Sally Mander

Sally Mander, was born in Sycamore Creek, Tennessee, the 30^th offspring of her parents Gerry and Mandy. One of Sally’s happiest memories was swinging on the tree-swing on the neighborhood pond, where she would sing and swing for hours, belting out melodies to her favorite country songs, with the bass lines played by the bullfrogs.

Sally was a beautiful and talented young singer, long and slender with smooth skin and a long tail…hence her popular nickname LongTail Sally. Sometimes she would stare at her reflection in the pond and using a stick for a microphone, imagine herself on the stage of the Grand Ol’ Osprey performing with Dolly and basking in the applause of country music lovers everywhere. When her beloved grandfather Andy Mander, on his deathbed, told her that she sang Delta Dawn better than Tanya Tucker, he sparked an ambition in her that she couldn’t drown out.

Sally realized that to follow her dream was to follow the stream to the Cumberland River and make her way down to Music City, where at least she’d have a sliver of a chance at the big time. But Music City was a long way from Sycamore Creek, and one evening, she was so tired of swimming, she stopped for the night on a riverbank in Ashland City, Tennessee. Something in her head just said to her, “lay down Sally,” so she settled in for the night….but wait…. what was that she was hearing?…music coming from inside of what looked like a dive bar. ….Live country music…. She swam up to those swinging doors and never made it all the way to Music City. She had no idea how much that odyssey would change her life…her introduction to the worldly Horny Toad and her chance meeting of her true love, Frank T Frogg.

Wikipedia note:

Some species of salamanders (particularly the “siren” as Sally was) have both gills and lungs….it is suspected that Sally Mander indeed had both, because she could sing at the top of them.