[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 60 (Tuesday, April 30, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E581]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IN REMEMBERANCE ON THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE COLLAPSE OF THE OLD MAN 
                            OF THE MOUNTAIN

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                           HON. ANN M. KUSTER

                            of new hampshire

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 30, 2013

  Ms. KUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in remembrance on the tenth 
anniversary of the collapse of New Hampshire's iconic symbol, the Old 
Man of the Mountain. Born in fire and sculpted by ice, the Old Man of 
the Mountain has long been recognized as the symbol of New Hampshire 
and its people.
   The Old Man was completed at the recession of the last ice age 
sometime during the 8th Millennium BC. The first recorded viewing was 
in 1805 by Francis Whitcomb and Luke Brooks as they were surveying 
Franconia Notch. Niels Nielsen and his son David, long time guardians 
of the Old Man, spent years protecting him from vandalism and keeping 
his fragile countenance secured to the Mountain. The Old Man has had 
many honors, including his profile featured on a postage stamp and on 
New Hampshire's State Quarter.
   Today, at 11:30 am in Franconia State Park near where the Old Man 
clung to the mountain, people will gather in Profile Plaza on the 
shores of Profile Lake in remembrance of that day in May 10 years ago. 
We thank Dick Hamilton and the people of The Old Man of the Mountain 
Legacy Fund, a volunteer nonprofit group, charged with creating a 
memorial to the Old Man. They built a fitting monument of seven steel 
``profilers,'' when viewed at the correct angle, allow viewers to see 
the profile as it appeared on the side of the mountain. The sale of 
more than 700 granite pavers, inscribed with the names of donors, 
helped to finance the construction of the plaza and monument.
   While the Old Man of the Mountain has succumbed to the ages and lies 
at the base of the mountain amongst the stone of his creation, I am 
reminded of why we honor him. In the words of Daniel Webster, ``Men 
hang out their signs indicative of their respective trades; shoemakers 
hang out a giant shoe: jewelers, a monster watch; and the dentist hangs 
out a gold tooth; but up in the mountains of New Hampshire, God 
almighty has hung out a sign to show that there, he makes Men.''

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