Jerry “Chookie” Bennetti is a lifelong Butler area resident.

Many of his hobbies involve the outdoors, and he has spent a lot of time hunting and fishing.

In addition to hunting deer, turkeys and the like, he also has dabbled in turtle hunting.

In the early 1990s, Bennetti caught a 35.5 pound snapping turtle in a beaver dam near Moraine State Park. He had it freeze dried, which brought the animal down to about eight pounds. It now is in his living room.

Bennetti has made wine as a hobby for 40 years. He has 1,700 bottles, and he makes six to eight varieties, both red and white.

In the mid-1990s, Bennetti wrote a cookbook, “The Chook Book,” with 630 recipes.

Some are his own, but others are from friends and family members. He has sold 5,000 copies.

Additionally, he picks and cooks wild mushrooms and makes homemade pork sausage, deer bologna and other products.

He also has served as a boxing judge and used to ride motorcycles.

He got his nickname when he was young. As a child, his family kept animals and it was Bennetti’s job to feed the chickens.

The only way he could get their attention was to call “chook, chook, chook.” His older brothers teased him about it and the nickname stuck.

A 1951 graduate of Butler High School, he retired as an iron worker in the mid-1980s.

Bennetti, 81, of Butler Township lives with his wife, Shari. They have three children and four grandchildren.