The rap on Proc's infamous wraps Get to know the sandwich genius behind the counter

Author: H. Kay Merriman

It's lunchtime at Proctor. A Panini Master has taken to monopolizing the Panini machine and you are not feeling particularly inspired. Your sandwich muse has not yet struck, but you are hungry and do not have time to wait for a creation idea to come to you. What do you do? Reach for a pre-prepared sandwich by the "Wrap Man," of course!

Frequenters of Proctor rely on Lou Langevin's weekday lunchtime manning of the counter. Langevin makes wraps and places them on the platter almost as quickly as students take them off. He smiles at everyone who passes through the line without breaking his precision. But who is this sandwich sage? He provides our midday meal and yet - to most he remains a mystery.

Langevin, the infamous Wrap Man, has not always specialized in sandwiches. In fact, if he had not played on a certain softball team, he insists, we may have never been able to sample his creations. Langevin was working at IBM as an Applications Engineer and playing on a softball team with fellow Proctor chef Paul Smith's brother when he first expressed interest in finding a job closer to his home and family in Middlebury. "Smitty's brother said 'I can get you a job in dining at the college,'" Langevin recalled. He jumped at the opportunity - and that is how the Wrap Man came to work at Middlebury.

But what does he do when he is not "freestyling" in the dining halls? Many have spotted his faux-hawk in the pool. He likes to set an example for his twelve- and eight-year-old sons by swimming laps while they take lessons from Middlebury swimmers. Langevin also enjoys playing golf and spending time with his wife. "We've been married a lucky thirteen years," he said. Since leaving IBM, Langevin says he still enjoys playing around with computers and writing code.

In addition to providing gourmet sandwich service, Langevin has an interesting life philosophy that Midd Kids can learn from. He does not like to focus on the past. "I live 75 percent in the present and 25 percent in the future," he said.

Although, for some of us, at lunch hour the present and future may often be constricted to choosing and eating one of Langevin's wraps, Langevin insisted that he is happy to help with that, too. Feel free to ask him to hold the mayo on a certain sandwich and he will be more than willing to comply with your request. "I only make stuff that I would eat myself," he said.

Next time you reach for a wrap in Proctor, thank Langevin for all that he does. He seems to really care about the students. "You're like my kids," he said. "Somewhere there's a mother and a father that look at you in the same way that I look at my own kids, and our pact with your parents when you come here is to serve you lunch Monday through Friday."

You might find he'll share the recipe for his famous Greek Salad wrap or, maybe if you're lucky, even help you with that Computer Science homework.