Poopdeck Pappy Statue Joins Popeye at the September Popeye Picnic in Chester, IL

Popeye returns to Chester, Illinois, this September. The 34th annual Popeye Picnic, honoring Chester native, cartoonist Elzie Segar (1894-1938) and his creation, Popeye the Sailor, will again be held this year, on the weekend of September 10-12, 2010. The event includes the unveiling of a new statue of a Popeye comic strip co-star, Popeye's father, Poopdeck Pappy.

The Popeye Legacy

Chester (pop. 4,000) is the site of a 6-foot bronze statue of Popeye in Segar Park, a pullover-park at the foot of the Chester Bridge spanning the Mississippi River. The statue was erected in 1977 and has become a local landmark popular with visitors from around the country.

Popeye was created by Segar in 1929 for his comic strip, Thimble Theater, and gradually took over. Popeye and his friends are all believed to have been patterned after Segar's Chester friends. A series of cartoons were made about Popeye and Robin Williams eventually portrayed Popeye in a live-action movie.

The Popeye statue is not alone in Chester. In recent years, smaller granite statues have been annually unveiled at the Popeye Picnic of such characters as the hamburger-eating Wimpy in the downtown Gazebo Park, Olive Oyl holding Swee' Pea with the Jeep at her side at the Randolph County Courthouse, muscular rival Bluto at the Swanwick and West Holmes streets intersection, Olive's father Castor Oyl with Wiffle Hen perched on his head at Chester Memorial Hospital, and new this year will be the unveiling of Popeye's father, Poopdeck Pappy.

2010 Popeye Picnic

This year's Popeye Picnic theme is Popeye's Greatest Show on Earth. The Popeye Picnic includes the annual Parade at 11:30am Saturday. Besides plenty of free musical entertainment throughout the event, there will be vendors, Goon Island Sand Sculpting, the Wimpy Weiner Dog Derby, Popeye Washer Tournament, Swee' Pea's petting zoo, inflatables for the kids, carnival rides, a volleyball tournament, Jeep's Jivin' Characatures, Cartooning With the Pros at the public library, Fridaty and Saturday night's Popeye Film Festival, and Sunday night's fireworks display.

Popular at all times of year but especially during the Popeye Picnic is Spinach Can Collectibles and Popeye Museum, located next to Gazebo Park. On display inside are numerous Popeye-related items.

Among returning events is the year is the popular Sea Hag Haunted Chester bus tour which was not held last year. The small river town is noted for its numerous ghost stories including the Ghost of Chester along Illinois 3 south of town and Miss Minnie, the library ghost. You can read up a bit on this here.

Other Sites

Other things to see in Chester (founded in 1819) include Illinois' only covered bridge, the Marys River Covered Bridge located just off Illinois 150 four miles northeast of town. Part of the old stone courthouse now serves as an archives and museum.

More Information

For updated information, consult the official wesbite at the Popeye Picnic website here.