The operator of the Keezletown Community Cannery thinks the recession is drawing people to can their own food.

Operator Royce Hammer spent Thursday canning pork tenderloin and storing the salted meat in a storage room of the cannery.

He says people can save on canning tenderloin this time of year, because bulk tenderloin is on sale.

Royce has operated the non-profit community cannery for 15 years. He says he's been busy recently and has seen an influx of new faces.

"I've seen a lot of people who've had probably never heard of the cannery before," says Hammer.

Of the visitors, Hammer says there are a lot who are tending a garden and canning their own harvest.

"The recession or depression with which we're in, I don't know what you want to call it, it's beginning to take effect. People are trying to save some money," says Hammer.

The cannery began operation in 1942 in the basement of an elementary school that is next door on Indian Trail Road in Keezletown.

A year-long membership to the facility cost $6 for a person living in the county and $13 for people outside the county. The cans are a $1 a piece.

Hammer and his wife Trudy oversee the use of the canning equipment. The cannery is usually open Tuesdays and Thursdays. Since this is currently apple butter season, it's also open Wednesdays.