Valley City Community Group to dedicate frog statue in Mill Stream Park

LIVERPOOL TWP. — The Valley City Community Group is aiming to remember its past and look toward the future by dedicating a frog statue in Mill Stream Park this summer. Jim Sandor is the president of the Valley City Community Group. He has been involved in the township's frog jump for his entire life and has served as its co-chair for the last 40 years. "I was born a couple doors down from the founders of the frog jump," he said. "By the time I could walk, we would walk the river and catch frogs." Valley City resident Jay Reynolds was one of the three founders of the frog jump, Sandor said. In 1969, Reynolds was injured in a traffic incident. To cheer him up, Mack Industries provided him with a 1-ton concrete frog named "His Frogship" made of concrete, metal and plywood that was placed in his yard on Abbeyville Road. "It became a community icon where people would always come by, see it and get their pictures taken with it," he said. "Then, probably by the early '70s, it kind of started to deteriorate." This year marks the 65th year of the frog jump, the 10th year of the Valley City Community Group and America's 250th birthday. As a result, the Valley City Community Group is looking to add a new frog statue to the entrance of Mill Stream Park, which is designed by local artist Mike Kortan. The new statue will be approximately 6 feet tall and will sit in an artificial pond that is surrounded by boulders. Individuals and businesses can sponsor an engraved granite boulder, which can feature their family or company name. For more information, visit valleycity.org. "It's going to be made of fiberglass," Sandor said. "It will be carved out of Styrofoam, and then Architectural Fiberglass in Cleveland will coat it with fiberglass and paint it." The plan is to dedicate the new frog statue at the end of the township's Independence Day parade. "I want the community to keep remembering it and keep participating," Sandor said. "What better way than with a statue?" Contact reporter Madisyn Woodring at (330) 721-4049 or mwoodring@medina-gazette.com.