LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB)-- Somewhere under Louisville's giant Old Forester bottle, during the grind of the workday, you'll find Jon Jennings taking his lunch break from Brown Forman on four wheels -- his skateboard.
"I just sit there and look at pictures of bottles all day, and make sure they make the government requirements," Jennings explained.
Bourbon is the job, and meant to be enjoyed after work.
"On the rocks for sure," Jennings said of his favorite way the drink is served.
Rocks have also always been the hobby. Jon is a rockstar of a stone skipper, and usually rides his skateboard to the waterfront to practice during lunch breaks.Â
"Well he almost got halfway to Indiana," Cassie Spires said as she watched Jennings skip stones along Louisville's waterfront recently.Â
It started when he was a kid.
"We lived on a creek out in the country," said Jennings. "I just skipped rocks all day. We didn't have a whole lot of money, so my mom just told me to go outside and play with sticks and rocks."
"Well he almost got (the rock) halfway to Indiana," said an impromptu spectator, as she watched Jon Jennings practice along the Louisville waterfront.
He might be modest, but Jon will admit he was always better than his friends and family.
"People would tell me 'if there's a competition for this, you should really try it out,'" Jennings recalled.
After doing a little digging, he did find some competition, and quickly started climbing some mountains.
"I am the reigning champ of the Great Southern Stone Skipping Championship," Jennings explained.
Then, a funny thing happened when he went up north a few weeks back.
"So I entered the Open to qualify for the pros, and then ended up winning the pros as well," said Jennings. "I now am also the pro champ Mackinac Island, Michigan Stone Skipping Contest."
It's the longest-running stone skipping competition in the country. Stone cold under pressure, Jennings beat a pillar of the competitive stone throwing world.
"Kurt 'the Mountain Man' Steiner, he's held the world record for 10 years now," Jennings explained.
It wasn't record smashing, but still impressive.
Jennings was awarded with a trophy after the Mackinac Island stone skipping competition. (Picture courtesy:Â Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau)Â
"He skipped 16, and I skipped 22," Jennings told WDRB News.
He did bring some cash back to the Commonwealth, but it's never been about that.
"If you were to win all the major contests in America, you could probably walk away with $800 to $1,200," Jennings said with a smile. "So it's definitely just for the love of rock skipping."
Jennings hopes to go to the World Championship of Rock Skipping in Scotland next year. He's working on getting sponsors right now.
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