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90_HR0164
LRB9005742KBkb
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, On March 25, 1947, life changed for the people
3 of Centralia, Illinois when an explosion at the No. 5 Mine in
4 Wamac jarred the small community; and
5 WHEREAS, At 3:30 p.m., the sirens blared, alerting the
6 community of a disaster at the mine; an explosion had torn
7 through the mine's bowels, and in its aftermath left one
8 hundred and eleven men dead; and
9 WHEREAS, A Memorial Service was held on Palm Sunday,
10 March 23, 1997, to remember the tragedy of fifty years ago,
11 and reflect on the changes it made on the community; Becky
12 McIntyre, Community Development Director, was in charge of
13 arranging the service; and
14 WHEREAS, The service, held at the Centralia High School
15 Auditorium, opened with a selection from The Centralia
16 Philharmonic Orchestra; the service included ministers from
17 area churches who read scripture and reflected on the events
18 of yesterday; participants included: Reverend James Gullen,
19 Trinity Lutheran Church; Reverend Edwin Evans, First United
20 Presbyterian Church; Reverend Petie McLean, First Christian
21 Church; Reverend Ronald Johnson, New Bethel Baptist Church;
22 and Reverend Loren Rovenstine, Free Methodist Church; and
23 WHEREAS, Guest speakers included Representative Kurt
24 Granberg of Carlyle; Michael E. Bunton, secretary-treasurer
25 of United Mine Workers of America District 12 of DuQuoin; and
26 Centralia Mayor Warren Browning, who shared a proclamation
27 issued by Larry Greene of Wamac, Roy Szatkowski of Central
28 City, and himself; the song "The Dying Miner", written by
29 Woody Guthrie, and based on the tragedy, was sung by The Folk
30 Ensemble of the Centralia Cultural Society Chorus; the
31 closing prayer was led by Bishop Peter Beckwith of the
32 Episcopal Diocese of Springfield; and
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1 WHEREAS, The Memorial Service honored a survivor of the
2 mine disaster; Joe Vancil, Jr., a seventy-year old retired
3 miner from DuQuoin, was received with applause by those in
4 attendance; the service ended with a benediction performed by
5 the Centralia Cultural Society Chorus, and a postlude by the
6 Centralia Philharmonic Orchestra; and
7 WHEREAS, The Centralia newspaper, The Sentinel News,
8 presented a series of articles in memory of the disaster;
9 Dorothy "Dottie" Pick, a Centralia resident, was the subject
10 of one article; as a young woman Dorothy was working at Sears
11 when she heard the sirens the afternoon of the tragedy;
12 Dorothy began saving all articles printed in the local paper
13 about the events at the mine, and has held on to this
14 scrapbook for fifty years; her book is considered to be the
15 most complete history of the disaster to date; therefore, be
16 it
17 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
18 NINETIETH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
19 remember this time in the history of Centralia, Illinois, and
20 commend the city for memorializing this tragedy and taking a
21 moment to honor those who gave their lives, those who lost
22 loved ones, and those that survived that day; and be it
23 further
24 RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
25 presented to survivor Joe Vancil, Jr., historian Dorothy
26 Pick, The Sentinel News of Centralia, and Centralia City
27 Hall.