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Two Windsor-based Girl Scout troops are collaborating to bring a Girl Scout-themed frog statue to the town.

The number of frog statues in Windsor is growing as the initiative started by the town’s Economic Development Authority has gained momentum. 

Windsor has a history of being a popular place for frogs due to the area’s heavy, wet soil, and it was once nicknamed “Frog Level.” The EDA purchased three frog sculptures in 2021 and later had them painted and placed in key locations as emblems for people to know the town by, helping make the locality distinct and memorable for people passing through. 

More frog statues have come about since then.

Girl Scout Troop 5114 Co-Leader Elizabeth Cochran Ward explained in a Thursday, Nov. 21, interview how the idea for a Girl Scout-themed frog statue was born.

“Like most clubs, Girl Scouts declined in numbers during Covid,” she said. “There are now more troops forming in the area and more girls looking to come together in troops for friendship and adventure. Other towns, such as Smithfield, have a Girl Scout symbol on their city sign. Windsor has a Boy Scout frog (statue at Garris Event Park), so we were inspired to ask for a Girl Scout frog, to show that Girl Scouting is in the area and going strong.”

Windsor Town Councilman and town EDA member Jake Redd indicated that the authority is in full support of the project.

“The EDA has agreed to basically sponsor a Girl Scout frog,” he said. “I think we’re in the final review process.”

Girl Scouts consists of the national organization, Girl Scouts of the USA, and under that are councils, which include service units, and those units include troops. The Girl Scout Council of the Colonial Coast includes Service Unit 310, which includes Windsor-based troops 5114 and 726 that have collaborated on a design idea for a frog statue representing the Girl Scouts.

Ward noted in a Nov. 9 email that after a month-long process, the local troops had obtained permission from Girls Scouts of the USA and Girl Scout Council of the Colonial Coast to use official Girl Scout imagery and designs on the frog.

“The two local troops that are participating have met,” Ward said in the email. “We will have a proposal ready this week for submission. I have also spoken with Dewitt (Holland), and he has agreed to paint the frog. He would like to start Dec 1. We are just finalizing the design and having the girls pick which patches to include.”

The proposal, written by Ward, states that the frog would have a beige and chocolate brown body color to look like a spring peeper, which is a common frog found in Isle of Wight County.

“This is a small brown frog that has a loud call, mostly heard in spring,” the proposal states, including supporting photos. “On the back of the frog we would like the Girl Scout Promise and the Girl Scout Law. If possible, we would like the frog to have small eyelashes and pink nails, but we will leave this to the artist’s discretion.”

Among the many details provided in the proposal, it suggests that the frog’s painted uniform should include a kelly green junior sash with badges on front and fun patches on back.

The frog’s base is proposed to be royal blue with a white-and-yellow daisy pattern on the top.

“The daisy flowers will be made from the handprints of the people involved and include names and ages,” Ward states in the proposal. “It will appear as if the frog is sitting on a bed of daisies. The front facing the viewer will have various Girl Scout cookies painted on it.”

Ward stated that the name of the frog will be “Daisy,” the common nickname for Girl Scouts founder Juliette Gordon Low. 

“The clubs would love to be as involved as possible and help with painting where we can,” Ward stated in the proposal. “We can also work on painting bricks to look like cookie boxes to place on the base of the statue. 

“The girls can also write a biography for the frog as part of their badge work, similar to the additional information that is included with the Boy Scout frog,” she added. 

As for the frog’s placement in town, Ward said in the Nov. 21 interview, “We would be proud to have our frog anywhere in Windsor, greeting travelers and citizens alike.”