Ned Mitchell, along with friends Ed Kossman, Dr. Bob Ragan and Dr. Kent Wyatt, planted a red oak tree in memory of their fathers on Friday at the Bolivar County Courthouse in Cleveland.

Mitchell, who lives near the courthouse and walks by it every day, said he came up with the idea after noticing there were so few trees on the grounds.

“One thing we’re wanting to do is encourage people to plant trees,” Mitchell said. “These trees around town are 75-80 and even 100 years old. They’re dying. We need to keep planting trees.”

Mitchell said people can plant trees and dedicate them in memory of family members or organizations. They came up with the idea of memorializing their fathers since the four of them are friends and their fathers were all friends.

“All four of our fathers were very active in Cleveland in different capacities,” Wyatt said. “All four of us are very close friends and we thought it would be appropriate to remember our fathers.”

Cleveland celebrates Arbor Day on Nov. 11 so the date was fitting for the planting. The group received overwhelming support from the city and the Bolivar County Board of Supervisors for the project.

“It’s very meaningful for me in that I knew all of these gentlemen (fathers) as a young man growing up here in Cleveland,” Ragan said. “They were all outstanding gentlemen and one of the greatest gifts I have in life is having these three as very close friends.”

Kossman added, “We are all proud of our dads and the work they did to develop Cleveland and Bolivar County.”

Ed Kossman Sr. was born on July 15, 1906, and spent his life working for the betterment of the community. R.C. Ragan was born on June 29, 1908, and was involved with Planters Equipment, which at the time was the International Harvester Dealership. Forrest Wyatt was born on Jan. 17, 1908, and arrived in Cleveland in 1946 to become the head football coach for Delta State University the first year they fielded a team after World War II. He later served as vice president for student affairs before becoming the head of DSU’s HPER department. He retired from DSU in 1976. Quinton Mitchell was born on April 15, 1909, and was a cotton and rice farmer in Bolivar County, five miles west of Cleveland.

The four offspring call themselves the Old Goats, a name that came about when the group would take skiing trips to Colorado once or twice a year.

A marker will be placed next to the new red oak to memorialize the community leaders.