Every May for the last 60 years, the Fasano family of Morgan Hill heads out to a secret location in San Joaquin Valley and hunts for frogs.
After they catch about 300 or so California bullfrogs, they bring them back home and start their training and testing in preparation for the Calaveras County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee—an annual event that dates back more than 100 years and even inspired Mark Twain’s short story, “Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.”
A tradition started by family patriarchs Gene Fasano and Frank Borrelli, the Fasanos take their frog jumping quite seriously; so much so that Bob Fasano will never divulge his family frog secrets for catching, training and competing.
“We’re looking for frogs that when we jockey them they are going straight out,” said Morgan Hill resident Bob Fasano, a two-time Calaveras County Frog Jumping Champion, as he explained the intricacies of frog jumping. “We are looking for frogs that are big athletes, jump strong and go straight.”
At the 2017 competition May 19-21, which the “Gustine Frog Jumping Team,” as the family calls itself, brought their best 80 frogs of 300, the Fasanos were looking to break a 12-year championship drought. They had taken the coveted title six times previously, but not since Bob’s second one in 2004. (Red Bull jumped 20 feet, 2.5 inches.)
That’s when Bob’s youngest of three children, 19-year-old son Justin Fasano, cemented his name into family lore as he was crowned the 2017 Calaveras County Frog Jumping Champion with his frog named “Kermit.”
“It’s pretty cool. I’ve been doing this my whole life, so it’s great to bring it home,” said Justin, a Bellarmine Academy alumnus now attending San Diego State University who moved with his family to Morgan Hill about a year and a half ago.
At the competition held in the famed Angels Camp, each frog is dropped on an 8-inch pad and jumps three consecutive times with a trainer/jockey using various methods to get the amphibian to lead forward and straight. Justin prefers to blow on the frog while others clap loudly to get the frog to leap. At the end of the third jump, a measurement is taken from the pad.
In the first-round trials, Kermit jumped 18 feet, 9 inches, catapulting him into the weekend’s championship round.
“It did good at the trials. I basically picked it up and put it away,” said Justin, who elected to bypass the second day of trial jumps and save Kermit until the finals. Kermit is kept in water in a scientifically-controlled box in-between jumps.
As one of 50 that qualified for the championship, Justin waited as 45 other competitors recorded jumps. With the slate wiped clean from the two-day trials, the frogs started fresh and the longest jump came in at 18 feet, 2 inches when Kermit hit the pad.
“That was the most nerve-racking having to watch,” recalled the Willow Glen-native who calmed those nerves and got Kermit to leap a finals-best 18 feet, 4 inches. “It’s all about preparation, being ready by the time you pull it out of the box and jump it.”
2017 was a banner year for the Gustine Frog Jumping team, which took five of the eight place spots. Along with Justin’s title, the team took second (Lisa Fasano with Spare The Air Frogger); third (Bob Fasano with Green Flash); fifth (Bob’s older son Joseph Fasano with Jumpin Johosafats); and seventh (Lillian Fasano with 5 Froggy’s).
“Winning it is like hitting a hole-in-one,” said Bob Fasano, noting that four generations of family competed this year as well as his wife Alma. “This was our best showing in 60 years. This year, our frogs were awesome.”
The Calaveras County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee is one of the longest running events in the state, according to gocalaveras.com. The event’s earliest roots date back to 1893, held that year in Copperopolis, before finding a permanent home outside of Angels Camp.
Each Frog Jumping champion receives a brass plaque commemorating their win embedded in historic downtown Angels Camp’s Frog Hop of Fame. The plaque is engraved with their name, the name of the frog they jumped, the year and the distance of their frog’s 3 jumps. In addition, winners receive $900 in cash and a trophy.
The Fasanos have been leaving their mark in Calaveras County for decades. In 1979, Frank Fasano (Bob’s brother) became the youngest champion at that time and was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records. Gene Fasano followed that up with a championship in 1988. Then, there’s Amanda Fasano (Bob’s daughter) who recorded the second longest jump in 2017 at 19 feet, 6 inches during the trials.
Each year, when the jumping is all done, “We always return the top frogs to the same spots (where we catch them),” Bob Fasano explained.
