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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, The Sesquicentennial Celebration of the Village | ||||||
3 | of Elwood took place on September 11, 2004, during the 14th | ||||||
4 | Annual Elwood Community Day Celebration; and
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5 | WHEREAS, Elwood, population 1,620, is located in Will | ||||||
6 | County and the Township of Jackson; it is bordered by the | ||||||
7 | Joliet Arsenal Redevelopment project, Abraham Lincoln National | ||||||
8 | Cemetery, and Midewin National Tall Grass Prairie; and
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9 | WHEREAS, The year 1854 marked the completion of the Chicago | ||||||
10 | and Mississippi Railroad; the railroad station in Elwood was | ||||||
11 | laid out by N.D. Elwood, Esq., from whom Elwood took its name; | ||||||
12 | and
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13 | WHEREAS, Elwood has been served by 19 mayors since its | ||||||
14 | incorporation in 1868, including
William Muhlig, who became the | ||||||
15 | first President in 1868, and again became President in 1908, | ||||||
16 | forty years later; John H. Bridge; H.G. Williams; Frank | ||||||
17 | Shearen;
J.J. Lichtenwalter; Isaac Conard; W.F. Keith; Daniel | ||||||
18 | Blatt;
John Coldwater; James Tyler, Sr., of James Tyler and | ||||||
19 | Sons Grain Co., est. 1927-1997; Joe Eib; Andrew Peterson;
Chet | ||||||
20 | Coldwater; Lawrence "Tom" Thompson; Burton Walsh;
Ken George; | ||||||
21 | Dale Archer; Jim Clementi; and Bob Blum, who has served from | ||||||
22 | 2001 to the present; and
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23 | WHEREAS, The present Village Hall, which has served as both | ||||||
24 | Village Hall and Fire Station, is still home for the Village | ||||||
25 | since it took sole occupancy in 1967; and
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26 | WHEREAS, Elwood is rich with a long history of community | ||||||
27 | volunteers; the construction of a new fire station began in | ||||||
28 | March 1957 and it was completed in April 1959; it was named the | ||||||
29 | Clarence Weidemann Hall and the first fire chief was Fred H. | ||||||
30 | Blatt, Jr.; the community suffered a loss with its destruction |
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1 | by fire on August 26, 1995; the dedication of the new fire | ||||||
2 | station in the Village of Elwood was held on May 12, 1997; and
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3 | WHEREAS, Elwood's present elementary school was completed | ||||||
4 | in 1955; the school had its first graduating class in 1956; the | ||||||
5 | school has since had three additions: in 1967, dedicated as the | ||||||
6 | Alyce Shaw addition; in 1978, dedicated as the Mary Jane Burns | ||||||
7 | addition, and the latest addition in 2001; and
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8 | WHEREAS, Elwood is proud of its parks; the land for Lloyd | ||||||
9 | C. Erickson Memorial Park was presented to the Village on | ||||||
10 | August 9, 1974 in a dedication with the Assistant to President | ||||||
11 | Richard M. Nixon, Dave Wheat, as the Master of Ceremonies and | ||||||
12 | Rogers C.B. Morton, U. S. Secretary of the Interior, as the | ||||||
13 | Honored Guest Speaker; and
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14 | WHEREAS, Elwood is home to the Warren Wood Farm, which was | ||||||
15 | located on Diagonal Road from 1864 to 1971; Warren Wood was | ||||||
16 | Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives 1951 to 1957; | ||||||
17 | and
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18 | WHEREAS, Elwood is home to Illinois State Senator Lawrence | ||||||
19 | M. Walsh, who has served as State Senator since 1997; he is a | ||||||
20 | lifelong Elwood resident and lived on and farmed the Centennial | ||||||
21 | Farm belonging to Speaker of the Illinois House of | ||||||
22 | Representatives Warren Wood; and
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23 | WHEREAS, Established in 1942, Bill's Inn, owned and | ||||||
24 | operated by the late William R. Hibner and the late Elizabeth | ||||||
25 | "Betty" Hibner, is the oldest business currently in the | ||||||
26 | Village; it was relocated into the Village to make way for the | ||||||
27 | construction of the Joliet Arsenal Ammunition Plant; today the | ||||||
28 | business continues to operate under the ownership of a third | ||||||
29 | generation Hibner, James Hibner, Sr.; and
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30 | WHEREAS, Today the Village also houses the Elwood Community |
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1 | Church (established in 1966, the first Reverend Phillip Coen), | ||||||
2 | the Elwood Post Office (established in 1957, with the first | ||||||
3 | postmaster Fred H. Blatt, Jr.), the Jackson Township Hall | ||||||
4 | (established in 1870), one gas station (BP Amoco, established | ||||||
5 | in 1989), one auto repair shop (Elwood Auto - Sam Incopero, | ||||||
6 | formerly Leo O'Connor's Gas Station), Watsons' Pub and Diner | ||||||
7 | (formerly Marta's), the Raceway Pizza, the Lazy Dog, | ||||||
8 | Centerpoint Properties (established in 2002), and the newest | ||||||
9 | addition, the SBC America switching station (established in | ||||||
10 | 2004); therefore, be it
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11 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
12 | NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | ||||||
13 | congratulate the Village of Elwood on the occasion of its | ||||||
14 | Sesquicentennial Celebration; and be it further
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15 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
16 | presented to the Village of Elwood President Bob Blum and | ||||||
17 | Jackson Township Supervisor Lawrence M. Walsh.
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