Park Hiter, Preserving the family’s heritage
The farm has changed over the decades, but the name stays the same

By Charlie Capps III
The Cleveland Current

John Rutherford married Lucy Park in the mid-1800s, and they settled in a small pioneer village named Merigold, acquiring about 800 acres of some the best cotton ground around. They had a daughter named Lucy Rutherford who married a man named Henry Park. As a family they continued growing cotton on this plantation,  and Lucy and  Henry begat two boys and one daughter named Virgie Park. In 1920, Henry  built  a house on the farm for Miss Virgie and that house still stands. Today, it is the home of Park Hiter.
Around the 1900s, a young man named Leonard M. Hiter came down from Tennessee to the Delta seeking his fortune and ended up finding a bride, Miss Virgie Park. They had their one and only son, Henry Park Hiter on November 22, 1922. Sue Lathem said, “When Henry Hiter was born, Henry Park came to the church so proud of the fact that he had a grandson.” Leonard and Virgie had a normal farm that included a dairy, chicken, and cotton farm. Park Hiter said, “They had a 25 or 30 acre pasture that we didn’t take out of use until 1975.” In 1956, Leonard Hiter passed away and the farm was know in the hands of Virgie and her son, Henry Hiter.

Henry Hiter was a precocious young man who, at an early age, had a penchant for hunting and fishing. After graduation from high school he attended college and shortly after that joined the Army Air Corp. Park Hiter said, “My father was actually considering being a doctor but he ended up joining the Air Corp.” Henry’s intelligence lead him to be a navigator/copilot on a B-24 where he flew approximately 30 bombing missions during the latter part of the war. After the war, Henry returned to Merigold and began farming with his father for about ten years before his death.

In 1953, Mary Alice Conner married Henry Hiter. Unluckily for the Hiter family, Mary died in 1957, five weeks after her last child was born. Henry and Mary were living in town at the time, so Henry packed up the brood and moved in with Virgie. Park said, “Miss Virgie was more or less our mother and raised us out here on the farm. She handled the administrative side of the farm as well.” The Hiter family carried on the tradition of farming cotton, partly because of the strong role that the women played. Sue Lathem said, “It seems the women were the ones that kept the farm going from Miss Lucy Park to Miss Virgie.”
Park Hiter started farming with his father after college in 1974, and is still taking care of their family business. Although the farm was once dominated by cotton, the changing markets have persuaded him to grow less cotton over the last number of years. It is interesting to note that the dry land farming methods over the generations have not changed much, but it has worked. The farm headquarters is much like it was in the 1920s, which goes that much further in preserving a wonderful family heritage and business.

Safety first - Checkpoints net multiple arrests

By Michael Simmons
The Cleveland Current Managing Editor

Safety checkpoints were out in full force Friday night as the entire Cleveland Police Department, including reserve officers, set up roaming spots throughout the city. The night yielded 23 arrests.

“I would say it was very successful,” Chief Buster Bingham said. It was his first checkpoint during his tenure as chief. Police arrested three people on DUI charges, five people on simple possession of marijuana charges, and a myriad of other infractions including suspended driver’s license and no insurance. Officers also seized two guns that were in the possession of juveniles and one nightclub was ticketed for sale and consumption after hours.

“It’s highly effective because we get DUIs off the street, we get drugs off the street, and we get guns off the street,” Bingham explained. “We were able to serve warrants on people we have been looking for — 14 of those 23 arrests. We also get several suspended driver’s licenses, expired tag, and other driving infractions taken care of.”

Some tried to flee, but were quickly chased down by officers securing all exits. “We will periodically continue to do this to ensure the safety of the citizens of Cleveland by ensuring motorists are obeying all the laws,” Bingham added. Safety checkpoints are also beneficial to the city because fines collected from tickets issued out is put back into the city’s accounts and that money is used for general expenditures.

Tom Branning, Practiced crappie master
The water gives this retired teacher solitude

By Charlie Capps III
The Cleveland Current

Some of Tom Branning’s earliest memories have him sitting in the bottom of a homemade boat on the Mississippi River with his father fishing. He can say without reservation that he has literally been fishing all his life. He carried on this propensity until his college days got in the way with studying and working on weekends. Branning said, “In fact, my wife didn’t even know I fished until we got out of college and got jobs in the hills.” Branning pulled out his old rod and reel and a couple of plugs after college and started casting into the hill ponds for bass. He noted that there were no crappie in these farm ponds. As luck would have it, he and his wife were hired at Mississippi Delta Community College and got to move back to the Delta. Branning made a new friend, Paul Gurley, and they spent their time fishing at Beulah Lake.“Paul had a flat-bottom boat and I was sitting in the back of the boat. We were fishing the old fireman mats on Beulah Lake with the water being low. I caught 44 crappie and Paul caught 42.” In 10 years, Branning only beat Gurley once. He now has a boat in his garage that he bought two years ago and the first year he put it in the water 173 times to go fishing.

