Charlie Brown gets town painted brown

SANTA ROSA, Calif., Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Charles Schulz' "Peanuts" downtrodden Charlie Brown has finally won one with Santa Rosa, Calif., deciding to honor him by erecting his statues throughout town.

The gesture honors Schulz, who lived and worked in the town north of San Francisco, for four decades, reports the Los Angeles Times.

Charlie Brown was a loser in baseball and everything else, but this time 55 large sculptures of him placed around the town greet visitors.

"We're getting visitors from all over, literally," said Santa Rosa Councilwoman Janet Condron, who helped organize the "It's Your Town, Charlie Brown" celebration, which also commemorates the comic strip's 55th anniversary. "The recognition of Charles Schulz and the 'Peanuts' characters is international."

Schulz spent the last 40 years of his life in Santa Rosa.