restaurant scene to the recent addition of the world’s only revolving glass floor. Dennis recounts stories about historical Seattle events, renovations, and even the structural quirks that make the Space Needle a true wonder.
• Tales from Trader Vic’s to the Space Needle Bar: Dennis shares his bartending journey, which began at the legendary Trader Vic’s in the ’70s. Expect tales of 80-drink menus, Mai Tais made from scratch, and how Dennis’ love for bartending ultimately led him to a decades-long career at the Needle.
• Celebrity Encounters & 4th of July Fireworks: Hear about celebrity visitors—from John Travolta to Robert Plant—and what it’s like to work during Seattle’s famous fireworks show atop the Needle. Dennis even reveals his experience of touching the beacon on the Needle’s roof—no harness required!
• Seattle’s Evolving Drink Scene: From old-school bartending techniques to today’s cocktail trends, Dennis shares his perspective on how Seattle’s drink preferences have evolved. Ever curious about the most popular drinks at the Space Needle? Dennis has you covered!
• Washington Wine and Distillery Life: When he’s not 500 feet above ground, Dennis volunteers at local wineries and distilleries. He describes bottling 300 cases an hour and the camaraderie of the local wine and distilling community.
• Baseball Tradition with a Twist: Discover Dennis’ yearly tradition of gathering bartenders and bar owners from around the region to attend Mariners’ opening games. This beloved annual event has united the local bar community in a unique, spirited way that exemplifies Seattle pride.

Key Takeaways:

Dennis Berg’s journey is a testament to the strength of community and the charm of Seattle’s unique culture. His stories offer an unparalleled view of Seattle—from the 848 stairs in the Needle to the rooftop experiences most of us can only imagine.

Whether a Seattle native or a first-time visitor, this episode will give you new reasons to appreciate the Needle and Seattle’s iconic bar scene.

Dennis Berg: Tales from 43 Years in the Space Needle Episode Transcript

Scott Cowan [00:00:04]:

Hello, friends, and welcome to the Exploring Washington State podcast. My name is Scott Cowan, and I’m the host of the show. Each episode, I have a conversation with an interesting guest who is living in or from Washington State. These are casual conversations with real and interesting people. I think you’re gonna like the show. So let’s jump right in with today’s guest. So I’m sitting down today and here today, Brewery and Kitchen with Dennis Berg. Dennis was introduced to me through a friend.

Scott Cowan [00:00:33]:

What I I know about you, you’re a bartender at the Space Needle, and you’ve been doing it for, like, I don’t know, 43 ish years? 4043 years in May. Yeah. That’s crazy to me. So we joke about on on our website. Now we we don’t pay attention to Seattle because it’s been done so well, and the Space Needle’s been done so well. Mhmm. But the idea of sitting down with somebody who’s worked in that building for 4 decades, you gotta have some stories that are gonna be fun, and we’re gonna have a good time here chatting. So, Dennis, give me a little bit of your backstory.

Dennis Berg [00:01:13]:

Well, born and raised in Seattle. Watched them build the freeway in 63. So been here a long time. Where’d you

Scott Cowan [00:01:23]:

go to high school?

Dennis Berg [00:01:24]:

I went to high school at Nathan Hale. You

Scott Cowan [00:01:26]:

went to Nathan Hale?

Dennis Berg [00:01:27]:

Graduated in 1969. Okay. 1st job was pre pre job before the bartender, baking milkshakes or McDonald’s.

Scott Cowan [00:01:40]:

You were with Milkshake guys at McDonald’s? Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:01:42]:

Designated me I’m a drink maker. Okay?

Scott Cowan [00:01:45]:

Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:01:46]:

And so I did that, and then I signed up to go to school, Shoreline Community College. I was gonna do a food service degree. I woke up one morning. My mom was, you know, get down to the Westin Hotel. It was a Washington Plaza. They’re hiring dishwashers. So that was first job washing dishes.

Scott Cowan [00:02:09]:

Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:02:10]:

I was there 69, and then, I washed dishes for a couple years, and I ended up working in the purchasing department and receiving and shipping.

Scott Cowan [00:02:27]:

So you kinda saw it all at Yeah. At at there. Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:02:30]:

Well So, How’d you get into the bar? So, there was another, famous bar called Trader Vic’s. Yep. So that was in the Ben Franklin Hotel. The Ben Franklin? Yeah. So the Ben Franklin where the Washington Plaza was, that was the Orpheum Theater.

Scott Cowan [00:02:49]:

Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:02:49]:

So they leveled that and they built the Washington Plaza Tower.

Scott Cowan [00:02:54]:

Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:02:54]:

Okay. And so then Trader Vic’s. So I I always did a lot of favors. So they needed, like, because they did a lot of outside catering, and they did a lot of special parties. They were like Trader Vic’s was they took care of all the dignitaries in Seattle.

Scott Cowan [00:03:12]:

Right.

Dennis Berg [00:03:13]:

You know, the Al Hawes, the Skinners, and, you know, so I was like, hey, Dennis, can you go do this? So I would drive to the airport, you know, get some strawberries that came special from Mexico, and then I would go to the Washington state liquor store, the warehouse, and pick up, Trader Rick rum. You know? And then you know? So I was like, hey. You know? Maybe I wanna be a bartender. So I asked, the, the bar manager, hey. One day, I’d like to be a bartender because you’re in luck. The bartender is quitting, so, we have to start you out as a bar back.

Scott Cowan [00:03:50]:

Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:03:51]:

So I was a bar back, you know, learning to cut lemons and limes and, because there are so many garnishes for the Trader Vic’s, bar menu. And so I was a bar back for 2 weeks. And since that other bartender was quitting, they said this opportunity might not come for a long time for you to be a bartender. So what you need to do, we’ll train you in the service bar. So I came back on my own time and I worked I worked 8 to 4. I came back at 6 and I stayed 6 till midnight and learned how to make drinks. The drink menu at Trader Vic’s, there was like 80 drinks on there. So I had to know you had to know all those, but they put me during the day shift, 10 to 6.

Dennis Berg [00:04:38]:

Right. You know? So you got more gentlemen, you know, travelers, and so you’re making scotch and sodas and More more cheese. Yeah. Less exotic stuff. Yeah. Okay. So Alright.

Scott Cowan [00:04:50]:

What your time there at Trader Vic’s, I I have this, like, really fuzzy, hazy memory of that place because

Dennis Berg [00:04:57]:

that

Scott Cowan [00:04:58]:

I I think it was, like, kind of the exotic drink, Polynesian ash ish drinks. What was something that you remember? Like, what did you like making?

Dennis Berg [00:05:09]:

Well, the number one drink at Trader Vic’s is the mai tai.

Scott Cowan [00:05:12]:

Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:05:13]:

So I made the mai tai. Those are those are all handshaken. You know, a lot of the drinks are different than there than nowadays. You know, everything’s like handmade. There was no batching or anything like that.

Scott Cowan [00:05:27]:

Right.

Dennis Berg [00:05:28]:

So not unusual to have a party of 10 come in, and you want 10 Mai Tais. So you got, you know, the glasses and you’re shaking those, and your hands are, like, cold or yeah. We had one shaker. You know? So, like, nowadays, I watch different bartenders, and they’re, like, shaking with 2 hands. 2 hands. Me, I’m still old school, you know.

Scott Cowan [00:05:46]:

Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:05:46]:

I have my one hand shake.

Scott Cowan [00:05:47]:

So I gotta ask you. Back then, what how much do you remember how much did a Mai Tai cost?

Dennis Berg [00:05:54]:

Probably, like, $3. Okay. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:05:56]:

Alright. Alright.

Dennis Berg [00:05:58]:

But, you know, now they’re, like, you know, 20, 20

Scott Cowan [00:06:01]:

25, maybe, depending on where you are. Okay. So how long were you at Trader Vic’s?

Dennis Berg [00:06:04]:

So I was there, from, 75 to 81. K. And then I, went off and I got my real estate license and that didn’t work too good. And then I ended up working at, a bar in, the Bush Hotel.

Scott Cowan [00:06:22]:

Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:06:22]:

So I worked there and then another bar opened up in Everett. Then I went up there to, work in Everett, long commute from home. And then in May, the big full page article came out. Hey. They’re hiring at the Space Needle. So I went down and filled out an application. Started May 8, 1982.

Scott Cowan [00:06:43]:

May 8, 1982. Alright. So I’m curious. I’ve been up on the needle maybe 4 times in my life. You know? You’ve gone up and down those elevators 100, if not 1000 of times. Yeah. What’s your day like there? I mean, do you do you is there a service elevator, I guess? Is that that’s it must be a service elevator.

Dennis Berg [00:07:07]:

There is. Okay. What’s happening now? So we did, we closed a restaurant 2017 to begin our, $110,000,000 remodel, putting in the only revolving glass floor in the world. So that was completed 2019. And then the bar I work at, it’s a walk up bar that opened in 2020.

Scott Cowan [00:07:34]:

Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:07:35]:

The, what’s going on right now, they’ve always had all these dreams and they’re coming true. They’re gonna do a double decker, elevators. So one will let people off on a glass floor and, the top elevator will let people off an observation deck.

