In Memory of Roger Klein 04/04/38 to 09/28/20
Roger, 'The Can Man', Klein
Roger Klein
For 40 years Roger Klein rode and pushed his tricycle to and throughout Hot Springs and beyond, up and down the steep hills, collecting cans to recycle, no matter the weather. By mid-day his tricycle would be heavily laden with bags of cans, and yet he somehow managed to tie more and more to the load. Locals quickly learned to save their cans for Roger, who would collect them until he could haul them up to Rapid City for recycling.
Roger’s work ethic was not unlike that of the dedicated ranchers whose land surrounds Hot Springs. Bitter cold, pouring rain and relentless heat never stopped a cattleman from caring for his herd and never stopped Roger from his daily work. Roger used the money he earned for spending money, travel and charitable donations. Although most of us only saw him in his work coveralls or ragged shirts, Roger was a dapper dresser when he traveled or took his mother out for dinner at Maverick Junction, wearing one of his many elegant suits and ties, his patent leather shoes polished to a glow. Roger never finished high school but would happily talk politics and current events with the many people who stopped to visit with him throughout his day—perhaps that is why his ‘day’ often stretched until well after dark.
Roger lived his entire life with his mother, Gweneth, until she passed in 2018, then continued to live in the family home until 2020, when he walked out to check his mail one day and stepped into the path of an oncoming car. Roger was 80 years old; his lanky body was bent to a 45-degree angle from 40 years of pushing his heavy loads.
Community members, with the blessing of Roger’s brother, Bob, created this scholarship fund to honor Roger's memory and to further the pursuit of skilled trades as occupations that bring value and meaning to our nation’s economy and to her culture of individual purpose and community strength.
Fundraising Efforts
Roger's bother, Bob Klein, donated all of Roger's cans to the scholarship fund. The first day that we hauled cans up for recycling, we were given our first donation, $50.00 from Maureen Tuma (who also brought donuts). This was before we had even asked for donations. Over a total of three days, with the help of innumerable volunteers, we hauled over 13,000 pounds of cans to Rapid City to recycle, which added $5,290.70 to our fund. During that time we also received many donations from community members, .
Next we started a weekly fundraiser called Jack of Hearts, which has been a great source of funding. One Tuesday evening after we wrapped up Jack of Hearts for the evening, a man who was in town doing some construction work surprised us with a check for $5,000! Another day, when checking our bank statement, we discovered a deposit of $2,000 from former Hot Springs residents.
We receive frequent donations of a dollar, twenty dollars and sometimes more on Tuesday evenings at Jack of Hearts, in addition to the monies raised as part of our Jack of Hearts game.
We always welcome your donations. We are working on setting up an online donation platform. In the meantime, you can send us a check (Can Man Trade Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 876, Hot Springs, SD 57747) or drop a donation off at Black Hills Federal Credit Union here in Hot Springs, for deposit in the Can Man Trade Scholarship Fund.
