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History of the Rayne Frog Festival: Celebrating 52 years
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RAYNE, La. (KLFY)-- Celebrating the 52nd annual Rayne Frog Festival, News 10 took a look back on where it all began. Tom Johnson, the Grand Marshal for the Frog Festival Parade, shared how he was the president of the Jaycees chapter organized in 1972.
Due to wanting to sponsor a fair and needing money as the chapter was just organized, Johnson said they signed a contract where it stated the organization would be responsible for taxes, fees, and licenses.
“I met with our city officials and they said there would be no fees from the city of Rayne. We decided to go ahead and sponsor the fair,” Johnson said.
He recalled the days they started the fair. It rained everyday beside one Sunday and people started to come.
“They had a Louisiana Department of Revenue official from Church Point who came to the fair and he wanted to collect fees for every riding booth that we had and it would have been about $1,000 in fees," Johnson said.
Johnson said the man informed him that the state would waive that fee if they promote an agricultural product.
“This is the frog capital of the world," Johnson said. "I said, Why don't we go catch some frogs? But frog season was closed. So I called somebody with the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries and he said I’ll allow y’all to go catch some frogs. So we caught like six frogs. We put them in a cage, and then we got under the tent with the officers and we took a picture with the calves and the frogs and so this is the first unofficial frog festival."
The following year, 1973 was the official kick off of the Frog Festival everyone knows. Johnson who was in his 30s and now 84 years old credits long time newspaper contributor Myrta Fair Craig, who wanted Rayne to have a frog festival for years.
“She helped us get organized with the Jaycees and so she was quite helpful and happy that it happened the way it did," he said. "In a way, we were kind of forced into it, but I'm glad we were kind of forced into it.”
Johnson said Rayne is the frog capital of the world because they use processed frogs and mail them off to the different college biology labs. Overall, the festival offers much to the community with entertainment, frog jumping and rides for children.
“It’s sort of a homecoming for a lot of people that come back and see their old friends and classmates and what have you but it's fun,” Johnson said.