Always cleaning & singing
story by Dale Peacock
Most people who work, live or shop in downtown Frankfort have probably heard Benny Yett’s singing, even if they don’t know who he is.
Benny, 63, spends his days cleaning the large plate-glass windows of downtown Frankfort storefronts. Benny sings as he works, loudly enough for passersby to hear.
“I sing because I’m happy,” Benny says.
He also sings to encourage his fellow Frankforters.
“I like to put a smile on people’s faces. That’s what I like to do. If I make you smile, I’m doing good,” Benny says.
Many Frankfort residents have grown accustomed to seeing Benny working and singing in the downtown area, especially those in the legal community such as Natalie Lile, the founder of Natalie Lile Law.
“He’s genuine,” Natalie says. “He’s always singing, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him in a really bad mood.”
His hard work and pleasant disposition endear him to many.
“Everybody claims him, and the majority of us all adore him,” says Christy Terry, a legal assistant at Natalie Lile Law. “The judges, clerks, prosecutors and the defense attorneys, they’ll all say, ‘Hey, Benny!’ and pat him on the back or laugh with him.”
Benny says he started washing windows because it’s good, hard work that allows him to make his own schedule and to help others in his community.
“You gotta have a job. You gotta have something to do,” Benny says. “I know a closed mouth doesn’t get fed. You don’t ask, you don’t eat. I started asking people for work, went around and made myself useful.”
Even though Benny enjoys using his window washing and singing to bring a smile to the faces of those around him, he describes himself as a loner.
“I don’t have a lot of friends, a lot of associates," he says. "I’m a loner. I don’t need a crowd to make me happy. I make myself happy."
Benny estimates that he washes the windows of 60 businesses in and around Frankfort. He visits Capitol Cellars on West Broadway every couple of weeks to clean its windows. "A clean shop is a happy shop," Benny says. "If your window's dirty, your building's dirty. That's my motto."
Benny greets longtime friend and Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Bill Cunningham. Bill was having lunch with Tom Bennett, chief of staff for the state auditor.
Benny has washed windows for 25 years. He says that years of labor have aggravated his arthritis.
As Benny gathers trash at Coles Law Office, Marvin Coles and his office manager, Linda Detwiler, continue working.
Ashley Sutphin, Capital Court Authority's office manager, tells Benny which cleaning services she needs. Benny has one or two primary contacts for each business he cleans.
Benny likes to start washing windows early in the day. He works while shops such as Shades of BLU Boutique, a boutique on St. Clair Street, are opening.
Benny visits Access Soup Kitchen, located in the 300 block of West Second Street in Frankfort, a few times a week to eat lunch during his work days. This day he enjoyed the mac and cheese, which is one of his favorites there. Sometimes Benny does not stop to eat lunch because he would rather be working.
After a few sleepless nights, Benny takes a brief afternoon rest on the couch in his one-bedroom apartment in Frankfort. Benny's arthritis frequently keeps him up nights, leaving him exhausted from his days spent washing windows and cleaning offices around town.
Benny has friends and clients all over Franklin County and in some surrounding counties, too. Frequently, as he's washing windows, cleaning parking lots or driving between jobs, Benny greets people with a friendly wave or a honk of the horn in his old pickup truck. In Lawrenceburg, he greets drivers as he crosses the street in front of the Anderson County Courthouse.