Scott Cowan [00:07:56]:

Oh, wow. Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:07:58]:

So right now, we have the service elevator, and we have one other elevator. So they’re workings because they wanna get this done in 2025.

Scott Cowan [00:08:06]:

Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:08:07]:

So yeah. Then the service elevator. Yeah. Well, there’s a service elevator that that’ll take employees up.

Scott Cowan [00:08:13]:

K.

Dennis Berg [00:08:14]:

And, that also takes care of we have a purchasing department, and that’s in the basement.

Scott Cowan [00:08:20]:

In the basement.

Dennis Berg [00:08:20]:

So everything’s like 500 feet away. So, you know, if you run out of something, you know, you’re at the mercy of the elevator.

Scott Cowan [00:08:27]:

So you wanna make sure that the bar is fully stocked before your shift.

Dennis Berg [00:08:30]:

Oh, yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:08:30]:

Okay. Alright. Wow. I had no idea. I didn’t even think about that in those terms. That’s interesting to me. So there’s a basement in the space needle? Because this is what I thought. Kind of what I’ve read was that there’s this massive concrete block.

Scott Cowan [00:08:45]:

Mhmm. I never thought that there would have been a basement space. I I always just assumed there’s this massive concrete block. So there’s a basement down there. Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:08:56]:

So we have a loading dock and, you know, I come into work and punch in. So we have a employee locker room. There’s security offices, and then there’s a purchasing department where they store all the the beer and all the liquor and all the

Scott Cowan [00:09:14]:

Wow. Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:09:15]:

It’s a lot less than because we don’t have a restaurant anymore. When the restaurant was there, the place was packed to the ceiling.

Scott Cowan [00:09:24]:

Yeah. I can imagine. Okay. So so is there any that you’re aware of, any plan for a restaurant ever again, or do you think it’s just gonna be the the glass floor in the observation deck? Or

Dennis Berg [00:09:38]:

Well, they always say never. Right. But, you know but the thing, right now, we get we have over a 1,000,000 and a half people come every year. Okay. So the focus is the glass floor. Yeah. Okay. So there’s people all over.

Dennis Berg [00:09:55]:

I mean, like like this past summer

Scott Cowan [00:09:58]:

Yeah.

Dennis Berg [00:09:59]:

Not unusual to have 10,000 people come up a day.

Scott Cowan [00:10:02]:

You’re kidding me.

Dennis Berg [00:10:03]:

So but imagine you and I, you know, come up for a romantic dinner, you know, and here’s the glass floor, then there’s someone that’s gonna come and do a selfie right by your feet. Yeah. So that’s why, you know, the the restaurant is, really not feasible.

Scott Cowan [00:10:19]:

So the glass floor are you telling me that if I went up there and I’m imagine that this where we’re sitting, this is glass. I’m looking down.

Dennis Berg [00:10:29]:

You’re looking down.

Scott Cowan [00:10:30]:

I’m seeing the grounds of the Seattle Center.

Dennis Berg [00:10:32]:

You’re gonna see the Yeah. You’re gonna see pop. You’re gonna see the Chihuly Garden in Glass.

Scott Cowan [00:10:39]:

Kinda cool, but creepy at the same

Dennis Berg [00:10:41]:

time for me. There’s, you know, a lot of people, they’ll I watch them. They come running to the bar. I need a shot. I need a shot. You know? Like, hey. What what do you want? You know? So they gotta have the shot because they’re deaf death deathly afraid of the Oh my god. Glass floor.

Dennis Berg [00:10:57]:

We do have, like, carbon fibers Yeah. Over, you know, so people will have, like, an area for them to sit.

Scott Cowan [00:11:05]:

Yeah. I just Wow. So question about that. Oh, you’re fine. Make noise. It’s all good. We’re borrowing your space. Were you during the Nisqually quake, were you by chance, were you working with

Dennis Berg [00:11:25]:

That was my the I was off that day.

Scott Cowan [00:11:29]:

Okay. I do you did you ever was it was the space still open at that time? I’m trying to read.

Dennis Berg [00:11:35]:

That was open. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:11:36]:

Yeah.

Dennis Berg [00:11:37]:

So there was a bunch of peep a bunch of servers. Yeah. They took off and ran down the stairs. That’s what I heard. I They left the guests up there, and they said, well, women and children first. Children and they left.

Scott Cowan [00:11:50]:

Well, so I was working at Starbucks corporate

Dennis Berg [00:11:52]:

Uh-huh.

Scott Cowan [00:11:53]:

Then. And I was working in the data center, so I worked nights. So I was I was trying to go to sleep Mhmm. When it happened. And then so the So to Center where Starbucks is, you know, it like these old brick buildings, you know, they just they shook and they split, and it was, it was interesting. I I can’t imagine if I were up there Mhmm. That I would have that I would go back up there again. Let’s just put it that way.

Scott Cowan [00:12:19]:

I’m that type of person.

Dennis Berg [00:12:20]:

It’s

Scott Cowan [00:12:20]:

like, oh my god. So you didn’t you didn’t get to experience that firsthand, so that’s No.

Dennis Berg [00:12:25]:

No. So it’s But

Scott Cowan [00:12:28]:

I’ve been

Dennis Berg [00:12:28]:

up there when it’s windy. It’ll handle a 100 mile an hour winds. Yeah. It’ll sway a little bit.

Scott Cowan [00:12:34]:

So do you notice that when you’re up there when it’s okay. So you notice that. I’ve got so many questions about this. So, like, let me ask you this. In 43 years, you’ve been up there for 4 seasons, winter, spring, summer, and fall. What’s your favorite time of year to be up there and just casual? I know I know you don’t get to stand around and and look at the view, because you’re working, but, like, what’s when do you think Seattle presents itself the most beautiful from the Space Needle?

Dennis Berg [00:13:02]:

There’s just too many. You know, I mean, it’s always clear during the summer. Yeah. And then unless there’s a forest fire or whatever.

Scott Cowan [00:13:11]:

Well, yeah.

Dennis Berg [00:13:12]:

And then also in the winter, the winter days, I mean, the mountains, Mount Rainier will be crystal clear, the Olympics.

Scott Cowan [00:13:19]:

Right.

Dennis Berg [00:13:19]:

Be able to see Mount Baker. You can look through the Duwamish cut, and then you can see the top of the the balloon off Mount Saint Helens.

Scott Cowan [00:13:28]:

So what’s your favorite view? What’s your favorite you just named a bunch of these iconic things. What do you think?

Dennis Berg [00:13:32]:

I mean, it’s just I mean Come on. I’ll put you on the spot. My my reindeer.

Scott Cowan [00:13:36]:

You like you reindeer’s for you?

Dennis Berg [00:13:37]:

Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I stare at that, you know, every every you know, my bar, you know, just goes around, and then I see her.

Scott Cowan [00:13:45]:

And what’s the and how fast does that thing make a full turn?

Dennis Berg [00:13:47]:

So it takes 30 minutes. 30 minutes.

Scott Cowan [00:13:50]:

And when you’re just standing there, if there’s a moment where you’re not, quote, unquote, busy, you’re just you’re gazing out, how much do you notice the the change of the of the in the rotation? Is it quite noticeable? Well, I mean okay. So it rotates 30 it takes 30 minutes.

Dennis Berg [00:14:09]:

Right.

Scott Cowan [00:14:09]:

So if you’re standing, like, you’re looking at me right now.

Dennis Berg [00:14:11]:

Right.

Scott Cowan [00:14:11]:

Like, if if we if I started rotating at that pace, do I move pretty fast? No. Okay. So it’s a pretty subtle Yeah.

Dennis Berg [00:14:17]:

That’s pretty slow.

Scott Cowan [00:14:18]:

Yeah. So so

Dennis Berg [00:14:20]:

I mean, it just, you know, goes around and, you know, I mean, that gives everyone an opportunity to see everything. Yeah. So they’ll sit in my bar and they’ll see Mount Rainier, and then they’ll go buy the Olympics, and they’ll go buy Mount Baker, and they’ll see Capitol Hill. And

Scott Cowan [00:14:36]:

So another question I got for you. We we we you know, on 4th July, we see all the fireworks coming off that thing. Have you is is the needle open?

Dennis Berg [00:14:44]:

Yes.

Scott Cowan [00:14:44]:

Okay. Have you worked that shift?

Dennis Berg [00:14:46]:

Yes.

Scott Cowan [00:14:46]:

What is that like to be sitting there? I mean, is it I don’t know. I I almost don’t think it would be visually interesting because you’re it’s not designed for for I don’t know. What’s that look like inside the needle when that those go up?

Dennis Berg [00:14:59]:

So what they’ll do is they’ll stop the floor. Okay. So then that way, people can, like, get over so they have a view of, Lake Union.

Scott Cowan [00:15:08]:

Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:15:08]:

The observation deck, that’s where the majority of the people will be, and so they’ll all crowd Right. So they can see Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:15:16]:

The thing starts leaning. Yeah.

Dennis Berg [00:15:20]:

But, like, you know, when, when the restaurant was there Yeah. Okay. So, can’t remember the years, but, you know, we did, there was fireworks off of Lake Union, and there’s fireworks, off the sound. Right. So Got

Scott Cowan [00:15:37]:

2 shows.

