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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION | ||||||
| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives wish to congratulate the City of Princeton and | ||||||
| 4 | the Flags of Freedom Committee on the occasion of the 20th | ||||||
| 5 | anniversary of the Flags of Freedom display; and | ||||||
| 6 | WHEREAS, Flags of Freedom was co-founded by Jack Scott and | ||||||
| 7 | Harry Burrows with an original committee in 2004; and | ||||||
| 8 | WHEREAS, At its conception, this committee was co-chaired | ||||||
| 9 | by both Jack Scott and Tom Root, and they wanted to have a | ||||||
| 10 | memorial in honor of all veterans past, present, and future | ||||||
| 11 | along with their families; and | ||||||
| 12 | WHEREAS, This committee raised over $320,000 in donations | ||||||
| 13 | and through fundraising events; the flags and poles for the | ||||||
| 14 | display were then purchased and professionally installed; and | ||||||
| 15 | WHEREAS, The Flags of Freedom was officially dedicated on | ||||||
| 16 | September 10, 2005 in a ceremony that was attended by over | ||||||
| 17 | 2,500 people, including many local and state dignitaries and a | ||||||
| 18 | number of current and past members of the U.S. Armed Forces; | ||||||
| 19 | and | ||||||
| 20 | WHEREAS, The City of Princeton assumed the responsibility | ||||||
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| 1 | of maintaining the flags and the poles of the Flags of Freedom | ||||||
| 2 | in 2007; and | ||||||
| 3 | WHEREAS, In July 2016, the City of Princeton released a | ||||||
| 4 | statement declaring it needed help funding the cost of the | ||||||
| 5 | flags and infrastructure as no tax money is used to support | ||||||
| 6 | this display; and | ||||||
| 7 | WHEREAS, A group met with the Princeton City Council, and | ||||||
| 8 | it was determined that a new committee was to be formed to try | ||||||
| 9 | to raise funds to help support the display; the City of | ||||||
| 10 | Princeton has agreed to maintain daily maintenance and minor | ||||||
| 11 | infrastructure repairs and will approve the purchase of two | ||||||
| 12 | flags annually; and | ||||||
| 13 | WHEREAS, The Flags of Freedom is a great tribute to all | ||||||
| 14 | past, present, and future veterans; therefore, be it | ||||||
| 15 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
| 16 | HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 17 | we congratulate the City of Princeton and the Flags of Freedom | ||||||
| 18 | Committee on the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Flags | ||||||
| 19 | of Freedom display; and be it further | ||||||
| 20 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
| 21 | presented to the City of Princeton and the Flags of Freedom | ||||||
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| 1 | Committee as a symbol of our esteem and respect. | ||||||