Story: Phillip Tutor | Photo: Betsy Compton
UWA’s warehouse manager is an essential part of campus community
Besides his ebullience and can-do attitude, Peanut Jones is essentially the baby直播鈥檚 human divining rod. If it exists on campus, he almost assuredly knows where it is, how to find it, and the quickest way to make it happen.
Everyone in Livingston has a Peanut story because everyone in Livingston seemingly knows Peanut, a native Sumter Countian whose diligence as UWA鈥檚 warehouse and receiving manager is renowned from the banks of Lake LU to the doors of University Charter School.
鈥淗e’s one of those guys you gravitate to. He’s really one of the things that, in my opinion, make West baby直播 so unique,鈥� UWA football coach Brett Gilliland said about Jones, who last December received the university鈥檚 2022 Loraine McIlwain Bell Support Staff Excellence Award.
鈥淗e’s one of those people that really just kind of embodies what we are as a university. He’s always willing to help and make sure that everything looks good and make sure everything goes properly, no matter what it is.鈥�
As popular as he is, few may know Peanut Jones鈥� first name — it鈥檚 Leroy — or how he earned his beloved nickname.
It has nothing to do with goobers or Snoopy.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 what I鈥檝e always been known as — 鈥楶eanut,鈥欌�� Jones said. For some reason, his family dubbed him 鈥淧eanut鈥� when he was a toddler, and it stuck. Now 55, Jones rarely hears anyone use his first name, which he doesn鈥檛 mind. It makes him who he is.
鈥淏ecause I tell people, 鈥業 don’t mean no harm, and I’m not trying to be disrespectful, but if you call me by my real name, I might not answer you,鈥欌�� he said.
How Jones arrived at UWA is a life that twists and turns. He admits he鈥檚 a small-town man without dreams of joining the snarled traffic of Atlanta or Nashville or Birmingham. He鈥檚 at home in the Black Belt, with people he knows.
鈥淗e’s one of those people that really just kind of embodies what we are as a university. He’s always willing to help and make sure that everything looks good and make sure everything goes properly, no matter what it is.鈥�
— UWA football coach Brett Gilliland
For 22 years he worked in maintenance for Regions Bank branches in Livingston, York and Demopolis, leaving after it merged with Union Planters Bank. He drove over-the-road trucks for more than a decade for three different companies, with routes mostly in the Southeast. Once hired at UWA, Jones worked in grounds and maintenance and helped with event setup at Bell Conference Center before moving to the university warehouse.
There, Jones鈥� duties are synchronized with the mail鈥檚 arrival — packages for students, faculty and staff from the U.S. Postal Service, from Federal Express, and from UPS that are delivered at different times throughout the day. It鈥檚 a routine dominated by a clock and a campus map.
When letters and packages arrive, Jones logs them, sorts them by their destinations, and delivers them. Neither the clock nor the deliveries stop. In essence, his job ensures he knows everyone鈥檚 name and their campus locations.
What people remember when he drops by, they say, are the smiles he flashes along the way.
鈥淭hat’s where you will get things back in life,鈥� Jones said. He鈥檚 addicted to happiness, friendliness, camaraderie, a personal choice to be cheerful. 鈥淣o one wants you to come around with a sad face.鈥�
Over at UWA鈥檚 football offices, Gilliland is one of those who鈥檚 noticed Jones鈥� affability.
鈥淗e’s that guy that has done a little bit of everything on this campus,鈥� Gilliland said, 鈥渁nd he’s always got a smile on his face.鈥�
Several years ago, Gilliland built a backyard fire pit and knew Jones was always good for a cord of firewood. The two UWA men, one a football coach, the other a warehouse manager, began discussing the best way to barbecue a pig in a fire pit. As it turns out, Jones was a pro at cooking whole hogs. Gilliland wasn鈥檛.
The pro gave the apprentice tips.
When Gilliland set up his pit, Jones noticed something amiss.
鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 put the pig in with a wire (grate),鈥� he said. 鈥淚 said, 鈥楥oach, how are you going to turn your hog?鈥欌��
Jones laughs when he tells that story. Gilliland does, too.
鈥淗e gave me a bunch of pointers, and then he showed up several times throughout the process to make sure I was doing it right,鈥� Gilliland said. 鈥淗e always gets on me because I don’t get the skin good and crispy enough.鈥�
Since then, Gilliland has bought a 鈥渘ice, big smoker鈥� so he doesn鈥檛 have to barbeque hogs in his fire pit. Jones, always aware of what鈥檚 going on with his UWA colleagues, has noticed.
鈥淥ne thing I can be assured of,鈥� Gilliland said, 鈥渋s every time I’m smoking something and there’s smoke coming from my smoker, Peanut is going to stop by early in the morning, check it out, see what’s on there, and make sure I’m doing things right.鈥�
Established in 1996, the Loraine McIlwain Bell Trustee Awards are made possible through an endowment by the late Mrs. Bell’s daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. L.G. Cunningham. Candidates are nominated by the university community.
Besides Jones, the other Bell Awards winners for 2022 were former UWA registrar Susan Sparkman (Professional Staff Excellence Award), and Dr. Brian Keener of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics (Trustee Professor Award). Dr. Veronica Triplett, assistant professor of management, received the 2022 Nellie Rose McCrory Service Excellence Award.