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HR1573 |
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LRB095 22749 KXB 53172 r |
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of |
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| Representatives are pleased to congratulate Joe Ellena on his |
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| retirement as Chief of the Standard Fire Department; and
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| WHEREAS, The Standard Fire Department was originally |
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| started as a village fire department after the founding of the |
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| village in 1907; Joe Ellena has been its longest serving chief; |
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| and
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| WHEREAS, Early in Joe Ellena's tenure as Chief, Mid-America |
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| Growers, an industry new to the area, suffered a disastrous |
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| fire, and the department was unprepared to handle the crisis; |
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| the pumper was a 1948 model, equipment was lacking, and the |
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| frustration of being forced to watch an uncontrollable fire had |
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| a great impact on Joe; and
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| WHEREAS, Joe began the transformation of the department |
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| from a social club to the professional organization it is |
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| today; a bar was removed from the station and the hall was no |
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| longer rented out for private events; an overhead door was |
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| installed in the rear of the building to accommodate the |
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| addition of a 3,500 gallon water tanker, which was built by the |
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| department; air packs were purchased and extensive training was |
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| completed; and
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HR1573 |
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LRB095 22749 KXB 53172 r |
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| WHEREAS, Paperwork and
record keeping was improved under |
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| Joe Ellena's time as Chief; the Department became heavily |
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| involved with rescue work and became the sole provider of auto, |
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| farm, and rope rescue in Putnam County; and a designated rescue |
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| squad was established; and
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| WHEREAS, In 1978, Joe resigned as Fire Chief in order to |
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| establish and develop a private business; Joe later returned to |
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| fill the vacancy after the departure of the previous chief; a |
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| new fire station was designed and built, more than tripling the |
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| space previously available; a third tanker was added, along |
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| with a fire engine carrying a 55-foot aerial device; the rescue |
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| squad added a hovercraft for water rescue, and a 6-wheel drive |
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| ATV for wildland fires and timber rescues; and the last of |
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| Joe's projects was the construction of a training facility |
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| available to any department; and
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| WHEREAS, Joe Ellena is the loving husband of Shirley; they |
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| have four children, Sheryl Sons, John (Ashley) Ellena, Janet |
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| (Steve) Cimei, and Robert (Jennifer) Ellena; they are the proud |
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| grandparents of Nathan, Aaron, Hannah, Morgan, Joseph, |
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| Spencer, Taylor, Brianna, and Gianna; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE |
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| NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we |