Manitou Spring, the village that gave us coffin races and fruitcake tossing competitions, is unveiling it’s latest quirky celebration: a fest for the “Pikes Peak Peanut Pusher.”

On Friday night, the Manitou Springs Heritage Center will open at 6 p.m. for a free party honoring Ulysses Baxter, a rockabilly singer from Oklahoma who got on his hands and knees and used his nose to push a peanut up Barr Trail to the summit of Pikes Peak in 1963.

Baxter’s feat is part of a new exhibit, “Pikes Peak Feats and Fibs” to be unveiled at the party, which will include peanut butter cups, peanut butter and jelly and more for everyone who attends.

The exhibit’s debut is to coincide with the Travel cable TV network’s premier at 7 p.m. of “Mysteries at the Museum” series, which is scheduled to include a segment filmed in the little museum and Baxter’s peanut-pushing feat.

“We thought it would be fun to have a watch party,” said Molly Wingate, a volunteer supporter of the heritage center.

Folks will gather around a big screen in the back and watch as David Walker, president of the heritage center’s volunteer board of directors, explains to host Don Wildman and Travel viewers nationwide the significance of two museum artifacts: a peanut in a plexiglass case and a wad of yellowed cellophane tape.

“This is one of several peanuts Baxter pushed up the mountain,” David explained to me on Thursday. “He used several. Some wore out and crumbled to pieces. Animals stole some of his peanuts. This peanut was the last he pushed.”

And the wad of tape?

“Baxter wrapped his peanut in tape to make it last longer,” he said. “And it made it easier to push.”

David said the peanut stunt was supposed to bolster Baxter’s budding music career. He was hoping his notoriety would help him break into the film business.

Though he wasn’t the first peanut pusher on Pikes Peak – Texan Bill Williams accomplished the feat in 1929 – Baxter may have scored a “first” when he arranged for a rock’n’roll band to play as he crossed the finish line. It’s believed to be the first time live music was performed on the summit.

It took Baxter about 50 hours, over a week’s time, to cover the 13 miles up the trail pushing the peanuts.

In the process, he wore out dozens of pairs of gloves, pants and shoes.

“He was crawling,” David said, noting a photo that ran on the front page of the Gazette Telegraph on July 18, 1963.

One photo showed him crawling up the rocky Barr Trail, face to the ground, pushing the peanut.

The other photo shows him accepting congratulations from Manitou Springs Mayor Earl Pitcock. In the photos, Baxter is wearing thick pads on his elbows and knees.

The Heritage Center’s all-volunteer board and staff hope the national television exposure will raise the profile of the little museum at 517 Manitou Ave..

The museum opened in 2009 and boasts exhibits on all things Manitou from its two incline railways (yes, there were two inclines), its famous mineral springs, bridges, floods, famous residents including businessman Fred Barr (yes, that Barr), and much more.

But the feature attraction Friday will be the exhibit case with details of the peanut pushers – Baxter was the second of several – and the folks who spun tall tales about spotting Bigfoot on the mountain and more.

David even found some old rockabilly recordings of Baxter that he will play for museum visitors.

“Just listen to his recording ‘Lavender Lace’ and you can tell why he became a lot more famous as a peanut-pusher than as a musician,” David said with a laugh. “His singing is not good.”

David Walker, president of the Manitou Springs Heritage Center’s board of directors, holds a peanut on May 21, 2015, that rockabilly singer Ulysses Baxter pushed 13 miles up Barr Trail, using his nose, in July 1963. The stunt and the peanut will be featured on the Travel network’s “Mysteries at the Museum” series and the center is holding a free viewing party at 6 p.m. at the museum, 517 Manitou Avenue, Manitou Springs. Bill Vogrin / The Gazette

Bill Vogrin – Side Streets

The Manitou Springs Heritage Center, 517 Manitou Avenue, is holding a free viewing party at 6 p.m. Friday to celebrate as the the Travel network’s “Mysteries at the Museum” series features a peanut that rockabilly singer Ulysses Baxter pushed 13 miles up Barr Trail, using his nose, in July 1963. The peanut is on display at the museum and is part of a new exhibit “Pikes Peak Feats and Fibs” also being unveiled Friday night. Bill Vogrin / The Gazette

A yellowed copy of the July 18, 1963, edition of the Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph shows a photo of rockabilly singer Ulysses Baxter being congratulated by Manitou Springs Mayor Earl Pitcock.

Bill Vogrin / The Gazette

A yellowed copy of the July 18, 1963, edition of the Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph shows a photo of rockabilly singer Ulysses Baxter pushing a peanut up Barr Trail, using his nose. Baxter’s stunt took about 50 hours over a week to accomplish. The stunt and the peanut will be featured on the Travel network’s “Mysteries at the Museum” series and the center is holding a free viewing party at 6 p.m. at the museum, 517 Manitou Avenue, Manitou Springs. Bill Vogrin / The Gazette