I probably own one of the world’s most traveled Snoopy. First, he made his way from China to France in my mother’s suitcase. Then, I dragged him on all my trips as a kid, from Greece to Senegal… he even got to head back to China and see the great wall 😉 Many years later, as I visited Minneapolis-Saint Paul for the 2008 Republican National Convention I was stoked to be welcomed into the city by these two statues of my childhood bestie and travel buddy at the airport:
These Snoopies, I learned, were part of Peanuts On Parade, a tribute to Minneapolis native Charles M. Schulz, that ran shortly after his death in 2000. 101 5-foot tall fiberglass statues of Snoopy were created, sponsored by local businesses and decorated accordingly by local artists. Most were auctioned off to raise money for charity and to fund a more permanent tribute to the Peanuts and their creator at Landmark Park. But more on that later. In 2001, additional statues were created and displayed at the Mall of America for a summer exhibit called Charlie Brown Around Town. Other exhibits followed including Looking for Lucy in 2002 and Linus Blankets St. Paul in 2004. Those were also auctioned off for charity, but when I visited the Twin Cities in 2008, you could still spot a few of them across the two towns.
Unfortunately, when I went back to Minneapolis-St. Paul a few weeks ago with my parents, most of the statues were gone 🙁 What’s left, however, is the permanent tribune to the cartoonist and the beloved characters he created at Landmark Plaza and Rice Park in downtown St. Paul. The pictures below are a mix from 2008 and 2015.
Patty, Marcie and Woodstock are on the east side of Rice Park, Marcie reading a book of course, while Patty is playing with her football. Charlie Brown and his best friend, Schroeder, Lucy, Linus, and Sally are across the street in Landmark Park.
The statues share the park with another literary icon from St. Paul, Scott F. Fitzgerald who also has a bronze likeness at Landmark Park.
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