He keeps an angling journal where he records a one line summary of where he went, water level, temperature, wind, and how many fish he caught. “You think, ‘What good is a journal going to do,’ but you can usually catch crappie under the same conditions at the same places.” Tom also likes to keep up with the water levels because it can be a great indicator of where the crappie will be.

He said, “If that water drops, those fish are going to move out of the weeds right to the outside edge of those weeds, then you fish those edges.” Branning has been keeping his journal since 1996 and it just keeps heightening his angling adventures.

Grenada Lake is one of his favorite places to fish for a number of reasons. “You catch bigger fish, but you may not catch as many fish.” On one of occasion, he fished 33 days in a row and caught a limit of 20 crappie on 20 of those days. Four years ago, he tried a different method of fishing for crappie called trolling. “I enjoy trolling because you can catch more fish with less effort and you don’t have to know anything but how to bait your hook and put it in the water.” When trolling he likes to get out in the open water, especially when the water drops down and the fish have moved out of the woods into the middle of the lake. Branning will always have a seat on the boat, for his love of fishing is shown with each cast.

Fight sends three to ER, no actions taken yet

By Michael Simmons
The Cleveland Current Managing Editor

School administrators have taken no action after an incident that occurred on the campus of Delta State University last Sunday that sent three students to the hospital, as they continue their investigation.
At 4 a.m., DSU police pulled into the Court of Governors after getting a disturbance call to find that a violent fight just occurred, resulting in three students being sent to Bolivar Medical Center’s emergency room for treatment.
 
The three individuals, who wished to remain anonymous during the investigation, were transported to the hospital and treated for multiple injuries. Two required stitches, one received a broken jaw in two places, and another received a broken orbital bone.  According to sources familiar with the incident, the three were involved in a fight with five people, two being known football players. Attempts to get a comment from head coach Ron Roberts were unsuccessful. 

Details of the night in question are skewed and the university said it is looking into the matter, but declined to comment any further. “Although the incident is under investigation and I cannot comment at this time, I can assure you that student safety is of the highest priority at Delta State University,” Michael Gann, director of communications and marketing, said. 

Police did arrive on the scene, but no arrests were made. Cleveland Police officers pulled up to assist as well, but according to Chief Buster Bingham, they only serve in an assisting capacity and would have no report. 

This is one of several incidents involving football players and police in the recent months. On April 12, All-American running back Trevar Deed was arrested at the Bolivar County Expo Center by Cleveland police after fights broke out. He was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. At the time, Roberts said he was certain Deed wasn’t involved in the fight and he was unsure of his punishment.

For the full story, click here..

Judy Wilson Interiors, Cleveland business adds flair from the intterior out

By Keith Wood
The Cleveland Current Senior Writer

Judy Wilson Interiors has been handling custom designs since 1995. Owner Judy Wilson and her assistant, designer Christie McClain, offer their services for things like custom colors, room arrangement or lighting décor.

Design has always been a passion for Wilson. “When I was a little girl, I would dress up my Barbie doll and have her watch me decorate her dollhouse,” she chuckled. “I was always modifying or improving things. At school, I would decorate my desk.”

Wilson pointed out that she and McClain wear many different hats when it comes to services provided. “Recently, we spent the entire morning rearranging and making the best use of furniture that a client already owned. Just because we didn’t design it doesn’t mean we can’t help.” Judy Wilson Interiors also gets involved from the ground up on other jobs. They cover all the bases, from flooring and lighting design to counter surfaces, cabinetry and roofs, both residential and commercial. “We begin as soon as the client has a finished plan. Our work does not just stop with interior wall colors. We are always thinking about surface textures and the look of the entire building, interior and exterior,” she said.

Pete Roncali’s bankruptcy could possibly affect his elected position

By Michael Simmons
The Cleveland Current Managing Editor

District 5 Bolivar County Supervisor Pete Roncali’s seat may soon be the subject of controversy after a recent Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing by the Shaw native. Roncali could be in danger of retaining his surety bond, which is required by all supervisors to obtain, because of the filing.

“State law requires that supervisors be bonded for the assessed value or $100,000, whichever is less,” Lisa Shoemaker, director of communications for the Office of State Auditor Stacey Pickering, said. “All supervisors are bonded at $100,000, and most through surety bond companies that operate like private insurance companies.

“The county pays the premium for the supervisor to be bonded,” she explained. “Personal financial factors or previous incidents requiring recovery can certainly impact any person’s ability to be bonded.

According to Section 25-1-31 (of state law), if the person received two letters of refusal from bonding companies, they may make their official bond with two or more personal sureties. This requires property to be posted and must be valued at $100,000.”