HR1264 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1264 LRB093 24048 CSA 54197 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The Sesquicentennial Celebration of the Village of Elwood took place on September 11, 2004, during the 14th Annual Elwood Community Day Celebration; and

WHEREAS, Elwood, population 1,620, is located in Will County and the Township of Jackson; it is bordered by the Joliet Arsenal Redevelopment project, Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery, and Midewin National Tall Grass Prairie; and

WHEREAS, The year 1854 marked the completion of the Chicago and Mississippi Railroad; the railroad station in Elwood was laid out by N.D. Elwood, Esq., from whom Elwood took its name; and

WHEREAS, Elwood has been served by 19 mayors since its incorporation in 1868, including William Muhlig, who became the first President in 1868, and again became President in 1908, forty years later; John H. Bridge; H.G. Williams; Frank Shearen; J.J. Lichtenwalter; Isaac Conard; W.F. Keith; Daniel Blatt; John Coldwater; James Tyler, Sr., of James Tyler and Sons Grain Co., est. 1927-1997; Joe Eib; Andrew Peterson; Chet Coldwater; Lawrence "Tom" Thompson; Burton Walsh; Ken George; Dale Archer; Jim Clementi; and Bob Blum, who has served from 2001 to the present; and

WHEREAS, The present Village Hall, which has served as both Village Hall and Fire Station, is still home for the Village since it took sole occupancy in 1967; and

WHEREAS, Elwood is rich with a long history of community volunteers; the construction of a new fire station began in March 1957 and it was completed in April 1959; it was named the Clarence Weidemann Hall and the first fire chief was Fred H. Blatt, Jr.; the community suffered a loss with its destruction by fire on August 26, 1995; the dedication of the new fire station in the Village of Elwood was held on May 12, 1997; and

WHEREAS, Elwood's present elementary school was completed in 1955; the school had its first graduating class in 1956; the school has since had three additions: in 1967, dedicated as the Alyce Shaw addition; in 1978, dedicated as the Mary Jane Burns addition, and the latest addition in 2001; and

WHEREAS, Elwood is proud of its parks; the land for Lloyd C. Erickson Memorial Park was presented to the Village on August 9, 1974 in a dedication with the Assistant to President Richard M. Nixon, Dave Wheat, as the Master of Ceremonies and Rogers C.B. Morton, U. S. Secretary of the Interior, as the Honored Guest Speaker; and

WHEREAS, Elwood is home to the Warren Wood Farm, which was located on Diagonal Road from 1864 to 1971; Warren Wood was Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives 1951 to 1957; and

WHEREAS, Elwood is home to Illinois State Senator Lawrence M. Walsh, who has served as State Senator since 1997; he is a lifelong Elwood resident and lived on and farmed the Centennial Farm belonging to Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives Warren Wood; and

WHEREAS, Established in 1942, Bill's Inn, owned and operated by the late William R. Hibner and the late Elizabeth "Betty" Hibner, is the oldest business currently in the Village; it was relocated into the Village to make way for the construction of the Joliet Arsenal Ammunition Plant; today the business continues to operate under the ownership of a third generation Hibner, James Hibner, Sr.; and

WHEREAS, Today the Village also houses the Elwood Community Church (established in 1966, the first Reverend Phillip Coen), the Elwood Post Office (established in 1957, with the first postmaster Fred H. Blatt, Jr.), the Jackson Township Hall (established in 1870), one gas station (BP Amoco, established in 1989), one auto repair shop (Elwood Auto - Sam Incopero, formerly Leo O'Connor's Gas Station), Watsons' Pub and Diner (formerly Marta's), the Raceway Pizza, the Lazy Dog, Centerpoint Properties (established in 2002), and the newest addition, the SBC America switching station (established in 2004); therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate the Village of Elwood on the occasion of its Sesquicentennial Celebration; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to the Village of Elwood President Bob Blum and Jackson Township Supervisor Lawrence M. Walsh.