“Always with a joke or a light-hearted story to brighten your day.”

“Continues to give freely of his time to make Jackson a better place for his family and all of us to live and grow our families.”

Those comments from friends of Jerry Gay, the “2022 Man of the Year.” 

For the 77th consecutive year, the Jackson Exchange Club gathered Tuesday to honor an outstanding Jacksonian for his service to the community. From selling shoes in high school to selling life insurance – to reshaping nightlife in Jackson – Gay has been a mover and shaker.

Many have memories of TJ’s Night Club, which became The WaterHole, then Tremors.  Gay was involved in other restaurants along the way; and in 1984 opened Jackson’s first video club, Network.  In the late 1990s he opened Jackson’s first brewery, Barley’s Brewhouse.

Some would say he has probably worked as many hours as a volunteer as he has as a paid employee. Gay has served on countless advisory boards.

That love of service is clear in his work with The Boys and Girls Club, the former Blues Fest in Jackson, The Amp, and his expertise was a true asset to the Madison County Bicentennial, to which he committed two years.

“His creativity, vision, and ability to organize and participate in events led to the success of the full year celebration,” said Bicentennial Commission chairman Elaine Christian.

Gay has organized talent for the Circles of Hope Telethon for the Exchange Club Carl Perkins Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse for the last 20 years. “He always has a smile and never says no when I ask for help,” said Carl Perkins Center executive director Pam Nash.

As is typical, The Man of the Year is not revealed to the honoree until the night the award is given. Gay’s son and daughter came in from Nashville and Knoxville for the event, and just before his name was announced over two dozen members of his beloved Northside Church lined one end of the banquet room at the Doubletree hotel in support and appreciation.

The introduction of the 2022 honor came from the 2021 recipient, Lane College president Dr. Logan Hampton.

“You did your job without applause or excessive fanfare,” Dr. Hampton told Gay.  “Tonight we celebrate you as you join the ranks of ordinary men whom we also celebrate because they did extraordinary things in service to our community.”

Gay said he was almost without words to express his emotions: “When they read the names of the other recipients through the years, so many were my idols when I was growing up and men I looked up to. To be included in that list is overwhelming.”