HR0171 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0171 LRB096 11949 KXB 23391 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The Village of Woodridge is celebrating its 50th anniversary and the Woodridge Park District's 40th anniversary this year; the Village of Woodridge was incorporated on August 24, 1959; in 1959, Woodridge's population was 459 people and now, fifty years later, the population has grown to over 36,000 residents; and

WHEREAS, Leon Werch was the Village of Woodridge's first Mayor; there have been nine mayors in the history of the village, including the current Mayor, William F. Murphy; an all volunteer police department was established in 1960 along with an all volunteer fire company; and

WHEREAS, In 1959 Surety Builders rented a small house to the village for the sum of $1 a year; over the years the facility housed the police department, the village clerk's office, a courtroom, the building department, and the public library; and

WHEREAS, Woodridge was recently recognized by Money Magazine as one of the Top 100 Places to Live in the Nation; Woodridge was also highlighted on an episode of the "World's Greatest" television show as one of the World's Greatest Communities; commercial growth in the Woodridge community has resulted in over 10 million square feet of commercial and industrial space that houses approximately 160 businesses and employs over 6,500 people; and

WHEREAS, ProLogis Park Internationale Centre in Woodridge is the third largest industrial park in the Chicagoland area; the Woodridge Community Pantry provides food and supportive programming for families and individuals in need in Woodridge and surrounding communities; the pantry serves more than 5,200 families per year, including over 9,700 children and 1,200 senior citizens; and

WHEREAS, Dancing with the Community Resource Center Kids, a Woodridge youth program, was the 2007 recipient of the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference Municipal Innovation Award; Woodridge is the only three-time winner of this prestigious award; and the Village Greens of Woodridge, a village-owned golf course, was a recipient of the Illinois Golf Course Owner Association Course of the year; and

WHEREAS, A quilt celebrating the community and park district anniversaries and Woodridge's diversity was unveiled on January 15, 2009; in addition to the quilt, the Diversity Committee is holding a 50 for 50 Food Drive to help raise 50 tons of food for the Woodridge Community Pantry; and

WHEREAS, Woodridge has six elementary schools and one junior high school within its borders; School District 68 services approximately 2,854 students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade; the District employs 203 full-time teachers, and has an overall student/teacher ratio of 14:1; all of Woodridge's schools have been accredited by the North Central Association's Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI); and

WHEREAS, The Woodridge Bikeways System provides nearly 20 miles of recreation and transportation opportunities to access businesses, schools, parks, forest preserves, municipal services, shopping areas, and regional bikeways; Woodridge is surrounded by 8 forest preserves; together, they add nearly 5,000 acres of open space to the Woodridge community; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate the citizens of Woodridge on these two important anniversary occasions and wish them the best for their community's future; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Mayor William F. Murphy as a symbol of our respect and esteem.