Popeye's hometown in a tizzy over picnic

CHESTER, Ill., Jan. 17 (UPI) -- The 75th birthday of Popeye the Sailor Man has put his Illinois hometown in a scrappy mood, the Chicago Tribune reported Saturday.

The Chester City Council will vote Tuesday on whether or not to move Popeye's annual picnic from its traditional downtown site to a bigger location north of town.

The creator of the comic strip, Elzie Segar, was born and raised in Chester, as were the models for Popeye, Olive Oyl and Wimpy. The Popeye Fan Club and a Popeye museum are there. "Popeye" characters adorn walls. A 6-foot Popeye doll teeters in the library and a bronze statue of Popeye overlooks the Mississippi at Segar Memorial Park.

But with the arrival of his 75th birthday Saturday, Popeye also is at the center of a debate in this community of 5,200 about 65 miles south of St. Louis.

Attendance at the annual Popeye Picnic, once as high as 30,000, has dropped to a few thousand.

And as plans come together for the 25th festival, held in September, residents are squabbling over whether to move and consolidate it in an effort to salvage it.