“Hey, Jerry, what’s the weather?” The can man answers with the day’s predicted high and low temperature and the expectation of rain and then ambles on, plastic bags rustling, cans clinking.
Jerry Gentry is a shrewd businessman. He walks about 20 miles a day, sunrise to sunset, picking up aluminum cans. On Sunday, he rests.
“If there weren’t no cans,” the can man said, ”There’d be no sense in walkin’ “
Gentry, 34, was born in a small house in Russell Springs. He still lives there with his parents. About 15 years ago while working as a farmhand, Gentry had a “breakdown,” his mother said. Since then, he has wound around the county, searching gas stations, motels and markets for aluminum.
“He’s the hardest working man in Russell County” said Marshall Kean, a Russell Springs resident.
A pouch around his waist holds a transistor radio, which he uses to listen to the weather. Everyone knows him, and when he nears, people will invariably call for a weather report. He’ll answer, and then ask, “What do they call me?”
“The can man.”
And Gentry will smile and walk on.
