Popeye and Friends Character Trail to add new statue

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The City of Chester and the Popeye Picnic Committee are proud to announce that the next statue in the Popeye and Friends Character Trail will feature Castor Oyl and Bernice the Whiffle Hen and will be installed in front of Memorial Hospital in Chester. This latest addition to the multi-year plan to develop tourism in Randolph County will honor the historical significance of their local cartoon connection with Popeye. The one-eyed sailor is an international icon that holds the record for the most cartoons produced, and this has generated enormous interest in our city.

Under the general name of "Popeye and Friends Character Trail", this effort seeks to place, throughout Chester, over a dozen statues representing the residents of Elzie Segar's comic kingdom. A bronze Popeye statue was erected in 1977, and the first granite statue of the new plan, fashioned in the likeness of Wimpy, was unveiled during the Popeye Picnic of 2006. The second granite statue, unveiled in 2007 was the trio Olive Oyl, Swee' Pea and Eugene the Jeep. The trail continued to expand in 2008 with the likeness of Bluto erected at Buena Vista National Bank.

The statues are funded by individual and corporate donations. Each sponsor of $150 or more has their name (ie: personal/corp./organization /that of a loved one) engraved in the granite base. Only a few spaces remain available on the Castor Oyl/Whiffle Hen statue and prospective donors can contact Michael McClure at 618-826-5125 to secure a spot. Debbie Brooks, the current Popeye Picnic Chairman, stated, "This is a fantastic opportunity to pay tribute to one of our city's most famous sons, Elzie Segar, and the two cartoon characters responsible for the creation of Popeye, one of the most famous characters known around the world!"