RAYMOND - On a hot summer day, Ron Henry straddles a plastic barrel. He dons a pair of safety glasses, fires up his high-speed air tool and sets to work.

With the whir of his carbide burr Henry grinds out a 1-inch hole at the bottom of the barrel. In the hole, he'll put a three-quarter-inch plastic bushing. Then comes the spigot.

It's the beginning of a rain barrel. One of many Henry hopes to sell around Racine County.

Ron Henry knows barrels. He also knows how to adjust to a changing economic landscape.

Henry, who lives in Raymond, got to know barrels the first time he had to adjust to a downturn in the economy. That was 40 years ago, when he lost his job as a machine operator at Teledyne Wisconsin Motors in Milwaukee.

Back then Henry, a husband and father, needed to find another source of income to support his family.

That's when he first got into the barrel business and started Henry Enterprises. He's been buying, selling and repairing barrels for companies ever since.

He read a recent article in The Journal Times about the growing popularity of rain barrels. The graphic that accompanied the story caught his eye. An inveterate tinkerer, Henry has always had a knack for making things.

"They snuck up on me with this one. I read the article, saw the picture and said, 'Hey, I can do that,' " Henry said.

So he decided to start making rain barrels. He wanted to supply them locally.

Henry sells a few different barrel sizes. He'll even sell you a plain barrel if you feel like making your own rain barrel.

It's a simple concept - direct a downspout from a home's gutters to a barrel to collect rainwater. It's an effort to reduce the amount of water that gets into sewer systems and help conserve water usage.

Rain barrels aren't new - people used to collect water in cisterns - but they're gaining in popularity, especially in local communities like Burlington, Racine and Milwaukee.

Henry sold some of his first finished rain barrels to the City of Burlington.

Connie Wilson, Burlington's utilities manager, said she's "seen a couple of cottage industries grow out of this rain barrel thing."

Wilson started selling rain barrels to Burlington residents after displaying them at a local home show earlier this year, she said.

"It's great. It certainly was a nonprofit thing for the city - buying and selling them at cost - in large part to do stewardship in the city and town of Burlington," Wilson said.

Wilson started buying barrels from the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District. The barrels are supplied by the Milwaukee Community Service Corps, a job-training program for young adults.

The rain barrels were more popular than Wilson expected and the orders piled up. That's when Ron Henry happened to call, Wilson said.

"This man showed up at our door and asked if we were interested. We were very interested in it. We bought 50 rain barrels from him," Wilson said. "I never thought this would happen. I think it's very creative. It was an instant inspiration for some people. It's recycling in its greatest form."

In addition to Burlington, the City of Racine also sells rain barrels.

In recent years, Henry lost another job when the company Intermet closed its Sturtevant plant. Again, Henry had to readjust. So he completed the facilities maintenance program at Gateway Technical College.

At 67 though, it isn't easy finding work, he said. "As soon as they see white hair, they don't need you."

But Henry wasn't ready to hang it up. So he's looking to rain barrels as a way to keep working.

"I tried watching the grass grow, but it didn't work. I got bored," Henry said. "I've got to keep my mind active."

Need a rain barrel?

Henry Enterprises sells a variety of rain barrels:

55-gallon closed-head barrel - $40

55-gallon open-head barrel - $45

30-gallon barrels - $45

250-gallon totes - $25

55-gallon plain barrel (unfinished) - $20

Rain barrels include spigot, overflow fitting and rain gutter adapter.

Cost includes delivery in Racine County.

Contact Ron Henry by phone at: Business (262) 835-4349; or cell (262) 939-8154.