View Full Version : Old Man of the Mountain Memorial
http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070208/NEWS0201/70207036/-1/CITIZEN
http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070208/NEWS0201/70207036/-1/CITIZENWhat a waste of money. Just call it "The Old Neck of the Mountain" and forget the Memorial.
What a waste of money. Just call it "The Old Neck of the Mountain" and forget the Memorial.
These were my thoughts too but didn't want to be the first to say it.:)
Evidently, people have money to "waste". How many millions are we talking?
4eyedbuzzard
02-11-2007, 21:04
"The Legacy Fund, a nonprofit group that is raising money for the memorial and will oversee its construction, selected the design..."
Privately funded. Most donations could be considered a waste depending upon any given point of view. Besides, by having some sort of Old Man to point to, look at all the money NH will save by not having to replace all the state highway signs.
Jack Tarlin
02-11-2007, 21:10
New Hampshire probably makes more money from tourism than anything else.
If it was privately funded, then I don't see what the big deal is.....plus a lot of folks are really disappointed that the Old Man is gone. If something like this makes them happy, what's the harm in it? Keeping tourists happy is how a lot of New Hampshirites pay their bills.
Good place to pull over to rest on the way to Santa's Village on Route 2.
Blissful
02-11-2007, 21:30
I know I was very sad when the stone fell. My first book I ever wrote was based on it and had it on the front cover. And it was the place where I got hit by a motorhome at age 12 and lived.
There's nothing like an original. Let's stick to photographs and memories. And the NH state quarter too!
There's nothing like an original. Let's stick to photographs and memories. And the NH state quarter too!
I've still got about $2.50 worth of NH highway tokens. I guess they became worthless a year or so back, when NH went on the EZ-Pass system. Do you think they'll be valuable some day ? :rolleyes:.
Hold on to those suckers! You'll make a mint (sorry, had to be said) on ebay in about 50-60 years!
Hold on to those suckers! You'll make a mint (sorry, had to be said) on ebay in about 50-60 years!
I should live so long. :rolleyes:
TJ aka Teej
02-12-2007, 00:22
http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070208/NEWS0201/70207036/-1/CITIZEN
"The five large stones will come from the Rock of Ages quarry in Barre, Vt."
The memorial for New Hampshire's icon will be made from Vermont stone...
Change isn't always a bad thing. New Hampshire used to be solidly Republican. Now, not so much. Went blue in 2006. Maybe that's why the Old Man fell apart. :D William Loeb must be spinning in his grave.
"The five large stones will come from the Rock of Ages quarry in Barre, Vt."
The memorial for New Hampshire's icon will be made from Vermont stone...Probably installed by a Massachusetts construction company employing workers from Maine using equipment bought in Canada :rolleyes:
I'm not opposed to the Memorial, I just think it is silly, and a waste of money no matter who is paying. Still, it isn't as silly as the original plan of reconstructing the profile up on Cannon in its original spot with that fake rock you see on Big Thunder railroad in Walt Disney World.
Pleasing tourists is fine within reason. The highway through the notch built in the name of tourism never should have been built. Again, though, the highway isn't as bad as the original plan, which was four lane all the way through.
People from Mass, Conn, NYC/NJ, etc come to NH and ME for what they don't have at home. The wildness is the draw. Yeah, they visits Santa's Workshop and Six Gun City, yadda yadda yadda, but if it wasn't for the woods, they could have better amusement parks and restaurants back home.
illusionistG
02-12-2007, 14:01
How ironic...granite stone from Vermont going to New Hampshire "aka the Granite State" Are all the granite quarries in NH closed now? The model kind of looks like the stone faces on Easter Island. Might scare the bears down at Clark's Trading Post !!!!!
hammock engineer
02-12-2007, 14:05
On a side not on the man in the mountain. I found an old pendent from my great grandma with the man on the mountain on it. I think it was from the 40's
Definitly going to hold onto this one, the one from the Whites, and from GSMP.
vipahman
02-12-2007, 14:08
That's the silliest thing I have heard. But then people do have money to waste.
