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Froggy
and Flutterby – Proverbial Friends
 Can
a campaign to draw attention to the City of Erie also afford an
opportunity for church members at First Presbyterian Church of the
Covenant to use their God-given talent to bring glory to Him? Of
course!
The 2004 Leap Frog Campaign caught the attention of FPCC member
Charlotte Richards who immediately thought of F-R-O-G: “Fully Rely On
God.” She submitted a proposal to the Erie Arts Council that featured
a frog with a butterfly on its head. The Arts Council granted
acceptance. In Char Richards’ own words, “…then I got scared! I called
Susan Knight and Marty Ruggiero from our church who I knew were
creative artists and I begged them to help me! We had many meetings to
decide colors, designs, and his name.”
Pediatric Ophthalmology of Erie (Dr. Nick and Lori Sala) chose Char’s
design from dozens of others and offered to serve as patron to
underwrite the costs associated with creating this masterpiece. Dr.
Sala will eventually display the completed sculpture in the waiting
room of his new office on West 12th Street, across from the Erie Times
News building. The Sala’s wanted the frog to have a decidedly
Christian slant and be attractive to children.
Char’s husband, Al, suggested she use proverbs and offered his
collection of books on the subject. Char chose 65 proverbs, including
three from the Book of Proverbs, and others from Native American,
Japanese, Chinese, Mexican, African, Swedish, Yiddish, French, Latin,
as well as proverbs from famous poets.
Char, Marty, and Susan toiled for two months in the wine cellar of the Sala’s beautiful McKean home. Working a few hours each day, they
painted the frog. Susan took on the task of lettering the 65 proverbs
onto the finished surface.
Meanwhile, Char approached Rev. Doug Helper of the Erie Church of God
to use his excellent carpentry skills to create the butterfly out of
orange Plexiglas and plywood. Doug cut out the wings and hand carved
the head and body. He then bolted the finished butterfly to the frog.
 Due
to a delay in completion of the Sala’s new office, Char had to find an
alternative site to display the sculpture. During a luncheon with the
president of the Women’s Club of Erie, Char described her need for a
site. The Women’s Club gladly offered their front lawn. This places
froggy right next door to First Presbyterian Church of the Covenant
since the Women’s Club of Erie is our immediate neighbor to the west
on Sixth Street.
From these photos you can see what a great job Char, Marty, and Susan
did with this most unique creation. How wonderful this will be over
the years as countless hundreds of children visiting
Dr. Sala’s office
look at the sculpture and read the proverbs
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