MILTON-FREEWATER – Things are hopping at City Hall in Milton-Freewater City since an article on the branding of the city appeared in the New York Times.

The story relates the efforts of City Manager Delphine Palmer and others to identify the community with frogs and to become known as Muddy Frogwater Country.

“It’s unbelievable,” Palmer said. “I’ve heard from 45 different places from all over the country since the article was published (Sunday).”

Palmer said she’s been on radio talk shows, been interviewed for ABC Evening News, and spoken to newspaper reporters in California, Colorado, Oklahoma, Florida and a number of other states.

The syndicated talk show tried to poke fun at the frog image, but she just poked it right back, Palmer said. As a matter of fact, most of Palmer’s interviews have been with tongue firmly planted in cheek.

“I told one reporter that we didn’t eat frog legs in Milton-Freewater, because our frogs had little, tiny legs,” she said with a laugh.

Milton-Freewater has been known as the “City of Low-Cost Utilities,” which is still true – but not a great tourist draw, according to Palmer. Muddy Frogwater Country, on the other hand, is designed to peak the curiosity of visitors.

“People who live here don’t have to like it,” Palmer said. “It’s not for them. I tell them, ‘You can hate the frog like crazy, I don’t care. It’s to bring visitors here.'”

Some of Palmer’s calls have come from reporters in areas who feel that they have already staked a strong claim for the right to own the frog symbol – like Calaveras County, Calif., which has capitalized on the Mark Twain story, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” since 1928.

“We’ve never said we were the frog capital of the world,” Palmer said of the good-natured toadly competition. “We’re not the jumping frog capitol either. We’re just having fun, and we can learn from the ideas that have been tried in other cities.”

Milton-Freewater was first referred to as Muddy Frogwater when the two towns merged in 1950. According to Palmer the communities had always feuded, with the rowdies living in Milton and the more staid residents having homes in Freewater.

When the first official city limits sign proclaiming the community to be Milton-Freewater went up, it was quickly the victim of graffiti, amending it to read “City of Muddy Frogwater.”

Because the graffiti continued to be a running joke, Muddy Frogwater was the obvious name to be given to the city’s summer festival. Then, as the city sought to boost the economy so it is less dependent on agriculture, the frog hopped into Palmer’s mind.

She hired a marketing firm to work with the city and is making plans for frogs hopping all over the town. Her only fear is that people will head for Milton-Freewater right away, because the community has plans but is not really ready for a full scale invasion by frog enthusiasts.

“We’re at the very beginning of this idea,” Palmer said. She added that electric signs that will be placed at the north and south entrances to the city are almost ready.

“A foundry is exploring designs for frog sculptures to be placed in parks and other places around the city,” Palmer said. “People are now saying they are going to come visit, and I caution them that we’re just getting started. We’re going to have to do some very creative fund raising to get all of this done as quickly as possible.”

Palmer showed her creativity on Monday after the article appeared. She sent an e-mail to all the city managers in Oregon about the New York Times article. She also added that she was looking for each city to donate $100,000 to Milton-Freewater to help pay for its Muddy Frogwater theme.”

The tongue-in-cheek responses Palmer said have all expressed regrets that this year’s budget was finalized before getting her e-mail, making it impossible to make a donation.

Frogs are already springing up at area businesses throughout Milton-Freewater. Eventually Palmer hopes that residents will even incorporate the frogs into their yard decorations. Meanwhile, the national spotlight will continue to shine on the city. Palmer said the New York Times intends to follow the Muddy Frogwater saga every step of the way.