Mr. Frog celebrates 25 years of spreading joy

For 25 years, a quirky lawn ornament has spread joy from a west Augusta wall.

Sherri Rivers placed the statuette dubbed Mr. Frog in front of her Wheeler Road home in January 2000 with a sign that said, “Merry Millennium,” and he’s had a different message every month since.

“I always liked silly things. My house would never be on a tour of homes because I like what makes me happy. I’d seen a sitting frog in a magazine, and I told my mother I wanted him for Christmas,” she said of Mr. Frog’s beginnings.

In his early days, he sat on her doorstep, but she decided to move him to the wall in front of her house on a whim so people could see him. She dressed him up with the sign.

After that first month, she had to come up with a new message and a new outfit because he’s a respectable frog, and it snowballed from there.

In February, she places a box next to him to collect Valentine cards. He’s been Irish for March; he is sort of green, after all. He remembers moms in May and dads in June; he tries to stay cool July; he’s ready for school in August and he celebrates holidays in October, November and December.

He survived Pax in 2014 and Hurricane Helene.

 He even has a girl frog friend who has joined with him to congratulate couples when they’ve gotten married. She wears a wedding dress, and he wears a tux.

Finding clothes has been a challenge. Friends have made some; others have been clothes for stuffed animals. His Christmas outfit belonged to a neighbor’s dog that had outgrown it.

The current frog isn’t the original. Rivers said she’s had four stolen over the years and has a couple of spares, but they’ve seen better days. Weather takes its toll.

Mr. Frog was even kidnapped once, but it was all in good fun. Ruthie and Jim Jatho took him on a secret trip to Seattle. They took photographs of him on the plane and in several locations and returned Mr. Frog with his travelogue which Rivers has kept for two decades.

He was the grand marshal of Waverly neighborhood’s July 4^th parade one year. And Rivers had Frog Fest in November 2002. She had refreshments and people stopped by to say “hello” and sign the guest book. She met several neighbors she previously did not know.

“He’s community,” she said. “I wanted to have a community day.”

Over the years, people have let her know she and Mr. Frog have touched their hearts. She’s received cards and letters. If she’s working in her yard, people sometimes slow down on their drive by and tell her they like her frog.

One family told her that they made regular visits to Westover Memorial Park and seeing Mr. Frog on their drive brought them a smile in an otherwise sad day.

A woman once stopped in the pouring rain to bring Mr. Frog to the Rivers’ door because she was worried something might happen to him.

She doesn’t have anything special planned for his 25^th birthday as of now, but if an idea strikes her she said she might.

Last Christmas, she found a package at her door with a bracelet engraved with “Anything is possible” and a note thanking her for everything she does. She said she wears the bracelet all the time but has no idea who left it for her.

Rivers said she doesn’t plan to take Mr. Frog down anytime soon but will keep him on the wall as long as she can.

Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years. She’s won multiple Georgia Press Association awards and received the 2018 Greater Augusta Arts Council’s media award. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.