The return of Charlie the Tuna to the South Slough Bridge may get more hoopla than a former president who visited town almost exactly a year ago. Even Bill Clinton can't say he got a parade with a real live kazoo band.

Although he's not the original wooden statue, Charleston Charlie III will take his predecessor's rightful place on the east side of the bridge this afternoon. The new statue will be unveiled at noon on Saturday following a funky parade with mermaids, the Wild Women of Charleston in silly hats, roller derby girls, some dogs and other curious folk.

Charleston Merchants Association member Mel Campbell, who is helping organize the event, hopes a pig and duck also will join in the merrymaking, but isn't sure they'll make it.

"We invite anyone. ... The funnier, the better," she said.

The Charlie's Day festivities also include medals for parade participants and cash prizes for the most outstanding entries, as well as games and tuna balloons for the kids, refreshments, a wine garden at the Charleytown Marketplace, sidewalk sales throughout Charleston, tours of local U.S. Coast Guard boats and more. Visitors will even be able to purchase chunks of the old Charlie in jam jars labeled "Dear Charlie: May he rest in pieces."

It all may sound like a lot of hullabaloo for a smiling wooden fish in spectacles, but to the Charleston Merchants Association, residents and all others who love Charleston, replacing the fish gives the community back its emblem.

 "People just enjoy looking at him ... and know Charleston is a lot of fun," Campbell said.

The merchants and volunteers from the Charleston Visitor Center helped pay for the replacement after two young men filleted the gigantic wooden fish's predecessor in a prank gone wrong. They paid for their crime with community service in Charleston.

"They're basically nice boys. They just happened to get caught with a chain saw in the wrong place," Campbell said.

The new Charlie isn't an exact replica of the original fish that Tom Johnson carved in the late 1980s. This one can use his fins.

"He isn't as tall as the second one, he's a little plumper, and he has his fins on ball bearings so he can wave to people as they cross the bridge into Charleston," Campbell said. "He's about 800 pounds worth of fish."

She explained that Ellen Keeland, an artist out in Loon Lake, carved Charlie III out of cedar provided by the Coquille Indian Tribe and decided to add the waving fins, too. A member of the tribe will transport Charlie to Charleston. When he arrives at about 3 p.m. today, Jack Hampel of Chuck's Seafood and members of the Charleston Rural Fire Protection District, will use a crane to lift him up and swing him into his spot at the end of the bridge. Campbell said he's beautifully carved, brightly painted, but not necessarily better than Charlie past.

"They each have their own personality," she noted.

Although he isn't what he used to be, old Charlie will also be at Charlie's Day in a trailer laid out by the information center. Campbell said she had hoped to give him a flaming Viking funeral but the Department of Environmental Quality wouldn't have any of it.

"I thought it was a terrific idea," Campbell said.

People who attend Charlie's Day can expect some other off-the-wall fun. At Charleytown Marketplace, they can listen to a band made up of interesting instruments, including a "gut bucket," along with the vocal stylings of Harry Stamper, who wrote the Ballad of Charlie for the wooden fish's wake. Three B's Nursery also is donating a white cedar tree to be planted at the visitor center in living tribute to Charlie.

Campbell noted that the event is meant to be fun and non-political.

Johnson, who carved the original Charlie out of coastal Cyprus, said he's pleased with the new one.

"I'm tickled to death that someone's replacing it. I can't hold up chain saws I like I used to," the 71-year-old said. "Charleston needs tourism, and that'll help."

He added he wasn't happy when he learned of his statue's demise, but knows people like to play tricks. Years ago, he recalled, somebody kidnapped Charlie and put him on the bow of a fishing boat.

"I have a love affair with Charleston and it kind griped me off," Johnson said. "I admired Charleston for its independence and liveliness.

"You could get either kissed or beat up in 15 minutes, depending where you were."

The carver said he hopes to go to the festival, but wasn't willing to make any guarantees.

"If I died, well then I won't be there."