The Old Man Lives (On a T-shirt)
A T-shirt competition for New Hampshire students commemorates the iconic granite profile
Though the Old Man of the Mountain memorial is now in place, two NH brothers — Luke Bonner and Matt Bonner (of the NBA’s, San Antonio Spurs), along with their charitable Rock On Foundation — are teaming up with a NH T-shirt company, The Mountain, to make sure a new generation remembers our crumbled state symbol via a T-shirt design competition for kids in NH.
“My brother and I were talking about how long it’s been since the Old Man of the Mountain collapsed and came to the sad realization that there’s an entire generation of New Hampshire kids entering into middle school who weren’t even alive to ever experience the Old Man in person,” says Luke, executive director for the Rock On Foundation.
The brothers decided they couldn’t let that stand and soon dreamed up the idea of the contest. All they needed was the perfect partner to help put the plan in action. Enter The Mountain, which you might remember as creators of the meme-tastic shirt Three Wolf Moon. In addition to its NH roots, The Mountain is also a supporter of the Rock On Foundation and has its own record of generosity toward community organizations in New Hampshire, says Luke.
Each winner will receive free T-shirts for a class of his or her choice and $500 towards an item to help pursue the student’s passion. The designs will also be added to The Mountain’s catalog with proceeds benefiting Rock On’s mission to support athletic, artistic and scholastic initiatives.
Luke hopes the impact of the contest extends beyond winning a prize. “First of all, we hope this contest will help kids develop a greater appreciation for the Old Man of the Mountain, which has been a huge part of our state’s personality,” he explains. “Second of all, we hope to be able to showcase the creativity of our state’s youth through the designs, and help inspire and reinforce a sense of Granite State pride in all of the participants and show them that you can produce world-class work right here in New Hampshire.” Submissions will be accepted through March 9. Visit rockonfoundation.org/granite for more information, to download instructions or to submit a design.