Dennis Berg [00:15:37]:

Two shows. So you’d and would spin around. People would come up, you know, and that’s when we people would have dinner Yeah. You know, so they could see. I got into trouble a few times because I was in the service bar, and I wanted to see. So I go out and hit the emergency button. It’s like, you know, I wanna look. And then they put guards around there and say, watch out.

Dennis Berg [00:16:00]:

Someone’s, like, turning off the floor.

Scott Cowan [00:16:03]:

That’s funny. So do you know the process to turn off the floor? I mean, is it is it literally just a button, basically? Or how does Well, in the olden

Dennis Berg [00:16:11]:

days, there was a button. Okay. On and off button.

Scott Cowan [00:16:13]:

Right.

Dennis Berg [00:16:14]:

Okay. That’s when we had the 1 horsepower motor.

Scott Cowan [00:16:16]:

It was 1 horsepower?

Dennis Berg [00:16:17]:

Yeah. Back, you know, back in 62. One horsepower?

Scott Cowan [00:16:21]:

Yeah. Turn that whole

Dennis Berg [00:16:23]:

Yeah. But see, now it’s so it’s so heavy. Now we have 12 motors that turn the glass off.

Scott Cowan [00:16:28]:

Still, I I can’t imagine just a 1 horsepower mow that’s less than a lawnmower. And you’re telling me a 1 horsepower motor Mhmm. Was able to to rotate the space needle.

Dennis Berg [00:16:39]:

Yep.

Scott Cowan [00:16:41]:

It’s not that I don’t believe you. I’m just dumb talking about it, Bob. You’re kidding me. Wow.

Dennis Berg [00:16:45]:

And that was, you know, from 1962. So that was pretty amazing.

Scott Cowan [00:16:49]:

Yeah. That’s that’s well, you know, I’ve I’ve there’s yeah. There’s just so many things. Okay. So in all your years there, let’s gossip. Who have you seen? Famous people, who have you seen go through the needle? Any names pop in your head?

Dennis Berg [00:17:07]:

Well, John Travolta, you know, he would come up. He came up for dinner, like, 2 nights in a row because he brings his, what do you have? A 727?

Scott Cowan [00:17:18]:

Yeah. Or a 707. 107. One of

Dennis Berg [00:17:19]:

the 2 7. So he brings that in for a tune up at Boeing. You know?

Scott Cowan [00:17:23]:

Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:17:23]:

Yeah. So he’ll be up there. I’ve met Robert Plant.

Scott Cowan [00:17:32]:

Now my friend

Dennis Berg [00:17:33]:

Graham. And who else did I see? I saw, Bill Clinton. You saw Clinton up there?

Scott Cowan [00:17:38]:

Yeah. Okay. That’s alright.

Dennis Berg [00:17:41]:

But I’m I was in a I was in a bar out front from 82 to 89. And then, last 35 years, I was in a service bar. So

Scott Cowan [00:17:49]:

you don’t see yourself?

Dennis Berg [00:17:50]:

In the closet, you know. So Right. So I can only look out and see someone go by and

Scott Cowan [00:17:55]:

My friend Tracy Wallschleger who, you know, knows us. Right? She told me she met Robert Plant.

Dennis Berg [00:18:00]:

Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:18:01]:

And, her story is pretty funny, but she what she said was the night that he was there is, like, with some kids. Yeah. And, all the she said all the servers were going over. In interrupting his meal, basically. But he I guess he was incredibly gracious to

Dennis Berg [00:18:17]:

Oh, he had.

Scott Cowan [00:18:18]:

Everybody. Yeah. That Yeah.

Dennis Berg [00:18:20]:

He came to me, you know, to get, because I need change so I can make a phone call. And all of a sudden, these little girls are there. You know? I said, you’re Robert. You should just charge him a quarter, then that way, you know, you so you can use the phone. And then so I I asked him for a autograph. I and I and and he looks at me and I go, no. There’s a guy downstairs in purchasing that loves you, and so he he wants an autograph. So Did he give you one? So he gave it to you know, because you know? And then later on, when he went down there to get his car, the purchasing guy came out and thanked you, and he goes, oh, I guess that bartender wasn’t lying, you know, because that was for you.

Dennis Berg [00:19:00]:

So That’s that’s pretty cool. That’s pretty cool. One of the cooks that cooked his meal came out to shake his hand because that was his favorite band, Led Zeppelin.

Scott Cowan [00:19:08]:

Right.

Dennis Berg [00:19:09]:

And then Robert Plant autographed his, chef’s hat for him.

Scott Cowan [00:19:12]:

Chef’s hat. I Tracy told me a a version of that.

Dennis Berg [00:19:14]:

Yeah. I was like So that was just like I mean, you know, a guy’s dream come true, Robert Plant.

Scott Cowan [00:19:21]:

You know? Yeah. Yeah. If if you’re if yeah. I mean, they were iconic for

Dennis Berg [00:19:26]:

Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:19:26]:

You know, so long and he’s still iconic. Yeah.

Dennis Berg [00:19:28]:

And he’s

Scott Cowan [00:19:28]:

still, I mean, he’s still playing live. Mhmm. Tell me something that the general public doesn’t know about the space needle. What’s a quirky thing like like, I didn’t know there was a basement. So, like, what else what else is there about the space needle that’s kinda the the general public wouldn’t think of that? Wow.

Dennis Berg [00:19:54]:

Okay. Well, I actually

Scott Cowan [00:19:55]:

have a question. And you might not know the answer. This is the way my brain works out. But so when you had when when the kitchen was there Yeah. And there’s bathrooms up there. We’ve got sewage, and we’ve got grease and all that. Is are there

Dennis Berg [00:20:08]:

There’s pipes that go all the way down.

Scott Cowan [00:20:09]:

There’s pipes that go all the way down. They’re kinda hidden amongst the the stairs.

Dennis Berg [00:20:12]:

I mean, they’re just right you know, they can just go right down through the stairwell. There’s 848 stairs.

Scott Cowan [00:20:19]:

Have you ever run up them?

Dennis Berg [00:20:21]:

No. But I I’ve been down them. Okay. So you want a story. Right? Yes. Okay. So one night, I, another bartender and I were working, and they said, okay. They’re changing the transformers in the the the center house.

Dennis Berg [00:20:39]:

So we’re gonna turn off. We’re gonna go on the generator. So we need to take this one elevator. Okay? And so and I’m kind of the troublemaker. You know? So it’s like, you know, so anyway, so I come around the corner, and I go, hey. There’s a there’s a service elevator. It’s right there. And my friend, he goes, bartender goes, no.

Scott Cowan [00:21:02]:

No. You always get

Dennis Berg [00:21:03]:

us in trouble. We’re supposed to take this other elevator, the blue elevator. And I go, no. No. The red one’s right there. And he goes, nope. And I go, okay. So we get to the red, the leather elevator, and it goes down 20 feet and it stops.

Dennis Berg [00:21:19]:

The elevator, the red service elevator, and I look, and I go, oh, look. That went all the way down. So there’s a phone in all the elevators. So we grab the phone. We go, so what do we do? Well, we’ll call you right back. Okay. So he and I were stuck in there with, missus Field with a bag of missus Field’s cookies. Okay? So then we get a phone call about 10 minutes later.

Dennis Berg [00:21:45]:

So the elevator company, they won’t be there for 3 hours. So you guys are gonna have to cut your way out. Okay. So how do we do that? So down below the phone, there’s a key. And then in the back, there’s a panel that looks like a panel, but it’s a door. So we had to open up that door. And when behind that door was, bolt cutters because there’s a chain link fence that goes behind the elevators.

Scott Cowan [00:22:16]:

Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:22:17]:

Okay. So, luckily, the counterbalance wasn’t there. So we had to, like, hold back the cables and jump to the stairwell and walk all the way down. Oh, hell no. So I got home at, 2:30, and my wife was like, are you okay? What, you know, hey, where have you been? It’s like, stuck in the elevator. And I showed her my, white shirt. It was just covered with grease.

Scott Cowan [00:22:43]:

Oh my gosh. No. No. No. No.

Dennis Berg [00:22:47]:

Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:22:49]:

Okay. So the only thing I’ve got in my life, and it’s kind of so the stairs the stairs that go to this up and down the space, you know, are they normal sized stairs? Are they, like, are they okay.

Dennis Berg [00:23:07]:

There’s there’s 2 sets.

Scott Cowan [00:23:09]:

2 sets. Okay. So 2

Dennis Berg [00:23:10]:

two ways to get out.

Scott Cowan [00:23:11]:

Okay. So when I was, probably 16 years old, I was down in Knott’s Berry Farm with with my my parents and a friend of mine. And my friend and I are running around like 16 year old teenagers do. And, of course, my friend finds a cute girl. I get her little brother, and I have to take the little brother on all these rides because, you know, that’s what you do. Well, there’s this corkscrew roller coaster, and I don’t I’m not a thrill seeker type person. Those that well, the kid go, come on. Come on.

Scott Cowan [00:23:39]:

Come on. I’ll go. So we’re literally in the front seats of the front car where, you know, and we go start up. We go up to the big hill at the top of the roller coaster, and we just go over. We’re like, our car just started to crest. Right. They stopped us, and we had to climb down Because the other train, there was 2 trains on the track. Right? And the other train, the hydraulics jammed

Dennis Berg [00:24:02]:

Uh-huh.

