What began as a joke between the sister of a Coquitlam woman and her husband has turned into a hallmark for the city's annual French-Canadian festival.
About 30 years ago, Marie Beauregard's husband, André, received a toque from her sister with a frog design on it — a poke at their Québécois heritage.
But when André suggested the volunteers in his and his wife's charity copy the pattern to make money for their cause, Beauregard and her team reluctantly gave it a go and crocheted 36 woollen hats for the first annual Festival du Bois, a celebration of French-Canadian culture and a nod to the history of Maillardville.
At the inaugural festival, André Beauregard encouraged his fellow Knights of Columbus' members in the Cabane à Sucre sugar shack to don a toque.
And they flew off the shelves.
"When it first caught on, it was a really nice feeling for us because we didn't expect it," Marie Beauregard recalled Wednesday, during an interview with The Tri-City News. "My husband came home with $100 in his pocket and said, 'Look, wasn't that a great idea?'"
Today, her "frog series" is the biggest fundraiser for the charity and brings in close to $8,000 a year for Spirit of Formation — a faith-based centre for personal growth that's on 10 acres in Langley.
Festival du Bois, which starts tomorrow (Friday) and runs throughout the weekend at Mackin Park, is their biggest push of the year. This year, Beauregard has 24 bins full of handmade knitted and crochet garments ready to be sold at the music and food fête.
Her team includes nine seniors who work year-round on the frog series fundraiser and three extras, who pitch in when they can. As well, the week before Festival du Bois starts, Beauregard's sister, Solange LeMieux, flies from Edmonton to crochet more toques and tea cozies to meet demand.
Their inventory has grown over the years to include bandanas, bookworms, dickies, dish clothes, pot holders, frog stuffies, golf club covers, hats, headbands, mitts, puppets, scarves, slippers and thread catchers.
They are offered at school Christmas bizarres like at Port Coquitlam's Archbishop Carney regional secondary and St. Thomas More Collegiate in Burnaby as well as at Coquitlam's Canada Day celebrations and in Vancouver, for St. Jean Baptiste Day on June 24.
But Festival du Bois is where they are most successful.
This year, they will add to their list: To pay tribute to the country's 150 year, the team has created red and white toques (with mini Canadian flags) and tea cozies.
Each item in the frog series also carries a Made In Canada sticker as their products are worn around the world, Beauregard said. People — she is told — have gifted them to friends and family from as far away as Belgium and China.
"My granddaughter was skiing in Alberta and saw someone wearing a frog toque," LeMieux said. "It made her laugh."'
Beauregard said she enjoys crocheting the frog toques — each of which takes her up to 3.5 hours. For Festival du Bois, she goes online to order $500 worth of Bernat Yarn from an Ontario supplier (over the course of the year, she'll buy $1,500 worth of wool).
She doesn't know how many toques she has crocheted since Festival du Bois began 28 years ago but she's so used to making them, "I can do it in my sleep. Luckily, my hands are in good shape and I feel it's a gift that I don't get sick of doing them over and over and over again."
She added, "This is my passion and it's a good, good thing."
• Anyone wanting a frog garment and can't make Festival du Bois can email [email protected]
