Frank the Gargoyle and Fiona the Hippo’s friendship is now cemented in stone

Union resident Denise Starr has started an internet sensation with her front door-residing gargoyle named Frank. In December, a neighbor wrote a letter to Starr, saying Frank didn't fit the Christmas spirit. Since then, Frank has raised more than $131,000 for different charities.

Credit: CONTRIBUTED

Credit: CONTRIBUTED

Union resident Denise Starr has started an internet sensation with her front door-residing gargoyle named Frank. In December, a neighbor wrote a letter to Starr, saying Frank didn't fit the Christmas spirit. Since then, Frank has raised more than $131,000 for different charities.
What to Know
By Sarah Franks
Updated June 25, 2021
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An internet saga that began last year over an apparent controversial gargoyle — at least controversial to one disgruntled neighbor — has caught the attention of another regional celebrity.

The saga started in early December with Union, Ohio resident Denise Starr’s gargoyle in front of her home’s front door. Starr, an Englewood veterinarian, received a note informing her the gargoyle statue — lovingly named Frank — is “not appropriate” and “not in keeping with the Christmas spirit.”

ExplorePHOTOS: Inside the world of internet sensation Frank the Gargoyle

Since then, through a Facebook fan page that has garnered more than 775,000 followers, Frank has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for local charities, including House of Bread in Dayton.

Frank’s latest wave of fandom happened Thursday when the fan page, run by Starr, posted about Frank’s trip to the Cincinnati Zoo last week. Since the beginning of Frank’s internet fame, he’s been photographed on his porch with hundreds of themed props, including Fiona the hippo props.

So as you know, we were at the Cincinnati Zoo last week and got to meet Miss Fiona herself. What we couldn’t tell you...

Posted by Frank the Christmas Gargoyle on Thursday, June 24, 2021

“So as you know, we were at the Cincinnati Zoo last week and got to meet Miss Fiona herself. What we couldn’t tell you at the time was that the fabulous people at the zoo had a surprise for Frank, a cast stone statue of Fiona to sit with him on the porch!!” stated a post on the Frank the Christmas Gargoyle fan page.

ExploreMarch: Neighbor’s issue with ‘Frank’ the gargoyle has blown up into charitable internet saga

The statue, sculpted by well-known Cincinnati artist Tom Tsuchiya, was made using the same dimensions of Fiona at her actual birth size, according to the post.

Since its initial posting Thursday night, the post has 54,000 reactions, 3,800 comments and 1,9000 shares.

“The gang couldn’t be happier with their new porch pal. We’d like to thank everyone at the Cincinnati Zoo for our new friend!! She and Frank are going to have some fun together. It’s possible that we have been watching a few too many episodes of “The Crown” lately, but we thought this was the perfect way to introduce our new friend. Remove your hats and all hail The Queen!!!” stated the post.

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About the Author

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Sarah joined the Dayton Daily News team in fall of 2019 covering general assignment. Since then, Sarah has covered the higher education beat, authored a daily COVID-19 column and currently covers Greene County.