The frog project continues to be hoppin’

The population of frog sculptures in the town of Windsor is growing.

Windsor Economic Development Authority member Dale Scott gave an update at the Jan. 24 Windsor Planning Commission meeting on the EDA project to place large, painted frog sculptures at different prominent points around town.

The sculptures were fabricated in hand lay up fiberglass by a company called Cowpainters. Each frog is 42 inches high, 42 inches wide, has 45 inches of depth and weighs about 250 pounds.

The sculptures are intended to be emblems for people to recognize the town by and are part of an initiative spearheaded by the Windsor EDA that draws upon the locality’s history of being a popular place for frogs due to the area’s heavy, wet soil.

“The frog project continues to be hoppin’,” Scott said at the recent Planning Commission meeting, drawing laughter from his fellow commissioners in appreciation of his clever word choice.

Commissioner G. Devon Hewitt said, “What’s going to be the total amount of frogs?”

Scott did not offer a final total, but he reviewed the frogs that are already in place and noted those that are up for placement next.

Frogs in place include the one named Jeremiah, which is owned by the Windsor Congregational Christian Church and is visible next to the church from West Windsor Boulevard; the one with a Boy Scouts theme at the Wesley F. Garris Event Park on Duke Street; the one serving as a tribute to farming in Windsor located on Shirley Drive and visible from East Windsor Boulevard; and the one that was a joint effort between the Windsor Ruritan Club and the Woman’s Club of Windsor placed at the Ruritan Club building on Community Drive.

Scott said that the next frogs planned will be placed at the Windsor Volunteer Fire Department on East Windsor Boulevard and the Windsor Town Center on Courthouse Highway/U.S. Route 258.

Hewitt said, “I don’t know if you all look at these frogs up close, but Dewitt’s done a heck of a job. The detail is phenomenal.”

He was referencing Dewitt Holland, a fellow member of the Windsor EDA who has a notable talent for painting.

Scott said Holland has “been the backbone of that (frog) project from day one. Without his efforts acquiring the frogs, painting the frogs and installing the frogs, I don’t know where we’d be at this point in time. He’s done a phenomenal job.”

Commissioner David Adams, who also serves on the Windsor Town Council, said, “Once the frog project is complete, let us know, and we’ll try and recognize him on the council side. We’ll give him some type of recognition.”

Hewitt said, “I’ve been up to the shop and watched him kind of come along with a couple of (the frogs). He spends hours and hours and hours on each one. It’s very detailed and very intricate.”

Planning Commission Chairman Leonard L. Marshall noted that the frog going on display at the fire department was in the Windsor Christmas Parade, giving spectators an advance preview of it as it rode in the bed of a truck.

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