Monument to Mr. Angel, a Bulldog

Eastman, Georgia

Somewhere beneath the Magnolia State Bank lies the grave of Mr. Angel, the first bulldog mascot of the University of Georgia. Mr. Angel roamed the sidelines at UGA football games from 1944 to 1946, but his tenure was quickly eclipsed by a succession of more memorable postwar bulldogs. When he died -- no one can remember the year -- he was buried in the backyard of his owner, whose home was later bulldozed for the bank.

And then everybody forgot about him.

Mr. Angel remained unknown until 2006, when a UGA student newspaper reporter rediscovered the forgotten mascot. Anxious to right an embarrassing wrong, the University unveiled a life-size bronze statue of Mr. Angel outside the bank drive-thru in 2008. Its pedestal plaque praises the bulldog's "beautiful appearance and captivating personality," but can't explain how Mr. Angel slipped everybody's memory for 60 years.