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10 GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED It's hard to miss Rick Mount these days. The former Boilermaker great's name is emblazoned near Lebanon on I-65, a banner recognizing his accomplish- ments at Purdue. We caught up with Mount at the unveil- ing on Oct. 4. Q: This has to be a big honor. Mount: "Well, it is a great honor to me. It means I am getting older. Purdue, Dean and Don Jackson, and the Jackson farm having the banner up on their grain bin is great because I think over 100,000 people drive by here every day. It just lets everybody know that Rick Mount played here and grew up here. It means a lot." Q: How did the process work? Did they talk to you before it or did they surprise you with it? Mount: "They kind of surprised me with it. Back in the middle of the summer Dean came by and told me that he and Purdue were going to put up a sign that says 'Home of Rick Mount.' In over 50 years of mayors, they couldn't get me a street name even though Larry Bird has one and Steve Alford has one. The last mayor before this one kind of laughed it off, so that made Don mad. So they came out here and got a hold of Elliot Bloom to talk with Elliot about putting a Purdue sign up there. Then they got this going, so thanks to Purdue and the Jacksons." Q: I know your roots run deep with your home- town. Having your name literally stamped on it has to be pretty cool. Mount: "Yeah, it really is great." Q: What has this town meant to you over the years? Mount: "Well, I've grown up here. I was born and raised here. We went through the wars for 70 years here, and I have a lot of ties here and a lot of memories here, and that is why I still live here." Q: Have you heard any anecdotes of people driv- ing by and having the sign pique their interest? Mount: "The younger people might wonder, but the people my age already know who I am. I am kind of a private person. No one has called me up and said something like, 'Hey, I saw your name on the banner!' Nothing really like that." Q: Is it important for this to be able to raise some awareness of younger people about who you are and what your story is? Mount: "For younger people that like sports and basketball, they might Google me and find out what Rick Mount did and all that stuff. There are some kids from Lebanon who don't know who Rick Mount is. But if people drive by and think, 'Let's find out who Rick Mount is,' then that is cool." Q: Did you have any input on what it looked like or was that a surprise? Mount: "No, it was all a surprise. They did a great job and were able to get the big 'P' up there." — As told to Brian Neubert Boiler Index Photo by Brian Neubert