Full Text of HR0838 97th General Assembly
HR0838 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The official 175th celebration of the founding of | 3 | | the Village of Sainte Marie will take place on June 29-30, | 4 | | 2012; Sainte Marie was officially chartered in the year of 1865 | 5 | | by the State of Illinois; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Sainte Marie is located in Jasper County, 10 miles | 7 | | southeast of the county seat of Newton, approximately 30 miles | 8 | | southeast of Effingham, and around 15 miles north of Olney; the | 9 | | town is perched above the Embarras (pronounced "am-braw") | 10 | | River, a mostly gentle river that flows southeast into the | 11 | | Wabash River; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Sainte Marie, population 250, was founded in 1837 | 13 | | by Joseph Picquet and his "Compane des freres" (Company of | 14 | | Brothers), 25 relatives and friends from Alsace/Lorraine, a | 15 | | part of Europe that belonged to either France or Germany, | 16 | | depending on who had won the latest battle; seeking new | 17 | | horizons, Joseph Picquet and his family bought 12,000 acres of | 18 | | land from the United States land office in Vincennes, Indiana, | 19 | | and worked to develop a prosperous community; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, The devoutly Catholic Picquet family dedicated | 21 | | the town to the Blessed Virgin Mary and thus named it Sainte | 22 | | Marie; a large, imposing church, St. Mary of the Assumption, |
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| 1 | | was built in the late 1800's, with parishioners firing their | 2 | | own massive supply of bricks; this church burned down after | 3 | | being struck by lightning in 1933, but the present church was | 4 | | rebuilt in 1935 using many of the original bricks; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Ste. Marie was a prosperous community through its | 6 | | early years, with businesses such as a flour mill, saw mill, | 7 | | general store, hardware, car and implement dealers, hotel, | 8 | | hospital, post office, and railroad station; when the railroad | 9 | | closed down, the town declined, with many children of its | 10 | | prosperous residents choosing to locate elsewhere when they | 11 | | reached adulthood; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Ste. Marie has remained a solid, charming little | 13 | | village, with such landmarks as a former novitiate for the | 14 | | Sacred Heart Missionaries (now the administrative offices of | 15 | | the South Eastern Special Education Office), a large grain | 16 | | elevator, a 110-year-old independent bank, solid small | 17 | | businesses, an active American Legion, and an emerging museum | 18 | | at the Sainte Marie Foundation House; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, Sainte Marie is proud of the many individuals who | 20 | | grew up in and around this village and went on to other parts | 21 | | of the country and the world at large; these individuals | 22 | | include educators, nurses, engineers, accountants, lawyers, | 23 | | farmers, medical and science professionals, artists, |
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| 1 | | musicians, military personnel, politicians, and other | 2 | | professional and business people who still consider Sainte | 3 | | Marie "home" - a testimonial to the lessons learned and the | 4 | | solid family structure that produced such fine citizens; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Sainte Marie citizens have always been willing and | 6 | | able to perform their patriotic duties; many men and women have | 7 | | served in the armed services, most notable being the late Major | 8 | | General E. Ray Ochs, who attended West Point and commanded the | 9 | | 173rd Airborne Brigade in Vietnam; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, Sainte Marie continues to be a viable, rural | 11 | | community at a time when small towns are declining and | 12 | | disappearing across the country; therefore, be it
| 13 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 14 | | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 15 | | we congratulate the citizens of the Village of Sainte Marie on | 16 | | the occasion of the village's 175th anniversary and wish them | 17 | | continued success and happiness in the future; and be it | 18 | | further
| 19 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 20 | | presented to the Village of Sainte Marie as an expression of | 21 | | our esteem and respect.
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