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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives wish to congratulate the Clover Township Fire
4Protection District on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of
5its founding on June 10, 2023; and
 
6    WHEREAS, In 1947, Woodhull Fire Department Trustee Fay
7Bell was instructed to start procedures to form a fire
8protection district; and
 
9    WHEREAS, On June 17, 1948, the local fire department was
10dissolved, and the Clover Township Fire Protection District
11was formed by a vote of 51 in favor and 15 against; and
 
12    WHEREAS, In July of 1948, Circuit Court Judge Richards
13appointed Harold Holmes, Carl Herndon, and Fay Bell to serve
14as the district's first trustees; Carl Herndon was replaced by
15Henry Faulkner, who in turn was replaced by Reginald
16Bergstrom; Harold Holmes was replaced by Dean Litton and Fay
17Bell, the longest serving trustee in the district's history,
18died while in office and was replaced by Kenneth Martin; and
 
19    WHEREAS, In 1948, the first year of the district, $2,965
20was collected as the district's portion of property taxes; by
211964, the tax base had increased to $6,335.77; assessments for

 

 

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11981 were $23,000 and, in 1982, the tax base jumped to $33,000
2compared to $119,000 in 2015; and
 
3    WHEREAS, On May 28, 1949, the district purchased a fire
4truck from the Village of Woodhull for $250; and
 
5    WHEREAS, On June 6, 1949, the fire district formed its
6fire department with 13 able-bodied volunteers; J B Anderson
7was named chief, Earl Elliott was named assistant chief, and
8Dale Johnson served as secretary/treasurer for the fire
9department; and
 
10    WHEREAS, On September 24, 1949, a new two-ton truck
11chassis was purchased from Luallen's; the body was built by
12Gene Morris and Alexis Fire Equipment Company at a cost of
13$4,649 and delivered to Clover on November 15, 1949; and
 
14    WHEREAS, In March of 1950, a bond referendum was passed to
15issue $15,000 in bonds to build a new fire station and to
16purchase another fire truck; and
 
17    WHEREAS, On May 7, 1951, a one-ton truck was purchased
18from Luallen's for $1700; the body was again built by Alexis
19Fire Equipment for $3,675.30 and delivered on August 22, 1951;
20the new fire station was a cement block structure 30 feet by 42
21feet and was located just east of Division Street at East 2nd

 

 

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1Avenue; the building was constructed by Gene Woolley at a
2total cost of $5,400 and completed on November 12, 1951; and
 
3    WHEREAS, On May 17, 1951, a used Ford chassis was
4purchased for $450; the body was built by Alexis Fire
5Equipment for a cost of $3,765 and put into service on August
628, 1952; in July of 1953, maps of the entire fire district
7were purchased; and
 
8    WHEREAS, On August 24, 1954, a warning siren was purchased
9for $313 and mounted on the roof of the east side of downtown;
10the siren now resides at the fire station as a memorial to
11past, present, and future firefighters; on January 14, 1961,
12the district took delivery of a 1960 Ford Alexis-built pumper,
13replacing the old Ford tanker; and
 
14    WHEREAS, On May 20, 1969, a Chevrolet chassis was
15purchased from Luallen's for $5,776; Alexis Fire Equipment
16built the body for $10,000 plus trade-in; and
 
17    WHEREAS, On April 13, 1979, a used 1974 Chevrolet van was
18purchased from Alexander Lumber Company for $3,300; the van
19was outfitted with air-packs, protective clothing and other
20emergency equipment and responded with the fire trucks on all
21calls; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, In December of 1981, the old fire station located
2at East 2nd Avenue was sold on sealed bids to Woodhull State
3Bank for $10,255; at the same time, firefighters moved into
4the new fire station at East Highway Avenue; the 80 feet by 60
5feet Cuckler steel structure was constructed by HLR Carlson
6Construction at a cost of $70,000; firefighters finished the
7interior of the building, which included a meeting room,
8kitchen, and rest rooms; and
 
9    WHEREAS, In January of 1982, three FM mobile radios and an
10FM base radio were purchased for $3000 from Gem Electronics in
11Monmouth; they replaced citizens band radios that used Channel
129 as the emergency communication channel; at that time, the
13fire department was averaging 24 calls a year; the ISO
14combined, class rating at that time was Class 8 for the village
15and Class 9 for rural; as a reference, Class 1 is the very best
16class awarded by Insurance Services Organization and Class 10
17represents no water source/no coverage; and
 
18    WHEREAS, In 1982, the Women's Auxiliary was resurrected
19after many years of inactivity; their purpose was to raise
20funds for additional fire equipment; at their first meeting,
21Sandy McDowell was elected president, Jill Larson
22vice-president, Kim Goodrich treasurer, and Connie Eiker
23secretary; to raise money, the women started having bake
24sales; then, they organized their very first pancake

 

 

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1breakfast, using the kitchen's stove and electric pancake
2griddles; as a result of the women's efforts with subsequent
3fundraisers, they were able to purchase portable radios,
4pagers, turnout gear, and loose tools; in 1986, they
5spearheaded the fundraiser to purchase their very first set of
6hydraulic rescue tools known as the "Jaws of Life"; and
 
7    WHEREAS, The next new truck would not come until 1989, a
8fluorescent red pumper; the color was considered ahead of its
9time, though it has been very popular in Europe for many years;
10the Chevolet Kodiak chassis was purchased from Wight Chevrolet
11in Williamsfield, and the body was built by Alexis Fire
12Equipment for a total cost of $105,000; and
 
13    WHEREAS, In March of 1991, Clover Fire began lobbying
14their state and federal representatives for an emergency
15crossover in the median of Interstate 74 between the two,
16east/west rest areas; by May of 1991, the crossover was
17approved and then constructed at I-74 MM 28.5; and
 
