DATE: Sunday, November 9, 1997              TAG: 9711090058

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LINDA McNATT, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: SUFFOLK                           LENGTH:   36 lines

PARADE-BOUND PEANUT WILL PEDAL INTO SUFFOLK

Mr. Peanut, the familiar, monocled nut-man with a top hat, will be making a stop Monday in his hometown as he heads to his first appearance in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York.

The Planters icon will meet with Mayor Thomas G. Underwood at 9:30 a.m. at a statue that was erected several years ago in his honor, at the corner of North Main and West Washington streets downtown. He'll be welcomed to the city of his birth by Planters company President Wynn Willard.

After that, Mr. Peanut will tour the plant where the products he's promoted for so long are produced.

The Suffolk stop is part of a nationwide bicycling tour Mr. Peanut started in California on Sept. 3. Riding with a partner on a bicycle built for two, he has covered 4,789 miles and will have completed more than 5,000 miles on his 23-state, 74-city tour before reaching New York.

Mr. Peanut is riding with Ken Souza, World Duathlon Champion and eight-time U.S. duathlon champion.

Tour de Planters is meant to promote bike safety, fitness, nutrition and peanuts as part of a healthy diet, a Planters spokesman said. Mr. Peanut and Souza will distribute more than 33,750 pounds of peanuts along the tour route.

Mr. Peanut was created in Suffolk in 1916, on the sketch pad of a 14-year-old boy hoping to win a Planters-sponsored trademark contest. In the 1920s, he served as an ambassador on the Atlantic City Boardwalk. He helped to promote war bonds during World War II and has appeared at major events everywhere.

For his 75th birthday, he was honored with a star on Hollywood's Walk of Stars Character Walk on Melrose Avenue.

In case of heavy rain, the welcoming ceremony will be held at Riddick's Folly Museum, 510 N. Main St.

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