093_HR0542
LRB093 14380 HSS 20001 r
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives of
3 the State of Illinois wish to congratulate The Rotary Club of
4 Joliet on the occasion of its 90th anniversary; and
5 WHEREAS, Rotary is the first and largest service
6 organization of business and professional leaders united
7 worldwide who provide humanitarian service, encourage high
8 ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill
9 and peace in the world; in 166 countries worldwide,
10 approximately 1.2 million Rotarians belong to more than
11 30,000 Rotary clubs; and
12 WHEREAS, The Rotary Club of Joliet was officially
13 chartered on August 1, 1913, and then accepted into
14 membership at the Rotary International Convention held in
15 Buffalo, New York, on August 18-21, 1913; the Joliet Rotary
16 Club became the first Rotary Club from a city of less than
17 75,000 people; and
18 WHEREAS, Members of the Joliet Rotary Club have always
19 been leaders in the community; many have been past
20 presidents, board members, and leaders of the Joliet Region
21 Chamber of Commerce, United Way, Will County Center for
22 Economic Development, and numerous other civic organizations;
23 and
24 WHEREAS, The Joliet Rotary Club sponsored the
25 establishment of 10 new Rotary clubs in the metropolitan
26 Chicago area; Joliet Rotarian Bob Leckrone introduced
27 Resolution 8954 officially admitting women into Rotary
28 International at the Conference on Legislation in 1989; four
29 Joliet Rotarians have served as District Governor to Rotary
30 District 6450; and
31 WHEREAS, Joliet Rotary Club has either sponsored or taken
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1 an active part in many numerous community projects, including
2 the purchase of uniforms and instruments for the start of the
3 first Joliet Township High School band (1913), playing a
4 significant role in the founding of the Joliet Chamber of
5 Commerce (1914), procuring Higginbotham Woods for city park
6 property (1915), sponsoring the first Boy Scout camp in
7 Morris which is still in existence today (1930), establishing
8 a hospitality program for traveling WWII servicemen (1942),
9 sponsoring the first community July 4th fireworks display,
10 donating over $350,000 and in-kind contributions to build and
11 maintain the Rotary Sports Complex at the Galowich YMCA (1984
12 through 1989), and establishing annual endowed scholarship
13 funds for students at Lewis University, University of St.
14 Francis, and Joliet Junior College (2002); and
15 WHEREAS, The Joliet Rotary Club established the annual
16 Rotary Raffle which has provided over $660,000 for local
17 projects; the Club significantly contributed to Rotary
18 International's 3H Program and oversubscribed to their
19 Polio-Plus Program; the Club has also hosted many
20 international students in both the regular exchange program
21 and the short-term student exchange program, and participated
22 in the Rotary Group Exchange with groups from England,
23 Egypt/Bahrain, Greece, Argentina, Australia, India and
24 Turkey; therefore, be it
25 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
26 NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
27 we congratulate the Rotary Club of Joliet on the occasion of
28 its 90th anniversary, and we thank the Club for its numerous
29 contributions to the community; and be it further
30 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
31 presented to the Rotary Club of Joliet as an expression of
32 our respect and esteem.