Baseball/Softball: What’s a ballgame without fresh roasted peanuts?

Tim Buckley, The Advertiser, May 23, 2015

 

Mr. Vic the Peanut Man Wednesday April 29, 2015 at Tigue Moore Field in Lafayette, La. Photo by Brad Kemp/RaginCajuns.com

 

 

As 93-year-old World War II and Korean War veteran Vic Kilchrist recalls things today, he bought his first peanut roaster sometime in the early 1990s — for $66 at a junkyard.

It took him two years to get it working right.

Now, for the past two-plus decades, Vic The Peanut Man has been a staple at The Tigue, hawking his salted snacks from a stand in front of his green Tuff Shed at the home of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette baseball team.

Ragin’ Cajuns coach Tony Robichaux has fought to keep him there, too.

“Vic’s been with me for a long time,” said Robichaux, who has had Kilchrist and his peanuts at his team’s home stadium since becoming UL’s head coach in 1995 — and before that at McNeese State.

“One time, the old caterer wanted him out, and they were going to buy their own roasters and roast peanuts. We had to kind of sit with the old caterer and work things out, to where they understood it wasn’t the roasters and it wasn’t the peanuts I wanted. I wanted The Peanut Man.

“I think all great ballparks have stories,” Robichaux added, “and one of the great stories (of The Tigue) is Mr. Vic and his family.”

Now that a $10 million renovation is planned at The Tigue, Robichaux wants to be sure that story — and others like Kilchrist’s, from the Cajun Cooking Club to the history of a program that’s produced major-leaguers from Ron Guidry to Jonathan Lucroy — has a home at the new-look Tigue.

“When you want to run a family atmosphere, which is what we want in our ballpark, it takes characters,” Robichaux said. “And he not only has character, but he’s one of the characters in the ballpark.”

Kilchrist, a Lafayette resident, is long retired from a military career and his oilfield services sales job at Frank’s Casing Crew and Rental Tools.

When the former flight deck chief with three Presidential unit citations turned to peanuts, Kilchrist wanted to be sure his were the freshest in town.

He hates ’em stale.

Kilchrist first set up in front of Antlers Restaurant & Bar on Jefferson Street in downtown Lafayette, where he became a fixture during various festivals and special events, and soon thereafter found a home at the ballpark.

There, for seasons on end, his peanuts have come with a promise: Fresh-roasted.

“People come up and tell me how great the peanuts are,” Kilchrist said, “and that’s what I want.”

Mission accomplished.

Beyond selling peanuts, though, interaction with his customers is what Kilchrist has treasured the most over the last two-plus decades.

“That’s his thing. He loves it,” said nephew Darrin Navarre, who can often be found selling at The Tigue when his humble uncle is not. “Everybody knows him. He can go anywhere, and people know who he is. He’s really enjoyed it. That’s what really keeps him going at 93.”

During the middle game of the Cajuns’ final regular-season home series against South Alabama, Kilchrist was surprised between innings.

The Tuff Shed he bought with his own money was wrapped in large-as-life photos of him and the peanut stand — Robichaux’s idea — and children and grandchildren who had come to Lafayette from around the country for what he thought was a Mother’s Day visit joined him for an on-the-field recognition ceremony.

“A lot of time people wait to say, ‘Hey, we appreciate you,’ ” Robichaux said.

After seeing so many loyal fans and program supporters pass over the years, the Cajun coach did not want it to be the way for his friend Vic The Peanut Man.

Nor does he want the Kilchrist tradition to fade when The Tigue undergoes a major facelift.

“He’s such a big part of our ballpark,” Robichaux said. “The Kilchrist’s are gonna keep it going. … We’re gonna hopefully have a place for him that’s a lot better than a Tuff Shed in the new stadium.”