Historic Englewood Florida
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Page 6 www.yoursun.com By JESSICA ORLANDO STAFF WRITER Englewood Legends In 2017, Englewood's Secret Society of Smoked Mullets initiated a new award that rec- ognized the historical families that built the community. Families recognized with the Englewood Legends Award are: 2017 — John Bass Jr. and the Bass Family 2018 — Jack Tate and the Tate Family 2019 — The Go Family 2021 — The L.A. Ainger Family 2022 — The Anderson Family 2023 — The Scott Family ENGLEWOOD — If you lived around Englewood in the late 1950s though the 1970s, you probably knew Bob Scott. Robert Scott — known to everyone as Bob — was a mechanic from Illinois who came to town with his family in 1955 and opened up a boat repair business on West Dearborn Street, the heart of the growing Englewood community. Since Englewood was — and still is — a boating community, Scott's repair shop kept busy year round, servicing all kinds of crafts for recreational boaters and commercial fisherman. Scott quickly expanded his business to include fixing other kinds of engines people brought in. He didn't stop there, though. He ex- panded into the rental business, started up a pet store and became the Western Union aliate for the area. Scott and his family were the recipi- ents of the Englewood Legends Award at this year's Secret Society of Smoked Mullets Luncheon, held June 17, 2023 at The Waverly Restaurant. The annual luncheon is one of the Englewood Chamber of Commerce's most anticipat- ed gatherings, and the Legends Award has only been bestowed upon five other families. Scott's son and daughter — Robert Scott Jr. and Nancy Scott Wille — were there to accept the award. Wille spoke at the luncheon, telling about how her family came to Englewood and recounting stories of those days. Later, she spoke with The Daily Sun. LEARNED AT THE ORPHANAGE Bob Scott was orphaned at the age of 9 when his immediate family died, due to illnesses related to the 1918 flu epidemic. He was sent to the Mooseheart Orphanage in Illinois until he was old enough to be on his own. During his later years at Mooseheart, he was trained as a tool and die maker and as a mechanic. "When someone left Mooseheart, they were given a trade," Wille said. "Dad always wanted to be a doctor, but at the time there was no scholarship for that, so instead he was trained as a mechanic." In 1944, Bob Scott was injured while working in a train yard. "Dad worked for Commonwealth Edison at the transfer station in Waikegan, Illinois, where he transferred the railroad cars as they came down from emptying the coal, and he would switch the track for the cars," Wille said. "On Labor Day, his foot slipped under one of the railroad cars and his foot got cut o at the ankle." Scott ended up being in the hospital for two-and-a-half years enduring 22 skin graphs before doctors amputated the leg right below the knee because of gangrene. "Dad always made jokes about his leg," Wille said. "He would tease kids with it and ask customers if they had a screw he could use to tighten his leg." MOVE TO ENGLEWOOD Scott began visiting Englewood in the 1940s and then moved to Englewood per- manently in 1955 after friends promised him he'd have year-round customers if he opened an outboard motor business. "When we first started coming down to Englewood in 1949, we would stay with Mr. and Mrs. Quirk," Nancy Wille said, Roberts daughter. "Mr. Quirk eventually talked my dad into moving the business down here." Bob Scott set up shop on the corner of West Dearborn Street and Orange streets: Scott's Outboard. During this time, Wille would travel back and forth from Illinois to Englewood, arriving in Florida during the summer and holidays. "I didn't want to give up high school back at home," she explained. "My brother and I loved our visits with dad in Englewood when we came." LEGENDS OF ENGLEWOOD: The Scott Family Bob Scott Sr. was Englewood's boat mechanic, Civil Defense director, more SCOTT | 8A PHOTO PROVIDED BY NANCY WILLE Bob Scott at Scott's Outboard on Englewood's West Dearborn Street in 1956.