Jay Reynolds was born in Spencer, Ohio in 1928 and later moved to Liverpool Township, graduating from Liverpool School. A tour with the US Army in Korea followed. Soon after his return his career at the Ford Motor Company began, from which he retired in 1981. Later he wintered in Florida and returned to Medina County during the summer.
In 1962 he got involved in putting on a Frog Jump. The Jump was based on Mark Twain’s short story, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. Because of this, co founders Andy Neff and Duane Naftzger assumed the characters of Mark Twain and The Old Prospector, respectively, for publicity purposes. Jay became Huck Finn.
Together the trio made major contributions towards gaining local, national and worldwide publicity for the Frog Jump. They promoted a ‘feud’ between the Fire Chiefs of Liverpool and Erhart departments, which culminated with a failed attempt to compete with a kangaroo! They developed a good relationship with the Calaveras County (CA) Jump officials and for several years sent frogs there to compete. In the process Jay conducted a zany and impromptu(?) jump in Cleveland Hopkins Airport, much to the delight of the news media.
The trio traveled extensively within Ohio to conduct special jumps and to help other towns start frog jumps. Gov. James A. Rhodes was convinced he must proclaim Valley City as the Frog Jumping Capital of Ohio, over opposition from another community. And so he did.
The media was very supportive. For example, Jay barged into the office of Cleveland Press Editor Louis Selzer, dressed as Huck Finn and frog in hand. Over the objections of Press staff and security, Mr. Selzer waved Jay, Duane and Andy into his office and ordered a large spread to be published. Jay and frog also appeared on the Mike Douglas show with guests Leslie Gore, Tootie Fields, and Jack Kelly.
Later, the many ties with TV stations resulted in footage being shown in Viet Nam during the war, to our soldiers over there, something quite unusual for the time. And Dick Goddard visited a Jump in the early years, admired it, and thus with Neal Zurcher initiated the Wooly Bear Festival.
Jay has been handling frogs for many of the years of the Valley City Jump! In fact, he and some helpers, including Boy Scout Troop 502, caught the very first frogs. This was in 1962 during the Sesquicentennial. Jay has learned and forgotten more about frogs than most of us will ever know. His devotion to and care of frogs led to his nickname of Mr. Frogman. His vast knowledge led to his conducting a Frog School at the last several Jumps, passing on information to the next generations of jumpers.
Perhaps his greatest “froggie” honor came in 1969. When Jay returned home from a hospital stay his front yard contained a giant, 2000 pound, 6 ft. long concrete frog, made and delivered especially for him by friends and fellow jumpers. That frog attracted attention and far-flung visitors for many years.
In 1969 Jay was quoted in the Elyria Chronicle Telegram as saying “I’m going to jump frogs till I die”. And he kept his word! Jay’s last Frog School was in 2008. He passed December 15 of that year.
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