Popeye Picnic
In 1977, Segar's hometown of Chester, Illinois honored its native son with a park named in his honor. The park is home to a six-foot-tall bronze statue of Popeye, and since 1980 has been the site of the annual Popeye Picnic, a weekend-long event that celebrates the character with a parade, film festival and other activities. In 2006, Chester launched the ambitious "Popeye & Friends Character Trail," which links a series of statues of Segar's characters located throughout town. Each stands on a base inscribed with the names of donors who contributed to its cost and is unveiled and dedicated during the Popeye Picnic. The 2006 debut sculpture of hamburger-loving Wimpy stands in Gazebo Park. A statue of Olive Oyl, Swee'Pea and the Jeep, located downtown near the Randolph County Courthouse, followed in 2007. In 2008, a Bluto statue was dedicated at the corner of Swanwick and W. Holmes Streets, in front of Buena Vista Bank. The 2009 statue of Castor Oyl and Bernice the Whiffle Hen stands in front of Chester Memorial Hospital. An additional 11 statues will be unveiled at the rate of one per year until 2020 if not longer, when a bust of Segar at his birthplace will mark the cartoonist's 125th birthday. According to the "Map to the Stars" promo piece released by the town, the schedule continues as follows:
| Year | Character(s) | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | SeaHag/Bernard | McDonalds/Walmart |
| 2011 | Cole Oyl | Chester Public Library |
| 2012 | Alice the Goon | Chester Center |
| 2013 | Poopdeck Pappy | Cohen Complex |
| 2014 | Prof. Watasnozzle | Chester High School |
| 2015 | RoughHouse | Reid's Harvest House |
| 2016 | Nephews-Peepeye/Poopeye/Pipeye/Pupeye | Chester Grade School |
| 2017 | Chester The Dog | Chester Fire dept. |
| 2018 | King Blozo | Municipal Bldg-City Hall |
| 2019 | Patcheye The Pirate | Mississippi Riverfront |
| 2020 | Elzie Segar Bust | Birthplace-Old Plank Rd. |
A few Chester businesses are named for Popeye characters-Spinach Can Collectibles/Popeye Museum (Opera House)-1001 State St. Chester...Website for Store and Fanclub-www.popeyethesailor.com and also Rough-House Pizza
On December 8, 2009, Google honored Segar's 115th birthday with a Google Doodle of Popeye. The doodle used Popeye's body as the 'g', had 'oogl' drawn to resemble Segar's drawing style, and a spinach can as the 'e'; and featured Popeye punching the 'oogl' to get the spinach to fly at him through the air.
Read more about this topic: E. C. Segar