Scott Cowan [00:24:03]:

And we would have crashed into it. But I had to climb down from the top of the roller coaster at Knott’s Berry Farm. And those stair, I’m a big guy. Right? I I wasn’t that I was tall then, not not big, but, those stairs were, like, bigger than normal and not it was for workmen. It wasn’t for the public. It wasn’t, you know, OSHA. I mean, it’s probably OSHA, but not Yeah. Not something that, you know, you’d have the public go walking up and down.

Scott Cowan [00:24:30]:

Yeah. So I I could have not done what you did. I would not have I would not have done that.

Dennis Berg [00:24:36]:

Okay. Better tell you a couple other stories. Alright?

Scott Cowan [00:24:39]:

Let’s go.

Dennis Berg [00:24:39]:

So but I have pictures, but you’ll just have to I’ll show you the pictures.

Scott Cowan [00:24:45]:

Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:24:45]:

We can’t do it over this.

Scott Cowan [00:24:47]:

Right.

Dennis Berg [00:24:47]:

But back in 82 when we all started, we’re the, facility guys were taking people to the top of the roof so we could, like, see out. So it was my turn. So there’s a steep ladder that goes all the way to the top, goes to the halo, and goes to the very top of the roof. There’s a tower with a red beacon. So I’m up there, and I’m a smartass. And so I asked them, I go, hey. Can I touch that red beacon? And they go, then they, like, hit me in the chest. They said, you go right ahead, Dennis.

Dennis Berg [00:25:25]:

So I climbed all the way to the top, touched the red beacon. They came out and took a picture with their InstaMatic camera. And then, like, a week later, they gave me a couple of copies of the picture. No harness. No. Nothing on them. So so every 10 years, we celebrate the anniversary of the Space Needle. So, 2022, that was the 60th anniversary.

Scott Cowan [00:25:56]:

Right.

Dennis Berg [00:25:56]:

And we paint the top galaxy gold.

Scott Cowan [00:25:59]:

Right.

Dennis Berg [00:25:59]:

So I I I it was my turn to, like, paint. And so I was in all these harnesses and everything is like, oh, the last time I was up here, I didn’t have to wear these.

Scott Cowan [00:26:09]:

So wait a second. It was your turn to paint. Was it So

Dennis Berg [00:26:12]:

everybody got got a chance to, like, do a couple of rolls

Scott Cowan [00:26:15]:

of the

Dennis Berg [00:26:15]:

gold paint. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:26:16]:

I’d be you wanted to participate. Was it like it was a slow Tuesday at the bar, you know, for

Dennis Berg [00:26:21]:

I just I just want you know, because I was gonna do it for the 50th anniversary. Yeah. But since we went and live in Seattle, there’s a lot of rain, and they didn’t want anybody to go up there. And so I lost out in 19 and, for the 50th anniversary.

Scott Cowan [00:26:35]:

So let’s let’s talk about that. When you when they paint, are they are you literally just rolling it on?

Dennis Berg [00:26:42]:

Yeah. You’re rolling on. Yeah. Yeah. They give you a roller. You know? You could come up there and do a couple rolls. You know? You could check that off your box. So for the 60th this year, we there was a lot of contests.

Dennis Berg [00:26:53]:

So there was a lot of outside people that, you know, that, you know, got picked. And so I think there was probably, like, 20 of them that actually got to go up there and then roll it up. But you’re

Scott Cowan [00:27:03]:

in a in a You’re

Dennis Berg [00:27:04]:

in a harness.

Scott Cowan [00:27:05]:

You’re in a harness now.

Dennis Berg [00:27:06]:

No. I’ll show you those

Scott Cowan [00:27:07]:

pictures. That’s just crazy.

Dennis Berg [00:27:09]:

And then and the moose, he, the mariner moose, he got the paint. Don’t get any paint on those, gold, you know, gold paint on those claws.

Scott Cowan [00:27:17]:

So how so that’s just paint. That’s not like a vinyl sheeting or anything. It’s literally paint.

Dennis Berg [00:27:22]:

Yeah. It’s paint.

Scott Cowan [00:27:22]:

And so when whenever whenever the needle changes its kind of appearance Yeah. It’s it’s paint. Right. How long does it take a crew to paint that? Not not with the letting the public come up and, you know, do some but, like, is it a Yeah.

Dennis Berg [00:27:38]:

You do it, like, in a couple of days. Wow. So the next time it’s gonna be painted is gonna be, you know, 20 2032. Wow. Yeah. 70th anniversary.

Scott Cowan [00:27:52]:

Yeah. It’s crazy. It’s, you know, it’s interesting. It just the needle itself, I mean, is it I think it’s I think it’s the most iconic shape in Seattle. And I almost wanna say it’s the most iconic shape in the state. I mean, Mount Rainier is right. I mean, it’s they’re they’re that’s competing. Those are 2 heavyweights.

Scott Cowan [00:28:18]:

But it is a very, it’s just it’s iconic. I mean, somebody who doesn’t know anything about Seattle sees the space, you know, they go, Seattle. I mean, that’s just, you know, that’s just boom. Well, Rainier might confuse somebody and they might say, oh, is that, Kodiak or something up? Yeah.

Dennis Berg [00:28:35]:

Story.

Scott Cowan [00:28:36]:

Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:28:36]:

So we have so many tourists. Right?

Scott Cowan [00:28:38]:

Right.

Dennis Berg [00:28:38]:

Come to, you know, a 1,000,000 and a half every year. Now we have cruise ships coming, so people from all over. So, like, you know, I’m making drinks and, this lady comes up to me and she goes she points at Mount Rainier and she goes, is that Mount Everest? And I, like, look at her and was like, oh, and then oh, and I go, oh, well, over that those Olympic mountains, if you stand on your toes, you can see Mount Fuji. She only looks at me. I go, oh, ma’am, that’s that’s Mount Rainier. You can’t see Mount Everest from here.

Scott Cowan [00:29:18]:

Oh my gosh. So

Dennis Berg [00:29:20]:

how many

Scott Cowan [00:29:21]:

how many people this this glass floor thing. I got lots of questions about

Dennis Berg [00:29:26]:

this. Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:29:27]:

How many pea what’s the capacity up there? Do you know

Dennis Berg [00:29:31]:

if I think it’s, like, they only let, like, 300 people up at a time. Okay. 3, 400.

Scott Cowan [00:29:37]:

Alright. And how

Dennis Berg [00:29:39]:

25 people fit in the elevator.

Scott Cowan [00:29:42]:

Right. And who’s bought with that? How often are they cleaning that glass floor?

Dennis Berg [00:29:48]:

Oh, there’s someone doing that every day.

Scott Cowan [00:29:50]:

I was gonna say

Dennis Berg [00:29:51]:

They’re cleaning the glass floor, and they have someone cleaning the windows. You know, everybody’s got Yeah. Hand Kids with

Scott Cowan [00:29:59]:

candy on their fingers.

Dennis Berg [00:30:00]:

Kids. Adults. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:30:02]:

Yeah. Okay. Wow. So it’s 300 peep what about the observation desk? Desk? How’s the capacity? Or is that for both both levels?

Dennis Berg [00:30:11]:

No. But if they had you know, they put more up there, you know, like, for, for 4th July. Right. You know? It’s like, you know, we’ve had, we just had a party a couple weeks ago for 600 people. So

Scott Cowan [00:30:27]:

Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:30:27]:

And so they bought out the whole the whole needle. And so

Scott Cowan [00:30:31]:

Right. And what’s the do you know what the capacity is of the elevator?

Dennis Berg [00:30:34]:

Yeah. With only 25 people can ride on there.

Scott Cowan [00:30:37]:

So that’s a lot of and and how long is the ride? Is it about

Dennis Berg [00:30:40]:

It’s about 40 seconds, 50 seconds. About a minute. The, service elevator goes twice or goes at twice that’s, half that speed.

Scott Cowan [00:30:51]:

Half that speed.

Dennis Berg [00:30:51]:

So it’s, like, 82 seconds.

Scott Cowan [00:30:53]:

Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:30:54]:

Because they always, you know, I have to bring up so much Right. Supplies and everything. Wow. And they all move furniture and because we have a 100 foot level, and that’s where we do our banquets. That’s our skyline level.

Scott Cowan [00:31:09]:

Right.

Dennis Berg [00:31:09]:

So we can do it. When

Scott Cowan [00:31:10]:

was that built?

Dennis Berg [00:31:11]:

That was built in 82.

Scott Cowan [00:31:13]:

Okay. That’s right. Okay. Just so many logistical things when you say it like that. We have

Dennis Berg [00:31:18]:

to bring furniture up. Mhmm.

Scott Cowan [00:31:20]:

You know, everything’s everything that’s up there has to come up from an elevator.

Dennis Berg [00:31:24]:

Mhmm.

Scott Cowan [00:31:24]:

It’s not like a a delivery truck can back up and and, you know, offload it into the kitchen or offload it, you know, offload a bunch of furniture into the lobby. Oh my god. Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:31:38]:

Yeah. Then, you know, we do those parties, you know, so we’re taking furniture down to bring up other furniture. And then at the end of the night, then we’re taking that that furniture back and load it

Scott Cowan [00:31:48]:

in the truck so it goes, you know, back to the warehouse, and then we

Dennis Berg [00:31:51]:

have to bring the other furniture back up.

