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Friends Skip Around with a Nutty Companion

Photo of jar of Skippy peanut butter
A jar of Skippy Peanut Butter has been passed around a group of friends and traveling with them since their 1993 graduation from Cal Lutheran.

In 1989, Kevin Charlston ’93, Rod Borgie ’93, Michael Clarke ’93, Eric Rutlin ’93, and Eric Weeden ’93 attended Cal Lutheran together, and packed away among their many move-in items was a jar of Skippy Peanut Butter. Somehow, the jar went unnoticed until the end of the school year when it was found missing only a spoonful of peanut butter. As a joke, one of the friends snuck the jar into another’s suitcase, where it was discovered when it was unpacked for summer vacation. 

Thus began the many travels of the jar among the friend group, some of which included trips back to their hometowns and even out of the country to Japan. 

The alumni graduated together in 1993 and still pass around the 30-year-old jar, dubbed Skippy Kingsmen. It has made trips to their hometowns, appeared at each of their weddings and several Cal Lutheran reunions, including the 30th-year reunion in October 2023, and even made it to Japan. A travel list is affixed to the jar. 

Skippy Kingsmen has seen the alumni grow up and continues to travel to meet the friends’ children and tell his stories. He is now at UC Santa Barbara where a founding member’s daughter is attending. You can follow the travels of @skippykingsmen on Instagram.