Sporting a pair of large black frame glasses and gray hair, he mysteriously appears on the screen every time you turn on the television, uttering phrases like “Save on paint cans, doorknobs, barbecue grills and patio furniture!”

So who is this guy on your TV screen yelling for you to “Save big money at Menards”?

One Iowa State student was curious enough to find out. Tory Waddingham, senior in liberal studies, created a Web site exclusively dedicated to Ray Szmanda, more commonly known as “The Menards Guy.”

“I don’t know why I started doing it,” Waddingham said. “He’s really enthusiastic about selling paint. Every time one of the commercials would come on I would tape it.”

The “Unofficial Menards Guy Homepage” was created about two years ago. As the page states, it is “the only page on the Web devoted to everyone’s favorite hardware spokesman, Ray Szmanda, a.k.a. the Menards Guy.”

Waddingham’s Web site has received a lot of recognition in the media. Articles featuring the site have been published in The Chicago Tribune, The Des Moines Register and The Capital Times (of Madison, Wis.).

Waddingham explained how the site was created.

“At first I didn’t know anything about him. I didn’t even know his name, but I put up pictures,” Waddingham said. He also placed a note on the page asking for anyone who knew anything about the Menards Guy to send him information.

He collected pictures of the Menards Guy by loading the commercials into his computer and freezing the images. He now has 30 pictures posted on the page.

Although his site does not have a counter, Waddingham estimates that the page currently receives about 100 hits per week. He has also received a lot of feedback through e-mail.

According to Waddingham, there has been an equal balance of positive and negative responses directed towards the site.

“Half are pissed and don’t like him at all, and they turn down the volume of the TV when he comes on,” Waddingham said. “The other half really like it and they ask about Menards Guy T-shirts.”

Waddingham has made a Menards Guy T-shirt for himself, but does not want to get into the business of selling the T-shirts. However, he said he will let people use the design from his T-shirt to make their own.

Some of the other e-mail messages he has received have been from people complaining about a product they bought from Menards, asking how to contact the store. Despite this confusion, Waddingham stressed that he has no affiliation with Menards.

Waddingham was given the privilege to meet the Menards Guy on the phone during a program called “The Joe Show” on WGN-Radio in Chicago. He explained that the Menards Guy sounds “not at all like his TV persona” in normal conversation.

“He’s a really relaxed guy when he’s not screaming about screwdrivers,” Waddingham said, adding that the Menards Guy has seen the site and he appreciates it.

Waddingham added that the Menards Guy also has produced a “mellow” reading of the Bible on audio tape.

With all of the attention the page has received, Waddingham finds it hard to believe that the site is so well-known.

“I didn’t intend for it to be a cult following thing like it is now,” he said. “Everything just took off after my page, maybe partially because of it. It’s like [The Menards Guy is] a celebrity now.”

Waddingham’s fascination has led him to discover some pretty interesting facts about the Menards Guy.

He gave examples that the glasses worn by the Menards Guy are just a prop, and that he is not even an employee of Menards.

In the future, Waddingham plans to add more information about the Menards Guy, and to put up transcripts of all the newspaper articles that have been written about the site.

“The Unofficial Menards Guy Homepage” can be reached at www.public.iastate.edu/ ~tory/menards.html.