Scott Cowan [00:31:53]:

So it’s a lot of a lot of work. Wow. I had no idea. No idea.

Dennis Berg [00:31:59]:

We have special chairs too because it’s a glass floor. So you just can’t have you just can’t have metal chairs, so we got a lot of plastic chairs.

Scott Cowan [00:32:09]:

Plastic chairs? Yeah. Okay. Interesting. I yeah. I don’t know if I’d go up there. I mean, I’d go up there, but I don’t know. I’d probably be running to you for a shot. So does the Space Steel have any iconic drinks? Well, we’re, like, constantly, like, changing our

Dennis Berg [00:32:29]:

our menu. So, like, when we, when I started there in 82, what was really cool is they had a round menu.

Scott Cowan [00:32:37]:

Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:32:38]:

So we had a round menu. On one side, you could see where all the landmarks, you know, like Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, Olympics, and everything. And then, you know, and

Scott Cowan [00:32:50]:

No. Mount Mount Mount Fuji?

Dennis Berg [00:32:51]:

So you what’s that? Not Mount Fuji or Mount Everest or, you know, Mount Kilimanjaro. But you could sit there and enjoy your dinner and, you know, travel around, and you you go, okay. There’s that. There’s you know? And then on the other side, then we had all of our, cocktails.

Scott Cowan [00:33:10]:

Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:33:10]:

So, when I started there, we had a a ceramic needle. So that was our signature drink, and that was a drink that you could take home.

Scott Cowan [00:33:22]:

Okay. And what was that drink?

Dennis Berg [00:33:23]:

So that was, just, it was, rum and, pineapple juice and

Scott Cowan [00:33:28]:

Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:33:28]:

Oranges. And then then we had a plastic one, and then we put fruit punch in there, and that was for kids.

Scott Cowan [00:33:34]:

Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:33:35]:

Yeah. But, yeah, we sold a lot of, you know, a lot of those. And, so that was, like, the iconic drink. Right. That was there starting in 62.

Scott Cowan [00:33:45]:

Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:33:46]:

So then when I started there with there was a whole different management than in the beginning. Okay. But, yeah, that was I you know, but that drink’s not I don’t think that drink’s not coming back.

Scott Cowan [00:33:59]:

So as we’re recording this late October of 2024

Dennis Berg [00:34:03]:

Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:34:06]:

What are people drinking these days? What what do you get order what are people ordering from you? Old fashioned. Old fashioned. K? That’s that’s the

Dennis Berg [00:34:16]:

Yeah. That’s what

Scott Cowan [00:34:17]:

That’s the winner? That’s the number 1, you think?

Dennis Berg [00:34:19]:

Yeah. No. Tito’s and soda.

Scott Cowan [00:34:23]:

Okay. Local beers. So what’s what’s a big seller up there for beer?

Dennis Berg [00:34:32]:

So so we have a a we got our beer from another brewery.

Scott Cowan [00:34:37]:

Mhmm.

Dennis Berg [00:34:38]:

And so, I mean, so we have a IPA.

Scott Cowan [00:34:41]:

K.

Dennis Berg [00:34:41]:

So And

Scott Cowan [00:34:45]:

so sorry. We’re in a construction site here today, so there’s gonna be a lot of background noise, but that’s okay. We’ll make it work. I’m so I’m not surprised, and yet I am surprised about the old fashioned being.

Dennis Berg [00:34:59]:

Mhmm.

Scott Cowan [00:35:00]:

So when you’re making an old fashion are people ordering? What are they are they is it just the the I keep hoping that whatever it is will stop, but it won’t. Any any special request? What are people asking with their old fashioned?

Dennis Berg [00:35:21]:

Any Well, so they they have old fashioned in their head. Mhmm. So, you know, what can I get for you? Old fashioned. Okay? And I go, alright. They look at them and they go, preference on your whiskey. Well, I don’t know. Well, I go, well, what do you normally drink? You know? Right. So, I mean, if you’re gonna order an old fashioned, you should really know what, you know, what bourbon, you know, or rye you want in there.

Scott Cowan [00:35:47]:

Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:35:47]:

So then I have to, you know, go, well, we have this and this and this and this and this and this. You know?

Scott Cowan [00:35:52]:

Right. What’s the, oh, what’s the what am I I’m looking for the my god. I’m driving, like if somebody doesn’t give you a preference, what are you pouring in there for old fashioned? What’s the

Dennis Berg [00:36:07]:

I mean, you know, do we have, local, you know, local whiskey? So my favorite is 2 bar.

Scott Cowan [00:36:12]:

2 bar?

Dennis Berg [00:36:12]:

2 bar. They’re, you know, about a mile.

Scott Cowan [00:36:15]:

I’ve never heard of them until you’d mentioned them to me when we talked to them.

Dennis Berg [00:36:18]:

So I bought I bottled the bourbon. I bottled there on

Scott Cowan [00:36:22]:

Yeah. We’ll get we’re gonna get to that. Yeah.

Dennis Berg [00:36:24]:

But I mean, it’s all you know, promote my own product, you know, that I help with.

Scott Cowan [00:36:29]:

That’s pretty cool. So people aren’t ordering I think of an old fashioned as a guy’s drink. I that that’s just my own Right. Stereo typing of things. What are the ladies ordering? Old fashions?

Dennis Berg [00:36:46]:

No. And then we have wine too. So a lot of ladies order, you know Wine. Wine.

Scott Cowan [00:36:50]:

And what what wines does the needle carry right now? And is it local stuff that

Dennis Berg [00:36:54]:

Local stuff. Yeah. That’s cool. Yeah. I mean, they well, we’re all local. So, you know, because people will ask for all kinds of stuff like beer. You know? Mhmm. You know, do you have Coors Light? You know? Do you have Miller Light? And it’s like and I go, what’s that? That’s that? I go, hey.

Dennis Berg [00:37:09]:

You’re here. You know, you gotta you gotta go local. So

Scott Cowan [00:37:17]:

What what is the local brewer that you is that the name?

Dennis Berg [00:37:20]:

We got it from stoop. Stoop? Yeah. Okay. Alright. Lady owned brewery. So, you know Nice. Part of the lady. Just like 2 bar, we have, 2, lady distillers.

Scott Cowan [00:37:31]:

We’re gonna get back to that, but that’s uncommon. That’s uncommon. Yeah. Alright. So 40 in today’s day and age, it’s in my experience, it’s very unusual to have somebody work 43 years in 1 with 1 employer.

Dennis Berg [00:37:48]:

Crazy person. Right?

Scott Cowan [00:37:49]:

Well, I’m not gonna say that. It’s just business the way business changes, things like that. But for 43 years, you had one employer Mhmm. In one iconic building. That’s even if you let’s say you work for Boeing for 43 years, you would probably have been moved from Everett to Renton probably at some point. You know, you wouldn’t have been going to the same parking lot, parking your car, going into the same

Dennis Berg [00:38:15]:

Right.

Scott Cowan [00:38:15]:

Factory. But and so you go every work shift, you go to the Space Needle. Does it ever get old, or is the ride up always kind of fun? Is it

Dennis Berg [00:38:28]:

No. It’s it’s it’s fun. I you know? And it’s like, you know, how many people can say they work at the Space Nail? Not many.

Scott Cowan [00:38:36]:

Not that many.

Dennis Berg [00:38:37]:

No. And

Scott Cowan [00:38:37]:

and You

Dennis Berg [00:38:37]:

know? So it’s just like, you know, you work at the Space Nail. You know? You look at people’s reaction. You know? Like, yours. Like, oh, well, you know, that’s why I’m here. It’s like, oh, you know? Right. But it’s just like, you know I mean, I, you know, I really enjoy my job. You know? I mean, I was in the service bar for 35 years, and, you know, now I’m out front. I get to deal with guests.

Scott Cowan [00:38:57]:

Right.

Dennis Berg [00:38:57]:

You know? Have crazy questions, but, you know, and I But you’re putting up with me. But, I mean, it’s just, you know, they’re all So You know? It’s just it’s just fun to interact with the people.

Scott Cowan [00:39:07]:

Are you the longest tenured employee there?

Dennis Berg [00:39:10]:

There’s one other, there’s a a lady, and so she’s in banquet. So she doesn’t work as much as I do. So I work 3 days a week. Like like yesterday, I was there at 11, and I was off last night at 10. Okay. So that’s, that’s a 11 hour day.

Scott Cowan [00:39:27]:

That’s a long day.

Dennis Berg [00:39:28]:

You know? I mean, I got, you know, and there’s things to do with stocking and. So, I mean, 3 days a week, that’s, you know,

Scott Cowan [00:39:35]:

there’s a lady that’s been in banquets longer than you. No, her and I,

Dennis Berg [00:39:39]:

we came in hand in hand, hand

Scott Cowan [00:39:40]:

in hand.

Dennis Berg [00:39:41]:

May

Scott Cowan [00:39:41]:

8th. So you, so you too. Yeah. And she’s been in banquets that long. I was a banquet waiter in college and it exhausted me in my twenties. I can’t imagine doing banquets for 4 weeks.

