093_HR0254 LRB093 11627 KEF 15061 r 1 HOUSE RESOLUTION 2 WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of 3 Representatives congratulate Connie Parker on her retirement 4 as the Centralia Clean and Green Coordinator; and 5 WHEREAS, Connie Parker is the wife of Jack Parker and the 6 mother of four children, Michael, Shannon, Crosby, and 7 Jessica; and 8 WHEREAS, Mrs. Parker has been involved with the Centralia 9 Clean and Green since 1985; she is responsible for 10 implementing the Clean and Green program (The 3 R's - Reduce, 11 Reuse, and Recycle) in the Centralia School System; and 12 WHEREAS, Mrs. Parker has worked with well over 1,000 13 volunteers to not only teach but carry out the task of 14 physically picking up "trash"; she was instrumental in 15 organizing the Neighborhood Pick-Up which helps neighborhoods 16 get rid of trash that the City garbage collection will not 17 accept; this program has grown to be greatly appreciated by 18 many of the citizens of Centralia; and 19 WHEREAS, Because of her efforts, Centralia Clean and 20 Green received first place from National Keep American 21 Beautiful in the first three years of Clean and Green's 22 existence; it was the first program to be recognized as 23 outstanding by Keep Illinois Beautiful; the Centralia Clean 24 and Green program has received the St. Mary's Madonna Club 25 Award for community service; and 26 WHEREAS, Mrs. Parker has been the recipient of the "Woman 27 of the Year" award given by the Canton-Madison County Chamber 28 of Commerce in Mississippi, and she also received the 29 Centralia Business and Professional "Woman of the Year" 30 award; and 31 WHEREAS, Mrs. Parker also helped the City of Centralia -2- LRB093 11627 KEF 15061 r 1 obtain and keep the status of TreeCity USA; the City has been 2 honored through the Governor's Home Town Award Program 3 because of her hard work and dedication; and 4 WHEREAS, Mrs. Parker is the midwest representative for 5 the National Keep America Beautiful; she helped coordinate 6 activities to mark the 75th anniversary of women's suffrage; 7 she serves on the United Fund Board; she has served on the 8 St. Mary's Hospital Development Council, the Centralia 9 Chamber of Commerce Board (serving six years as Chairwoman of 10 the Ambassadors); she is a blood drive volunteer for the 11 Centralia Chapter of the American Red Cross, a volunteer for 12 the Centralia Community Benevolent Association food pantry, 13 and a bell ringer for the Salvation Army; she has also been a 14 Tri Chi sponsor and May Fete assistant; and 15 WHEREAS, Mrs. Parker also served on the Centralia Code 16 Enforcement Advisory Committee, the City Tree Board, the 17 Centralia Parks Advisory Committee, the Marion County Solid 18 Waste Committee, Project Pride, and the INC business awards; 19 and 20 WHEREAS, Mrs. Parker is a member of the Clinton Co. Solid 21 Waste Advisory Committee and she helped to organize Clean and 22 Green programs in Mt. Vernon, Carlyle, and Carbondale; 23 therefore, be it 24 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE 25 NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that 26 we congratulate Connie Parker on her retirement after many 27 years of dedication and service to the people of the City of 28 Centralia; and be it further 29 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be 30 presented to Connie Parker as an expression of our respect 31 and esteem.