There’s a small group of women that drove the creation and idea of a permanent memorial to Colton “Cotton” Osborne.

“They’re just awesome ladies, and they kind of drive us men, but they step up and point us in a direction and then we jump in and help,” said Patriots varsity team coach David Locey of the mothers and grandmothers of the Patriots players as the driving forces behind an an ornate bench — dedicated just days ago — to memorialize Osborne.

The Charlotte County Patriots varsity football team, which plays in the Charlotte County Youth Football League, dedicated the bench to the Randolph-Henry athletic department in Osborne’s honor during a brief ceremony just prior to the start of the Statesmen’s 2017 varsity baseball season.

Osborne was a former Patriot and Statesman, a multi-sport athlete who graduated from Randolph-Henry in May 2016. He died in an all-terrain vehicle crash on Aug. 27.

We offer thanks and our highest commendation to this wonderful group of women who’ve showed great leadership in their work and service to the community

“It’s the ladies and the grandmas in the league that have worked very hard to put this together and felt it was important to do,” Locey said.

It’s our hope that the good works and efforts of these women, along with those of Osborne’s friends and family, will inspire more good deeds and projects in his honor.

“It’s very humbling,” Eddie Osborne said of the memorial in honor of his son. “So much has happened. It’s been so many good things done in his honor, it’s just very humbling.”