Redheads and unrequited love honored at Santa Rosa’s Schulz Museum

The little red-haired girl is talked about but never seen in the Peanuts comic strip.

Her affection - or even mere attention - is Charlie Brown’s holy grail.

Readers know Charlie Brown rarely gets what he wants in his long suffering narratives followed by generations. Few are lucky like Ed McKee, who convinced a redheaded girl to marry him about 30 years after she handed him a note to give a different boy, inviting him to a high school’s Vice-Versa dance.

“The rest is history,” said McKee.

In honor of unrequited love, the Charles M. Schulz Museum gave free admission to redheads Sunday, two days before the Valentine’s Day holiday. They’ve done so since 2004, said Jean Bevier, museum store coordinator.

McKee waved in ginger-tressed visitors from the docent’s podium at the entrance of the museum on Hardies Lane in Santa Rosa.

Only an estimated 1 to 2 percent of the world’s population has red hair, and a few were lucky enough to choose Sunday to visit the museum.

It was a welcome perk for Libby Day of San Diego, who said it wasn’t always easy having the world’s rarest hair color. Her complexion and freckles once made her feel like the odd woman out.

“There weren’t a lot of redheads when I grew up,” said Day, San Diego’s redevelopment project manager visiting Sonoma County for a wine event with friends. “It probably made me more independent.”

Day’s once-red tresses are now in waves of silver, but the red still shines through in highlights lit by the sun.

Felecia Hobbs gives credit to her hairstylist for bringing out the fiery tones in her long auburn hair.

Hobbs, 50, of Walnut Creek and her blonde sister Sandy Headrick, 59, of Clovis are lifelong fans of Peanuts comics and the lovable, self-deprecating protagonist.

Hobbs wore out her Joe Cool T-shirt and was hoping to find a replacement.

Headrick named her sibling Maltese dogs Linus and Lucy - just guess which one is always grumpy.

“The best humor is found in real life,” Headrick said.

You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 707-521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jjpressdem.