Frogtown, CA…Thirty years and counting…Rosie the Ribiter has held the World’s Record at the Calaveras County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee since 1986. The unprecedented record will be celebrated at this year’s Fair on Kids Day, Thursday, May 19 — frog jumping will be free for kids 12 and under all day. The Fair runs May 19-22 at Frogtown in Angels Camp. Many of today’s frog enthusiasts were on hand the day the World’s Record was set by the late Lee Gudici with his frog Rosie the Ribiter. The Gudici, Guzules and Matasci frog team will compete again this year carrying on a tradition they established over 50 years ago as teaching colleagues at John Sutter School in Santa Clara. They stage a Frog Jump every year at the school with the winner appearing in the Grand Finals of the Jumping Frog Jubilee.

The Frog Jump Committee which stages the Jumping Frog Jubilee includes several veteran volunteers who were also on-hand cheering Rosie’s victory 30 years ago, along with members of many frog teams comprised of family members and friends who have been competing for decades. These frog jockeys put their leapers through elimination rounds during the Fair, with the 50 longest marks qualifying for the Grand Finals. Every year, prizes are presented to the eight longest leapers … with everyone hoping to break the standing World’s Record.

Prior to 1986, the record was 21 feet, 1 and ½ inches set by Janet Seiber of Sweet Home Oregon in 1984. Since Rosie’s triumph, the leaper landing closest to her record was in 2007 when Brent Bloom of the Bozo Frog Team from Sacramento scored 21 feet, 4 and ¼ inches.

These records of 21-plus feet are a far cry from the Frog Jump’s beginning. The event was first staged in downtown Angels Camp in 1928 to celebrate the paving of Main Street. It was a tribute to the legend of “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” which humorist Mark Twain immortalized in his story first published on Nov. 18, 1865, in the New York Saturday Press. It recounted a tale he said he had heard in Angels Camp while visiting Gold Rush mining camps in the area.

Local archives reveal the first frog competition in 1928 was true to the legend, a tabletop event surrounded by onlookers. That probably explains the short distances recorded, with the first winner hopping just three feet and nine inches. Pride of San Joaquin was the frog’s name and it was entered by Louis R. Fisher of Stockton. It sparked a tradition now stretching over 80 years. The Jumping Frog Jubilee became part of the Calaveras County Fair in 1937.