I was delighted to hear of plans for a group of Naval Officers from around the globe to visit the Museum. I was even more impressed than I expected to be by the visitors.

This all came about through a friendship dating back to the 1980s of Museum staffer, Lisa Zander, and William Ellis. The venue that brought them together? The Redwood Empire Ice Arena. It was December, 1986, and our first professional Christmas Ice Show – a Santa Rosa tradition which continued until 2003. When William and Lisa recently reacquainted, Lisa knew of William’s position as United States Navy Commander, with the International Program at the U.S. Naval War College in Rhode Island.

Lisa and Commander Ellis organized the visit of Naval Officers to the Museum. These elite officers were chosen to represent their countries, so this was a special honor for them to travel. They had a chance to see some of the articles and photos in the archives and ended their visit with a short tour of #1 Snoopy Place, the building where Sparky drew the comic strip for 25 years.

It was a great pleasure to meet these Naval Officers from as many as 25 different countries, including Cameroon, Malaysia, and Latvia.

Not all of the officers knew of the Peanuts characters, but I would like to think that in the future, they will remember these great ambassadors of American culture.

Because the group was so large, they were divided into two smaller groups as
they toured the Museum and Sparky’s studio at #1 Snoopy Place.

As a token of appreciation, the Officers presented me with a plate.

We were also able to get a group shot of all the Naval Officers in
the Museum’s Great Hall, in front of our Tile Mural Wall

— Jean Schulz