The Story is not over Yet!
After The Legend of the Putter Frog, of Frogmore, SC, was published, The Beaufort Gazette ran a story about the book. A week later, a lady who participated in the theft of the frog in Frogmore back in 1963 wrote Randy a letter (below) and confessed.
Randy Bazemore,
​
After reading the article in yesterday’s Beaufort Gazette about your book and the theft of the Frogmore Frog many years ago, I thought it was time to confess: I am one of the people who took the frog from the post office in 1963.
​
I was divorced with two little children and working on Parris Island at the time. A friend and co-worker, Jeanette, my children and I were spending the weekend at her grandmother's house at Lands End. We invited some friends over for a party. During the evening, the subject of Frogmore came up. There had been an item in the Gazette recently about the frog that had been given to the post office and when the postmistress was asked if she wasn't affraid someone would take the frog (since it was not attached in any way) she replied she wasn't worried.
​
That was all we needed to decide to go get the frog. A couple of lieutenants from Parris Island and I went to Frogmore and got the frog. We put a hat, sunglasses and lipstick on him and he spent the rest of the evening with us. When the party broke up the two lieutenants were supposed to return the frog to the post office. For some reason they didn't return him but took him to the BBQ at Parris Island where he spent the rest of the weekend.
​
On Monday I received an urgent phone call at work from one of the lieutenants. Paul Harvey news had just been on the radio and Paul Harvey had said, "Frogmore, South Carolina. Where's the frog? Put it back. It's a federal offense." Needless to say we were very concerned. I was an employee of the Federal government and they were officers in the Marine Corps. That night after dark we returned the frog. And to quote Paul Harvey, "and now you know the rest of the story."
​
— (your old babysitter)
Not long after the article came out Jeanette attended my book signing and admitted that she to participated in the theft of the frog.
It Continues...
In addition to this amazing story, in July 2014, Randy received a call from a lady in Denver. She had been asking her mother who her birth father was for over 20 years. Her mother told her that she had visited a fertility clinic in San Francisco in 1964. The caller stated that she found her father’s name after visiting that same clinic and discovered that she had a half-brother. Her birth father had died in a car accident in 2002 and his personal files were left with her half-brother. In these files, she discovered a reference to a frog from Frogmore. She Googled “frog from Frogmore” and saw my website with the story of how The Putter Frog was originated and the confession letter. It was the same story the birth father related to his family for 40 years.
When asked about the man’s name, the lady who wrote the confession letter said, “Yes, I dated Charlie back in 1963, where did you get his name?” To this day, that lady is still fascinated of the events that happened. “Charlie” retired as the Assistant Commandant of MCRD Parris Island in 1988. He and his best friend and the two ladies took that frog in 1963!