HR1132 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1132 LRB094 20158 HSS 57944 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The City of Pana will celebrate its sesquicentennial with special events scheduled throughout 2006; Pana was incorporated in 1856; and

WHEREAS, For 150 years, Proud Pana, the city that moved from the prairie to the crossroads of four railroads, has been in the center of Illinois where the Union Pacific Railroad and Illinois Routes 29 and 16 meet U.S. 51; during its history, Pana became famous for coal, roses, corn, basketball, and tremendous civic pride; and

WHEREAS, The City of Pana, population 5,614, is located in the southeast corner of Christian County; in January of 1855, a surveyor for the Illinois Central Railroad recorded a plat in Stone Coal Precinct, Coal Creek Township, for their rail bed and marked Pana on his survey at a point where the Illinois Central rail intersected the rail of the Indianapolis & St. Louis Railroad, later the New York Central Railroad; and

WHEREAS, On September 2, 1856, Coal Creek Township was renamed Pana Township, possibly as a credit to the Pawnee/Pana Indians who hunted the prairie in the area; and

WHEREAS, Late in 1856, a charter was submitted to the Illinois legislature to create the City of Pana, population 850, with 68 houses and one Presbyterian Church; and

WHEREAS, Names of notoriety of Pana's first century residents include Civil War Captain and Mrs. John W. (Little) Kitchell, sculptor Leonard Crunell, All-American sportsman A.J. "Butch" Nowack, journalist and author James Vincent Sheean, artist John Zwinak, violinist Florian Zabach, and many more; and

WHEREAS, The Pana community shares central Illinois with great neighbors in Assumption, Oconee, Rosamond, and Tower Hill; and

WHEREAS, Today Pana is home to Anderson Prairie, Carnegie-Schuyler Library, the Christian County Housing Authority, Coal Creek Pioneer Village, Historic Kitchell Park, Lake Pana, the Lincoln Prairie Bike and Hike Trail, over a dozen murals, Oak Terrace Resort, the Old Railroad Switch Tower, Pana Community Hospital, Pana Heritage Day, Pana Industrial Park, the Pana Labor Day Parade, the Pana Panthers, Pana School Unit 8, nearby Rosamond Grove Cemetery, - 18 foot Lincoln Statue - Mary Lincoln Cannon, Roseland Theater, Tanner Sports Park, the Tri-County Fair, 20 Churches, 37 clubs/organizations, and a multitude of great businesses that serve the community; Pana is also known as the western gateway to Lake Shelbyville, and Pana has strong ties to Shelbyville, Nokomis, Taylorville, Herrick, Springfield, and Decatur, as well as Ramsey and Vandalia; and

WHEREAS, Several activities during the year long sesquicentennial celebration are being planned, many being planned to take place at the well-known Kitchell Park in the historic Chatuaqua Pavilion; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that that we congratulate the City of Pana on the occasion of its sesquicentennial celebration; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the City of Pana as an expression of our esteem.