Jubilee makes United Airlines’ list for 2014
To county residents, the Calaveras County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee is an annual occurrence. But as far as United Airlines is concerned, it’s one of the 24 Strangest Things to Do in 2014.
The Frog Jump is currently featured in Hemispheres, the airline’s in-flight magazine, among other unusual events such as New York City’s No Pants Subway Ride and Brisbane’s Australia Day Cockroach Races.
“This is an unexpected promotional boost for our fair,” said fair CEO Laurie Gianinni. “We are listed along with events in 10 countries and across the U.S.”
Gianinni first heard of the listing from Angels Camp Museum Director Kim Arth, whose friend saw it on a flight home from Mexico.
“I hope it’ll draw a different demographic of audience to Angels Camp,” Arth said. “New people who hadn’t heard of us may want to come check us out.”
Angels City Administrator Michael McHatten said he first heard about the listing from Arth, who told him the listing happened due, in part, to the efforts of Lisa Boulton, director of the Calaveras Visitors Bureau.
“I was just so impressed,” McHatten enthused. “The fact that it’s in the in-flight magazine for United Airlines and puts Angels Camp on the map is just amazing. To have the Frog Jump listed with events that are held in Spain, Greece, Australia and beyond is great publicity for Angels Camp and for the fair.”
Boulton said she responded to a request from a journalist in the fall that sought strange things to do throughout the world in 2014.
“We responded to that request and one of the story ideas we included was the Frog Jump,” Boulton said. “I was delighted that we were picked among all of the ‘weird and wonderfuls’ throughout the world.”
Boulton said part of the reason Calavears may have been chosen is because participating in “quirky” activities is trending among the traveling public.
The Hemispheres article notes that the traveling public probably don’t need help marking traditional festivals and events on their calendars, offering instead to connect them with unusual opportunities for fun, including places to eat road kill, carry your wife for prizes and, of course, jump frogs. There is a month-by-month listing, with the Jumping Frog Jubilee sharing honors for May with the Waikiki Spam Jam.
The magazine calls the Calaveras County fair “a well-disguised literary festival,” emphasizing its reverence for who started it all: Mark Twain with his story of the “Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.”
“While the livestock shows and fair rides are enjoyed by all,” the article continues, “the highlight is the International Frog Jump Grand Finals, in which the top 50 frogs compete to out jump one another.”
Gianinni said is excited about the addition, though reserved about the selected descriptor of “strange.”
“I prefer the word ‘quirky,’” she said.
Still, she said it’s a great boon for the fair.
“Just about anyone could be looking at all of these exotic events and see there is one in California to come to,” she said. “When they look at the cost analysis, it’ll be a whole lot less expensive to go jump a frog than do some of those other things.”
Boulton said the mention in Hemispheres could have a significant impact on Calaveras County.
“The best case scenario would be to turn those readers into visitors and hopefully have them spend money in the county and gnat business for local economy.