Dennis Berg [00:39:53]:

It’s a little bit easier, you know?

Scott Cowan [00:39:58]:

Yeah. Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:39:59]:

Well, you know, then deal you know? So, I mean, she only works, like, couple times a month.

Scott Cowan [00:40:04]:

Oh, okay. That’s pretty. Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:40:06]:

Yeah. I mean, she’s, you know, we’re all getting old, you know? So

Scott Cowan [00:40:11]:

Yes. But I I still I’m I’m I’m stunned when, you know, when you told me it was 43 years. I was, like, are you kidding me? That’s just for I mean, how many of your okay. You’ve got friends. You know people. How many of your friends and acquaintances have worked the same job for 20 plus years?

Dennis Berg [00:40:32]:

Well, we have people that I work alongside that have been there 35 years, 30 years.

Scott Cowan [00:40:37]:

Really?

Dennis Berg [00:40:38]:

Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:40:38]:

Okay. That’s awesome.

Dennis Berg [00:40:40]:

So it’s all about benefits. It’s all about, you know Right. Stability.

Scott Cowan [00:40:45]:

Right.

Dennis Berg [00:40:45]:

You know? Okay. I mean, you know, schedule, you know, you go somewhere else. It’s like, oh, now I gotta work that day. Now I gotta work

Scott Cowan [00:40:52]:

that When you start off, you get the the shifts that might not be what you what you prefer. Well, as we wrap up the needle, I just I think we’ve I think we’ve covered it pretty pretty well from a like, you’ve told me some stories. The beacon no. I’m still I wanna see that photo. I believe you, but I wanna see. That’s just so when you’re not working at the needle, you mentioned 2 bar.

Dennis Berg [00:41:21]:

Mhmm.

Scott Cowan [00:41:23]:

You also work at a winery too, though. Right? You volunteered?

Dennis Berg [00:41:26]:

So I volunteered, about 20 wineries. 20?

Scott Cowan [00:41:31]:

Yeah. Okay. So how do we get started in this? I mean, what you don’t what

Dennis Berg [00:41:40]:

Long time ago, someone say, hey. Have you ever bottled wine? I go, you know, I mean, I like wine because, you know, Woodinville, Chateau Ste Michelle.

Scott Cowan [00:41:48]:

Right.

Dennis Berg [00:41:48]:

You know? And so, there was a winery that was looking for volunteers. So then I signed up, and I’m going, oh, so if this winery needs volunteers, maybe I should try these other ones. So I, you know, would go in, taste some wine, and, you know, maybe join their wine club or whatever. And then I ask, you know, and they go, oh, yeah. We’re bottling. Hey. Then they took my name, and, you know, then they would call me and, you know

Scott Cowan [00:42:18]:

So how far where are you going? How far

Dennis Berg [00:42:22]:

are is this From my house? Uh-huh.

Scott Cowan [00:42:24]:

Yeah. From your house. You’re not driving down to Napa, let’s say. No.

Dennis Berg [00:42:26]:

No. Because Woodinville is wine country. There is over a 100 wineries and tasty rooms in Woodinville.

Scott Cowan [00:42:32]:

I didn’t realize it was over a 100 now. Okay. Alright. So you’re doing that. And the distillery, how’d you get same sort of thing?

Dennis Berg [00:42:43]:

So, the owner, Nathan, he came and he did a a class on, bourbon at the space deal. And so I was like, hey. I’ll ask him if I can, you know so I asked him if I could help Bob. He goes, yeah. Sure. So I came down and, you know, helped him bottle and then and I go with you know, he goes, can you come this time? Like, what, you know, what the next time? And so for me, I I just love, you know, doing all that. And then I go, okay. I’ll ask some friends.

Scott Cowan [00:43:14]:

So

Dennis Berg [00:43:14]:

that you know? And then all of a sudden, those guys get the fever. So there’s just a whole I mean, I brought, you know, like, 10 people to bottle bourbon, and I I brought this the one girl, Sony, and so now she is one of the distillers.

Scott Cowan [00:43:32]:

Really?

Dennis Berg [00:43:32]:

So they hired her on the other thing. So she does the distilling. And, like, the wine, you know, will go, you know, and then then the winemaker will go, wait. You know? I want you to organize a team. So there’s, like, 5 wineries that I organize and then I bring I bring a team, then he’ll come and help. And we do all the all the wine bottling on a on a truck. Okay. So there’s a a a company out of Portland, Oregon out of Oregon that has a mobile bottling line.

Dennis Berg [00:44:08]:

So, you know, it’s not like Shirley in, you know, in La Verne, you know, that. So you’re in a truck and you have cases, empty cases, and those are, like, loaded on. They go down the conveyor belt. They get like gas. They get like filled with wine and they get corked. And then there’s always a couple people that put the capsules on or the they’re called foils.

Scott Cowan [00:44:32]:

Right.

Dennis Berg [00:44:32]:

They’ll go they’ll keep going on this little conveyor belt. A label will get put on. That just keeps going on the conveyor belt, and then there’ll be 2 people that will load up the wine boxes. So, I mean, there’s 12 12 bottles in a case.

Scott Cowan [00:44:50]:

So how many So how many, in an hour? What what does that

Dennis Berg [00:44:56]:

So you would, that that truck can do 65 bottles a minute. So you’re doing, you know, close to 300 cases an hour.

Scott Cowan [00:45:05]:

Wow. That’s a lot of wine.

Dennis Berg [00:45:07]:

But you always gotta make sure, you know, because there’s a, you know, you have I have a set team.

Scott Cowan [00:45:11]:

Right.

Dennis Berg [00:45:11]:

There’s always someone who goes, I wanna help. You know? And they go, okay. I’ll let you help. But there’s always people that have problems counting because you know? So, you know, here here you’re, like, packing the wines. The first person puts 6, the next person puts 6, and that comes down. And then the cases weigh about £40, 45, and then you palletize. We do, like, 4 layer layers high.

Scott Cowan [00:45:34]:

Right.

Dennis Berg [00:45:35]:

Fourteen layer. So, you know, if you’ve been palletizing forever and you grab a case and you go, I don’t know. This feels like Scott, can can you, you know, oh, I think it’s light too. And you open it up and it’s like, there’s 2 bottles missing.

Scott Cowan [00:45:50]:

Hey, Bob. Where’s where where what’d you do with those bottles? Yeah.

Dennis Berg [00:45:53]:

And it’s like, you know, how how did you miss those 2 holes?

Scott Cowan [00:45:56]:

My god.

Dennis Berg [00:45:57]:

It’s like, sorry. If you can’t count, oh, you know Yeah. You’re off the list.

Scott Cowan [00:46:01]:

You’re off the list. So what’s the per do you get are these wineries, do they give you wine to take home too? I mean, is it kind of like so it’s a a great way of trying wine, if you will. Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:46:14]:

And and it’s a release. You know? You’re just there. You’re with a winemaker. He’s so appreciative. Hey. Thank you so much.

Scott Cowan [00:46:20]:

It’s like

Dennis Berg [00:46:21]:

because I’ll say thank you. Go. No. No. No. No. Thank you for, you know, being here. You know, you’re there at quarter to quarter to 8.

Dennis Berg [00:46:28]:

Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:46:29]:

You

Dennis Berg [00:46:29]:

know, in a bottle because, you know, we bottle, like, you know

Scott Cowan [00:46:32]:

Is it a full day?

Dennis Berg [00:46:33]:

2,000 cases of wine. Wow. You know? So there’s usually, like, 12 of us, and then, you know, we’ll we’ll have a lunch break and then come back. And then, you know, then then the harvest, you know, so I did a couple of harvests this year.

Scott Cowan [00:46:48]:

Oh, really?

Dennis Berg [00:46:49]:

Yeah. So the grapes come in, you know, and then they go into a bin and the shaker bin and, you know, you just go through and pull out leaves and, you know, rocks and you know? So and then, you know, if it’s all red wine, so you have to wait 2 years till it’s ready to drink.

Scott Cowan [00:47:08]:

Right. Any any, local wineries that you think are doing some interesting things?

Dennis Berg [00:47:16]:

I have to be careful.

Scott Cowan [00:47:18]:

Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:47:18]:

They’re all like children, you know? Right. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:47:20]:

But I’m saying interesting.

Dennis Berg [00:47:21]:

They No. No. I mean, they’re all they they all do

Scott Cowan [00:47:24]:

some great stuff. Let me put you on the spot. What’s your favorite? You’re a red wine guy?

Dennis Berg [00:47:30]:

Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:47:32]:

Cabernet Sauvignon. Is that is that the go to for you, or do you like I’m gonna say merlot and you’re gonna throw something at me, but, you know, is it No.

Dennis Berg [00:47:39]:

No. No. My wife loves merlot. So Okay. You know, I want

Scott Cowan [00:47:41]:

So what’s your what’s your favorite?

Dennis Berg [00:47:43]:

It just depends on the on the day, you know. I mean, if you’re doing a steak, you know, let’s do a cab Okay. Cab or merlot or k. Cab or

Scott Cowan [00:47:50]:

merlot or k. Any any varieties you’re not a fan of in general?

