On Thursday, August 15, 2002, the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center opened to the public amid great fanfare. The star-studded guest list included numerous cartoonists and animators — among them Patrick McDonnell (
Mutts), Greg Evans (
Luann) and Sergio Aragones (
Mad Magazine) — along with Peanuts-type celebrities such as Robert Short, author of
The Gospel According to Peanuts and several other books. One noted special guest was Yoshiteru ("Yoshi") Otani, whose whimsical sculptures, designs and other efforts for various Snoopy Town Shops in Japan had helped inspire the new Schulz Museum's overall look.
Your FiveCents
Please bloggers were present as well, along with literally hundreds of Peanuts fans who couldn't wait to be among the museum's first visitors. The gift shop already was laden with plenty of books, plush Snoopy dolls — wearing museum T-shirts, of course — and other items designed to commemorate this event. Scott and Victor also were among the contributing writers for Derrick's first book,
50 Years of Happiness: A Tribute to Charles M. Schulz ... and you can see them standing in front of an entire shelf filled with copies of this book.
They're quite pleased by the fact that the book has remained available in this same gift shop ever since, where it remains a steady seller.
Flash-forward a decade, to Saturday, August 18, 2012: the weekend designated to celebrate the museum's 10th anniversary. Some things have changed over the years, such as the museum's staff, in part because it has grown so much. But the core message remains fixed: the celebration of Charles M. Schulz's work, and the dedication toward keeping his vision alive through an ever-changing assortment of imaginative and cleverly designed exhibits, many of which also have toured the country with stops at other museums.
The festivities began at 11 a.m. with a "cherry tree ceremony" designed to honor both the museum's anniversary, and Otani's artistic contributions and ongoing devotion to its mission. The ceremony also held a greater purpose: as part of the 2012 Japan-U.S. Centennial Cherry Blossom Tree Planting Initiative, to further enhance the friendship between these two countries. The centennial celebration looks back to 1912, when — to express appreciation for the United States' partnership in that year's Treaty of Portmouth, Japan sent 3,020 cherry trees from Tokyo, to be planted along the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Cherry blossoms —
sakura — are Japan's national flower.
Roughly 50 people gathered in the Schulz Museum's front courtyard on this warm August morning, where they found a young cherry blossom tree carefully wrapped for the ceremony, and planted alongside the Snoopy Labyrinth. The small but dedicated group included quite a few folks who had traveled all the way from Japan, along with (sadly) only half of your FiveCentsPlease team. Jeannie Schulz and museum director Karen Johnson gave short introductory speeches, and Jeannie presented Otani — also present for the occasion, once again wearing the eye-catching white "Snoopy jacket" that had prompted so many photographs, back in 2002 — with a lovely sculpture by Stan Pawlowski, another artist who has been a longtime friend to the Schulz family and the Peanuts empire (and whose full-size bronze statue of Charlie Brown and Snoopy continues to draw tourists to Santa Rosa's nearby Railroad Square).
A proclamation then was read aloud by San Francisco's Deputy Consul General of Japan, Michio Harada, who spoke warmly of the ongoing friendship between his country and the United States, and between Otani and the Schulz Museum. He also explained the significance of cherry trees, and the annual celebrations that take place in Japan each spring, when people have picnics beneath the flowering trees, the goal being to eat good food, drink plenty of sake and reflect upon life's blessings.
(It may be awhile before this tree grows enough to permit such an indulgence, but we'll be first in line with our picnic baskets when it does!)
Following these remarks, the ends of the tree's robe were pulled by Jeannie, Karen, Yoshi and Deputy Consul General Harada, and the tree was "introduced" to the world (or at least that small portion of it present as witnesses). All four obligingly stood during a multitude of photos, and then we all broke into informal groups (and, in several cases, for a quick lunch at the nearby Warm Puppy Café).