People from Mass, Conn, NYC/NJ, etc come to NH and ME for what they don't have at home. The wildness is the draw. Yeah, they visits Santa's Workshop and Six Gun City, yadda yadda yadda,
You just reminded me of a story (and it involves the "Old Man of the Mountain"!). As usual, it is a rambling story..so, please feel free to skip. :)
In 1987, my family bought its first "honest-to-goodness" new car. A 1987 Pontiac 6000 station wagon. A small wagon, complete with faux wood grain finish...and air conditioning AND front wheel drive (much better for Rhody winters than the rare wheel drive Dodge Dart my Dad drove).
I remember how proud my Dad was at the time. No "hand me downs" from HIS Dad (my grandfather), almost no miles. New, off the lot, brand spanking new.
My Dad had made it. What better sign of living the American Dream than a BRAND NEW CAR. Of course, Mom was happy, too. It was her car afterall. :) I have way too many memories of listening to "Lite 105" on the radio when she picked me up from school, Boy Scouts or Little League Practice.[1] Mom also complained that Dad played with the buttons too much! ;-)
Anyway, what better way to celebrate having a new car than a road trip to that far away wilderness area of New Hampshire? It was at least a three-hour drive...
On one hot, sticky August day (Yeah for AC!) the family piled into the car. Dad drove. Mom put up with Dad fiddling with the buttons. Joey, Steven and I duly piled in. Also along for the ride was my cousin Chris.[2]
We drove up to NH and did the usual tourist stuff. Including looking at the "Old Man of the Mountain". The previous October, I went on my first hiking trip (http://www.pmags.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=29&Itemid=33) with my Boy Scout trip. I enjoyed it thoroughly. Had a very large impact upon my life.
And though my Dad was only 35 at the time, he did not care fo the hiking like his now almost 33 yr old son does. :-)
Dad said "Paul, remember I said next time we are not going to hike up the mountain? We'll take the tram instead? Still want to take the tram?" I really wanted to hike again, but I knew it was out of the question. So, the tram to Mt. Canon had some excitment.
We all piled in. Mom clenching for dear life. We arrived to the summit. There was short hike that I remember not too far from the edge of the summit. Naturally, I wanted to walk it. Equally as naturally, Mom was a bit nervous that her son (and slightly timid nephew) were going to falll of the mountain. "Paul! Chris! You've gone far enough!". I also remember going "MOM! Why not more ?!?!?!?!?". Except it was said with a voice of a cracking 13 yr old. My voice was changing. Sometimes it sounded like a boy. Sometimes it sounded a bit like my voice now...
We piled back into the tram. Went down the mountain. I vaguely remember doing other tourist things. I remember Dad fiddling with the buttons again and not knowing how to turn off the AC for the ride home.
I do remember wanting to see the mountains more. Somehow the tram ride was not satisfying. It was that fifteen minute walk I remember so well from that day. Much like the memories from the previous year, they carried over into my young adulthood. The memories affected me and made my life more different than I could have imagined as boy growing up in suburban Rhode Island.
So, who knows. Maybe a monument will draw some tourists. People driving in faux wood trimmed minivans with Dads who fiddle with the buttons.
And they will have young children who want to see what is really in those mountains. And someday they'll explore them and see what is around the next bend of the trail.
[1] You know the type of station: Lionel Richie, Air Supply (ack! gasp!), etc. What a woman in her early-mid 30s would listen to at the time who enjoys "easy listening favorites". The station still exists, still playing to young Moms. Except, they are playing Dave Matthews and easy listening music *MY* peers may have listened to..sigh. I am more of Tom Waits guy myself....
[2] We were less than a year apart and pretty close growing up. My cousins (all sixteen of us!) and I all lived within 10 minutes of each other, so it was common for us to spend a lot of time with each other esp. in the summer.
vipahman
02-12-2007, 14:56
So, who knows. Maybe a monument will draw some tourists. People driving in faux wood trimmed minivans with Dads who fiddle with the buttons.
And they will have young children who want to see what is really in those mountains. And someday they'll explore them and see what is around the next bend of the trail.
Good point, Mags. On occasion, I myself am guilty of finding adventure indirectly. So maybe it is not as silly as I thought.
neighbor dave
02-12-2007, 15:18
There's nothing like an original. Let's stick to photographs and memories. And the NH state quarter too!
:-? the only two headed coin in the u.s.!!!:sun