Dennis Berg [00:47:56]:

No. I mean, they’re all good. You know? You’re you’re you’re you’re

Scott Cowan [00:47:59]:

like I

Dennis Berg [00:47:59]:

mean, you know, you do pinot one day, you know, you do.

Scott Cowan [00:48:03]:

So does your wife go and help you with this?

Dennis Berg [00:48:05]:

No. I I just have to come home and knock on the door and wave the bottles of

Scott Cowan [00:48:09]:

wine and

Dennis Berg [00:48:10]:

then she’ll let me back in.

Scott Cowan [00:48:13]:

Alright.

Dennis Berg [00:48:14]:

No. You know, it’s just, you know, it’s it’s just kind of a release, you know, from, you know, work, you know, dealing with people all day long, making drinks and everything. Then you just go, you know, you don’t punch in, but you just go in, you know, and then you just go and have your coffee, and it’s like, hey. Time to bottle. And But I have more fun, though, when I, like, bring someone that’s never done it before.

Scott Cowan [00:48:36]:

Right.

Dennis Berg [00:48:36]:

You know, just so we don’t

Scott Cowan [00:48:37]:

What’s where do you put that new guy? What’s the like, if I said, hey. I’d like to do this. Where are you gonna stick me? I can count. At least I’m gonna

Dennis Berg [00:48:45]:

Well, yeah. So, yeah, that’s usually Oreo because of packing, because you got someone with there. The the one of the hard parts is you have to look at every bottle to make sure that, you know, there’s no wrinkles on the label Right. Or wrinkles on the couch.

Scott Cowan [00:48:59]:

Or also that the bottle was filled

Dennis Berg [00:49:01]:

Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:49:02]:

You pick up a light bottle kind of like missing

Dennis Berg [00:49:04]:

the Well, you can also look, you know, when you got it and see that there there’s a gap. Right. That happens, you know, it’s all machinery and everything.

Scott Cowan [00:49:10]:

Right. Okay. The other thing that I know about you is that you’re a baseball fan.

Dennis Berg [00:49:17]:

Correct.

Scott Cowan [00:49:18]:

And I’d I’d like you to I’m looking at this flyer, this framed flyer. You put together an opening day group. Yeah. Tell me about that.

Dennis Berg [00:49:34]:

Oh, so I kinda started at the needle. You know, everybody who works. And so, I mean, the kingdom was there, and it’s like, hey. Let’s do a get together. Let’s do a group night. And I go, hey. Does anybody wanna do a a mariner game? So I, you know, put up a sign up sheet and, you know, 20 people sign up. So, you know, that’s like the group, you know, so you do 20, and then and they’ll go, oh, I wanna go.

Dennis Berg [00:50:00]:

I wanna go. So then I have to call the mariner rep and say, hey. I need 10 more tickets or whatever. So and then the more tickets you buy group night, the cheaper it is.

Scott Cowan [00:50:10]:

Right.

Dennis Berg [00:50:11]:

So the most tickets I ever bought was, Kingdom Days, and we’re in the 300 level. So there were $5 tickets.

Scott Cowan [00:50:19]:

Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:50:20]:

And so I I bought a 150 tickets. So and I me, I always do everything on the honor system. So people wanna give me money, I go, no. When I get the tickets, I’ll give you the tickets and you give me the money. You know? I don’t wanna be confused. You know? That way, I’m exchanging

Scott Cowan [00:50:39]:

Right.

Dennis Berg [00:50:39]:

Tickets, you know, rather than it’s like, hey. You owe me the tickets. It’s like but, anyway, so that was the most I ever did. And then so and then I always did opening day for, like, the last 20 years. And so then I met, Chris here at, the, he has another, he has a bar in Belltown called Navy Strength. So I went in there, and he was a baseball fan. I was like, hey. You wanna go to opening day? And then pretty soon, you know, there’s other bartenders.

Dennis Berg [00:51:09]:

They, you know, they wanted to go. So we were able to do, like, you know, like, 20. 20, bartenders and bar owners. And and then so then, you know, then I put it on Facebook, and so that was a mistake, a good mistake. And so, okay, I got 30 tickets. And then I go, I wanna go. I wanna go on. And it’s like, okay.

Dennis Berg [00:51:30]:

So then I ended up, k. I need 10 more. I need 20 more. And so then last year, it was crazy because all of a sudden, I I get 50 tickets. I’m getting 50 this year. I put it on Facebook and then 20 more people. So then I had to, you know, get 70 tickets.

Scott Cowan [00:51:46]:

Wow. Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:51:47]:

The best one I did, though, because I do I as soon as the Sounders came Uh-huh. I I wanna do a group night. So and those tickets, they started at, like, 13. Now they’re, like, 25.

Scott Cowan [00:51:58]:

Right.

Dennis Berg [00:51:59]:

You know? There was 2019 when we won the last title.

Scott Cowan [00:52:07]:

Right.

Dennis Berg [00:52:07]:

So I had a deposit, and I go, hey. Call them up and

Scott Cowan [00:52:10]:

go, hey. Can I do a group night?

Dennis Berg [00:52:12]:

And they go, yeah. Sure you can. Okay. So I want 20 tickets. I put that on Facebook. Those went in, like, 2 minutes.

Scott Cowan [00:52:18]:

Yeah.

Dennis Berg [00:52:19]:

And I was like, oh my god. And then I call up and they go, okay. You better order some more because they were the price was going up. It started at 34, and it went up every hour. So when yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:52:30]:

Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:52:31]:

So I locked in at the 34 for 20. And so I tell people, like, oh, now you gotta pay 44. And they’re always going, you should have just sold those you could have sold those tickets for a $100 each. I go, I don’t I don’t make money off my friends.

Scott Cowan [00:52:46]:

Yeah. That’s I

Dennis Berg [00:52:46]:

already promised them the tickets for 34. Right. Right. So

Scott Cowan [00:52:54]:

So you guys pre prefunk here. Right. K. And you go down to the game. Mhmm. So the problem for me with opening day, it’s I’m gonna call it Safeco. It’s always gonna be Safeco.

Dennis Berg [00:53:08]:

Yeah. Safeco. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:53:09]:

Is it cold?

Dennis Berg [00:53:11]:

Yeah. We’ve been there, you know, it’s almost been like it snowed in March.

Scott Cowan [00:53:14]:

It’s like, you know, I grew up in Tacoma and so we’d go to Cheney a lot and Cheney until about middle of June is not a fun place to go see baseball. Cause it’s so the wind comes in and it’s just cold. I went I don’t know. This is probably in the nineties. I went to opening day, and they were playing the a’s opening day. And, you know, I I needed a parka and, you know, and it was it was tough. But I think that’s great that you’ve been doing this and that you’re you get all these bartenders together and

Dennis Berg [00:53:44]:

you guys go bar owners and I mean, it’s like but, you know so we have a few drinks, so that’s how we keep warm. You know?

Scott Cowan [00:53:50]:

Right. Right. Right. You know? Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:53:51]:

But everybody has a good time. You know? Everybody’s talks and chats. I mean, it’s just, you know, it’s just fun to get you know, some of those guys are, you know, like Chris. You know?

Scott Cowan [00:53:59]:

He

Dennis Berg [00:54:00]:

works his, you know, his butt off. You know? Yeah. A couple other guys, another bar, owner comes down from, Bellingham. You know? And so it’s like, you know, you know, gotta, you know

Scott Cowan [00:54:10]:

So you got a network of of of bartenders and bar owners. Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:54:15]:

So I have a a friend, she’s, her name’s Abigail, and she’s in New Orleans. She’s a Met fan. So she’s coming, she came the opening day last year.

Scott Cowan [00:54:24]:

Really?

Dennis Berg [00:54:25]:

Yeah. So she’s coming this year or next year.

Scott Cowan [00:54:27]:

Very cool.

Dennis Berg [00:54:28]:

All the way from New Orleans. Okay. You know, just to be with you know, it’s like a family. The bar community is a big family.

Scott Cowan [00:54:33]:

Well, not ever being part of it. Mhmm. But from the outside looking in, I’d I’ve I’ve seen evidence of that. Yeah. And it must be nice to get away from the the bar. Yeah. You know? I mean, you enjoy your job, but it’s nice to get away from the job and go do something else with people who get it. Mhmm.

Scott Cowan [00:54:54]:

You know, I don’t get what you do. I don’t I don’t ex I I don’t I’m not a bartender. I don’t get the the quirks and the the the good things about it. But also, I look. You know what the public is can be. Mhmm. Well, as we wrap this up, I got a couple of questions to ask you. But before I ask you these these wrap ups, what did we talk about that we should’ve we should’ve spent a couple minutes on? Let me ask you this.

Scott Cowan [00:55:21]:

I’m gonna get I want you to put on your so he’s I gotta tell you, folks. He’s wearing a black baseball cap with white they look like felt. My glasses aren’t on felt lettering. This says 1962 on it. And I asked him what the hat was, and he kind of looked at me. Oh, it’s the year the Space Needles built now. So it was the year I was born. So I was like, okay.

Scott Cowan [00:55:40]:

So you got this it’s what the vibe that I’m getting from the hat is, like, it’s a Japanese baseball team.

Dennis Berg [00:55:47]:

That’s that’s the vibe I’m getting from it.

