HR0768 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0768 LRB102 26923 ECR 38081 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives wish to congratulate the Mt. Carmel Rotary Club on over 100 years of service to Mt. Carmel and the State of Illinois; and

WHEREAS, The Mt. Carmel Rotary Club was organized on February 18, 1920 with 20 charter members; and

WHEREAS, In its early years, The Mt. Carmel Rotary Club met at the Mulhall Hotel, later known as the Wabash Hotel and more recently as the Colonial Inn, on 117 East Fifth Street; and

WHEREAS, The Mt. Carmel Rotary Club was organized with the assistance of Harrisburg Rotary Club President C.A. Taylor and Harrisburg Rotary Club Secretary Charles E. Combe; and

WHEREAS, The first officers of the Mt. Carmel Rotary Club were President Walter Kimzey, Vice-President Dan Keen, Secretary Charles Reynolds, and Sergeant at Arms Frank Cowling; and

WHEREAS, The Mt. Carmel Rotary Club constitution and by-laws were adopted on March 1, 1920 with a charter date of April 1, 1920; and

WHEREAS, The Mt. Carmel Rotary Club has had three members who have served as District Governors, Peter Kolb from 1925 to 1926, Carroll Risley from 1960 to 1961, and Janice Alka from 2018 to 2019; member Robin Dean will serve as District Governor from 2025 to 2026; and

WHEREAS, The Mt. Carmel Rotary Club's signature activity is Corn Day, which started in 1965 at the Bluff City Park and has been an annual event in Mt. Carmel every year since; the event is scheduled near the 4th of July and has been held in the Mabel Courter Youth Center since 1983; and

WHEREAS, The Mt. Carmel Rotary Club's Corn Day feeds nearly 1,500 people all the sweet corn they can eat, and the proceeds go to community and humanitarian endeavors; and

WHEREAS, The Mt. Carmel Rotary Club has helped children and youth in the community through various activities, including providing playground equipment for local schools and parks, supporting the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, and giving a dictionary to every third grade student in the county schools; and

WHEREAS, The Mt. Carmel Rotary Club has helped public and private schools; since 2006, it has contributed to improvements to the City Park and Swimming Pool, provided college scholarships for high school seniors, and made donations to the Mt. Carmel High School Music Department and to Youth in Action; and

WHEREAS, During the summer of 1978, Lynne Sadlek participated in a Mt. Carmel Rotary Club sponsored Student Exchange Program, and in 2018, Madison Merritt participated in a nine month Student Exchange Program in Japan; and

WHEREAS, The Mt. Carmel Rotary Club provided leadership in the construction of the Shelter House and new restrooms in the City Park, which was a $130,000 project; and

WHEREAS, The Mt. Carmel Rotary Club has served the community through various additional projects, including visiting residents in nursing homes, wrapping tree seedlings for the Wabash County Soil and Water District, and giving financial help to the Mt. Carmel Public Library, the Wabash Valley College Foundation, the Wabash General Hospital and Foundation, Wabash Area Development, Inc. (WADI), and the Safe Haven Women's shelter; it has also provided local law enforcement with speed indicators and aided in the installation and maintenance of "Welcome to Mt. Carmel" signs and message boards; and

WHEREAS, The Mt. Carmel Rotary Club has supported The Rotary Foundation in its overall mission of doing good in the world as well as specifically supporting the Polio Plus program to eradicate polio; and

WHEREAS, The Mt. Carmel Rotary Club had originally planned to celebrate their 100th anniversary on April 4, 2020 but had to postpone due to the COVID-19 pandemic; the celebration was then held on Saturday, October 23, 2021 in conjunction with the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Shelter House in Mount Carmel City Park with Rotary International President Mark Maloney as the special guest; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate the Mt. Carmel Rotary Club on over 100 years of service; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the Mt. Carmel Rotary Club as a symbol of our respect and esteem.