18    WHEREAS, In May of 1995, Clover Fire underwent an ISO
19Classification audit; their Combined ISO Class at the time of
20the audit was Class 8 for the village and Class 9 in
21unhydranted and rural areas; in October of 1995, word was
22received that the ISO Combined Class would be Class 6 for the
23village and Class 9 for rural; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, On June 27, 1998, a banquet celebrating the 50th
2anniversary of the formation of the fire district was held at
3the Homestead Restaurant in Woodhull; commemorative medallions
4were presented to all of the guests, including past
5firefighters, current firefighters, past trustees, and current
6trustees, Mr. and Mrs. Gene Morris and Galesburg FD Chief and
7Mrs. Cratty; guest speakers included State Representative Don
8Moffitt, Mayor Lloyd Carlson, Jeff Morris of Alexis Fire
9Equipment, Galesburg FD Battalion Chief John (Tyke) Jordan,
10and keynote speaker, Assistant Chief Rick Lasky of
11Darien-Woodridge Fire Department; congratulatory letters were
12received from President Bill Clinton, Governor Jim Edgar, U.S.
13Senator Dick Durbin, Congressman Lane Evans, State Senator
14Todd Sieben, Secretary of State George Ryan, Illinois Fire
15Chiefs Association President Tom Allenspach, Illinois
16Association of Fire Protection Districts President Richard
17Baier, and State Fire Marshal Tom Armstead; it was a special
18night for Willis Luallen, Glen Kasparie, Merrill Brown, and
19Dale Johnson, who joined the department in 1948, the year that
20the fire district was formed, and served for many years; and
 
21    WHEREAS, In August of 1998, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was
22held at the Galesburg Regional Fire Training Site; Clover
23Fire, Western Illinois Firefighters Association, State
24Representative Don Moffitt, State Senator Carl Hawkinson, and

 

 

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1former Galesburg FD Chief Dale May assisted Galesburg FD and
2Chief John Cratty in securing the very first training site
3outside of facilities in Champaign; following the
4ribbon-cutting ceremony, training was held for 82
5firefighters; and
 
6    WHEREAS, In September of 1998, delivery was taken on a
7Freightliner Alexis-built engine with 5-person cab, 1500 gpm
8mid-ship pump with top-mount controls and painted iridescent
9mother-of-pearl white over fluorescent red at a total cost of
10$198,000; the state-of-the-art engine was dedicated to those
11who had served their fire district; and
 
12    WHEREAS, In November of 1999, Chief Art Goodrich
13participated in the Illinois Volunteer Fire Service Summit, a
14first-of-its-kind in the nation; the summit was videocast to
15selected state universities and community colleges; many
16recommendations from the summit became House and Senate bills
17that strengthened the Illinois volunteer fire service; and
 
18    WHEREAS, On October 13, 2000, Clover Fire responded to the
19largest vehicle accident scene in its district's history; the
20accident was caused by a field fire that was blowing across the
21eastbound lanes creating "white-out" conditions; by the time
22traffic was stopped, 16 cars, semis, and pickups were
23involved; the incident resulted in one fatality and 14 victims

 

 

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1transported by ambulance; and
 
2    WHEREAS, In March of 2001, State Representative Don
3Moffitt became the first honorary member of Clover Township
4Fire Protection District, due to his tireless and unwavering
5support of Clover Fire, other area fire departments, and the
6Illinois Fire Service as a whole; and
 
7    WHEREAS, In July of 2003, Trustee Art Goodrich was invited
8to serve on the state committee that would write the rules
9creating, then governing, the Fire Truck Revolving Loan Fund,
10also known as the Zero Interest Fire Truck Loan Program; also
11serving on the committee were Chief Peter Vina, Don Moffitt,
12Chief John Cratty, John Kohlhepp, Simony Schwartz, Larry
13Smith, Dave Foreman, and Chief James Grady; and
 
14    WHEREAS, In December of 2005, the first female firefighter
15joined the fire department; Kassi Cowser, daughter of Captain
16Larry Cowser, made district history in what had been a
17department populated by "all able-bodied men"; and
 
18    WHEREAS, In 2006, the district purchased a 1993 Ford
19Alexis-built heavy rescue truck from the Chillicothe Fire
20Department at a cost of $125,000; this was the district's
21first professionally-built rescue; the others were built by
22the department's volunteers; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, In 2009, an international all wheel-drive
2Alexis-built pumper was delivered at a cost of $298,000.00 and
3painted in traditional fire truck red; this engine was
4partially financed through the Zero Interest Fire Truck Loan
5program; and
 
6    WHEREAS, In June of 2015, an ISO audit was performed; in
7November of 2015, the results of the audit were received;
8within the village, Clover Fire received ISO Class 5; the
9rural classification is ISO Class 5X; since 1982, call volume
10has tripled; and
 
11    WHEREAS, In October of 2015, the AlWood Fire Explorer
12program was finalized; sanctioned by the Boy Scouts of
13America, the program welcomes anyone interested between the
14ages of 14 - 21 from Clover and Oxford Townships to participate
15in a structured setting where they can learn life-saving,
16firefighting skills; the inaugural group of Explorers were
17Ethan Ashby, Anthoney Brown, Quentin Reckers, Breck Shannon,
18and Jacob White; therefore, be it
 
19    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
20HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
21we congratulate the Clover Township Fire Protection District
22on its 75th anniversary on June 10, 2023; and be it further
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, That we wish the Clover Township Fire Protection
2District continued success in service to the community; and be
3it further
 
4    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
5presented to the Clover Township Fire Protection District as
6an expression of our esteem and respect.