Scott Cowan [00:55:48]:

Okay. So I’m gonna ask you to put on your sales pitch hat for the Space News. Why should people go and check it out if they haven’t been since the glass floor, let’s say, or they have never been to the Space Needle? What are they missing?

Dennis Berg [00:56:08]:

They’re missing the view of Seattle.

Scott Cowan [00:56:10]:

K.

Dennis Berg [00:56:11]:

I mean, we’re all you know, you could the the best view of Mount Rainier.

Scott Cowan [00:56:16]:

K.

Dennis Berg [00:56:18]:

The sunset right over, the Olympic Mountains.

Scott Cowan [00:56:22]:

Yeah. Yeah. If it was open earlier, the sunrise over the cascades, it’d be pretty

Dennis Berg [00:56:27]:

cool too. We used to open for breakfast, so we would have the sunrise.

Scott Cowan [00:56:30]:

Oh, that’d have been pretty cool.

Dennis Berg [00:56:31]:

Right. And then, you know, come up at night and see the night lights. You know, the big wheels all lit up. Right.

Scott Cowan [00:56:38]:

Right.

Dennis Berg [00:56:38]:

The whole city, you know, just in crane and all the cranes always have lights. You know? Right now, it’s green and blue for the hawks. You know? So Okay. I mean, you know, just to come up there and just, you know, and experience it.

Scott Cowan [00:56:52]:

Alright.

Dennis Berg [00:56:52]:

I mean, there’s a million and a half people that do it every year. So Crazy to me.

Scott Cowan [00:56:57]:

Alright.

Dennis Berg [00:56:57]:

When I started there in 1982 Uh-huh. It was $2 to ride the elevator up.

Scott Cowan [00:57:03]:

So what is it today?

Dennis Berg [00:57:04]:

So today, it’s, it just depends. We have staggered hours. So if you go early 35, go, prime time’s 42.

Scott Cowan [00:57:13]:

Okay. What is Good.

Dennis Berg [00:57:16]:

What was interesting is, like, 62 owes a dollar to go up. So in 20 years, it only went only doubled, you know, to $2.82 when I started.

Scott Cowan [00:57:29]:

K. Alright. We’re sitting here in Seattle. Here’s the questions. Where’s a great place to get coffee?

Dennis Berg [00:57:37]:

My my favorite place is, I like to go to Top Pot. You do? Yeah. Top Pot because it makes me feel like a little kid because I, get to order an Ovaltine latte. Okay. And then I’ll get a donut with that. That’s the only place that does an Ovaltine latte. And I don’t know why they do Ovaltine, but you see that little jar there and the Ovaltine and the and it’s like and it reminds me of the olden days.

Scott Cowan [00:58:08]:

You I have never heard of an Ovaltine latte. Uh-huh. I don’t know if I’m, like, so excited that I’m gonna run out to top that when we’re done, or I’m so disgusted that I’m gonna run away. I don’t know. I’m kind of, like, oh, I don’t know how to feel about this. That’s I gotta say it sounds more cool than Uh-huh. Oh, wow. Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:58:29]:

An Ovaltine Latte. Alright. Alright. So once again, we’re in Seattle. It’s around lunchtime.

Dennis Berg [00:58:35]:

Uh-huh.

Scott Cowan [00:58:36]:

Where’s a great place for lunch?

Dennis Berg [00:58:38]:

Oh, boy.

Scott Cowan [00:58:41]:

Gotta have the Reuben at the 74th Street Ale House. Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:58:45]:

That’s up on, Finney, Greenwood.

Scott Cowan [00:58:47]:

Pairing with the Reuben? What do you happen to drink with it? Gotta have a Guinness. Oh, okay. 74th Street Ale House? Mhmm. Been a while since I’ve been there? Reuben sounds pretty good.

Dennis Berg [00:59:03]:

Yeah. Alright.

Scott Cowan [00:59:04]:

Alright. This is the most important question. This is the one I wouldn’t tell you about.

Dennis Berg [00:59:07]:

Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:59:08]:

I warned you about this. Uh-huh. Supposed to be fun, so it’s okay. You ready? Yeah. Cake or pie? And why?

Dennis Berg [00:59:19]:

Well, I have a very I have a sweet tooth. I love chocolate, so it’s cake because of all that frosting.

Scott Cowan [00:59:26]:

Cake.

Dennis Berg [00:59:27]:

Cake.

Scott Cowan [00:59:28]:

What type of cake?

Dennis Berg [00:59:30]:

Chocolate.

Scott Cowan [00:59:31]:

Chocolate?

Dennis Berg [00:59:32]:

Any kind.

Scott Cowan [00:59:32]:

Any kind of chocolate cake.

Dennis Berg [00:59:34]:

So space and all story. Right?

Scott Cowan [00:59:38]:

Sure.

Dennis Berg [00:59:38]:

So we had, we had a Baileys chocolate cake as our dessert

Scott Cowan [00:59:44]:

Okay.

Dennis Berg [00:59:45]:

At the at the space meal. So it had, the filling, the middle layer was, Bailey’s I, I, icing. Mhmm.

Scott Cowan [00:59:54]:

And

Dennis Berg [00:59:55]:

then there was Bailey’s in the frosting. So and everybody knew I liked that cake. So and I’m in the service bar, and all of a sudden, one of the servers comes in. She took a whole cake, and she brought it in a bar. And then a bunch of other servers came by, and and they and someone goes, I’ll be right back. And so here comes 4 glasses of milk. We cut it in the 4ths, and then we were back there drinking milk and he had stolen chocolate cake from the pantry. Well, it’s like a bunch of little kids.

Dennis Berg [01:00:33]:

And it was like, keep an eye out for the managers, so we always had some a lookout. You know? But we’re back there. Not anything not a normal slice, but, you know, a quarter of the cake. Everybody loved that cake.

Scott Cowan [01:00:47]:

That’s funny. Okay. Alright. Well, Dennis, thank you for sharing some of your experiences. I, I still 43 years. That’s crazy to me. And, how much longer you think you wanna do it?

Dennis Berg [01:01:04]:

Okay. I got a, you know, couple goals. So next year will May 8th. That’ll be my 43rd year. I’m trying for I’m not sure when I started bartending in 75, but I’m gonna say June 1st.

Scott Cowan [01:01:21]:

K.

Dennis Berg [01:01:21]:

And that’ll be my 50th year bartending in Seattle.

Scott Cowan [01:01:25]:

Right.

Dennis Berg [01:01:26]:

So celebrate that. I already have a special bottle of cognac from, 1975.

Scott Cowan [01:01:38]:

Okay.

Dennis Berg [01:01:39]:

Yeah. So I’ll share with you when you Oh, okay. Hit my 50th.

Scott Cowan [01:01:43]:

So you’re gonna have a a 50th celeb a 50th year celebration,

Dennis Berg [01:01:50]:

do you think? Bartending in Seattle.

Scott Cowan [01:01:52]:

That’d be awesome. Yeah. That’s very cool.

Dennis Berg [01:01:54]:

But, yeah, 43 years is at the needle. Just we’ll just see. You know? 2 more years would be 45, but, you know Yeah. I think it’s a lot more, you know, it’s a lot more running than being a a true bartender. True bartender is behind the bar. Right. What I’m doing now, I have a bar. I have 5 tables, 2 chairs at each table, and people order food.

Dennis Berg [01:02:17]:

They order, you know, like, sliders or fries. Right. So I have to go get those. Okay? So those are in the kitchen. You know? So I’m running back and forth. You know.

Scott Cowan [01:02:26]:

Got it.

Dennis Berg [01:02:27]:

One man show.

Scott Cowan [01:02:28]:

Okay.

Dennis Berg [01:02:28]:

Clean the tables and do that. You know?

Scott Cowan [01:02:30]:

Okay.

Dennis Berg [01:02:31]:

So but, you know, I, you know, I like last night, 18,000 steps. So

Scott Cowan [01:02:38]:

Really? Yeah.

Dennis Berg [01:02:39]:

So, I mean, I

Scott Cowan [01:02:40]:

Maybe I need to be a bartender at this space just for the exercise.

Dennis Berg [01:02:42]:

Well, it’s just, you know, running and exercise is just how much, you know,

Scott Cowan [01:02:46]:

how much more normal night, 18?

Dennis Berg [01:02:48]:

You know, if, you know, like, 15 to 18.

Scott Cowan [01:02:51]:

15 to 18. Yeah.

Dennis Berg [01:02:53]:

But, you know, it’s just, you know, I’m getting older. So, I mean, you know, just hopefully, you know. I mean, I have a good time.

Scott Cowan [01:03:00]:

That’s that’s what that’s what,

Dennis Berg [01:03:01]:

you know, I wake up every morning. It’s like, no. You know, I wanna go to work and

Scott Cowan [01:03:05]:

Okay.

Dennis Berg [01:03:05]:

I enjoy all the people I work with. So

Scott Cowan [01:03:08]:

That’s awesome.

Dennis Berg [01:03:09]:

You know?

Scott Cowan [01:03:10]:

Well, I I wanna I wanna hear about the 50th bartending cell Oh, yeah. For sure. That’s awesome. So thank you so much for sitting down with me.

Dennis Berg [01:03:16]:

Thank you for the opportunity.