Bill Text: IL HR0465 | 2013-2014 | 98th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Congratulate the current and past members of the Rotary Club of Joliet on the occasion of the club's 100th anniversary and thank the members for providing 100 years of service above self.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Passed) 2013-06-19 - Resolution Adopted [HR0465 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2013-HR0465-Introduced.html

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HOUSE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
Representatives are pleased to recognize the accomplishments
of local communities and their commitment to serving their
fellow citizens; and
WHEREAS, The Rotary Club of Joliet will celebrate its 100th
anniversary on August 3, 2013; and
WHEREAS, Rotary International, the world's first service
organization, was founded in Chicago in 1905 and has since
grown to include 33,000 clubs and 1.3 million members; and
WHEREAS, Rotary International focuses locally and globally
on the goals of peace and conflict resolution, disease
prevention and treatment, water and sanitation, maternal and
child health, basic education and literacy, and economic and
community development, with a special focus on the eradication
of polio from the earth; and
WHEREAS, What was to become the Rotary Club of Joliet in
1913, began as the Study Club in 1910; the Study Club's purpose
was to study business building, efficiency, and character
development; the club's president was John McGuire and the
members were John P. Kelly, Edmund H. Lennon, Thomas P. Lennon,

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Maurice F. Lennon, Joseph McGlynn, Michael J. Ryan, Thomas S.
Stoll, Robert P. Kiep, Ambrose Kiep, George Lennon, A.F.
Bannon, James F. Hebert, James Ley, Nick J. Freis, and F. B.
Murphy; and
WHEREAS, Joliet Rotary was accepted into membership at the
Rotary International Convention held in Buffalo, New York and
chartered on August 1, 1913, becoming the first Rotary Club
from a city of less than 75,000 population; and
WHEREAS, Noon luncheons were started on September 22, 1914,
in the Hobbs Cafe; since then, Joliet Rotary has held its
luncheon meetings in the Universalist Church parlors, Snapps
Cafeteria, the Chamber of Commerce, Masonic Temple, the YMCA,
the Woodruff Hotel, the Louis Joliet Hotel, and the Louis
Joliet Renaissance Center; and
WHEREAS, Since 1913, the Joliet Rotary Club, by
recommendations to Rotary International, has ceded territory
as well as helped establish new territories by starting Rotary
Clubs in Ottawa (1914), Morris (1915), Kankakee (1915),
Streator (1919), LaSalle (1920), DeKalb (1921), Aurora (1923),
Manteno (1937), Wilmington (1938), and Lockport (1966); the
Club has produced four District Governors, J. Stanley Brown
(1918-1919), Rev. Henry E. Rompel (1923-1924), Ralph E. Morgan
(1957-1958), and Robert E. Leckrone (1986-1987); and

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WHEREAS, In 1987, Rotary International extended membership
to women in the United States; at the Conference on Legislation
held in Singapore on January 23, 1989, Resolution 8954 was
presented by Joliet Rotarian Bob Leckrone, thus officially
admitting women into Rotary International; the first women
inducted into Joliet Rotary were Mary Jane Broncato, Ruth
Calvert Fitzgerald, Carolyn Healy, and Sister Dismas Janssen;
and
WHEREAS, Joliet Rotary purchased uniforms and instruments
for the start of the Joliet Township High School band, which
won State Championships in 1924, 1925, and 1926, National
Championships in 1926, 1927, 1928, 1931, 1933, 1935, 1938, and
1940, and gave Joliet the nickname, "City of Champions"; and
WHEREAS, In 1914, Vaughn Brooks, the second president of
Joliet Rotary, was responsible for founding the Joliet Chamber
of Commerce; and
WHEREAS, In 1915, Joliet Rotary procured Higginbotham
Woods for city park property; in 1917, during World War I,
Joliet Rotary equipped the "Dandy First" soldiers with shoes
and other equipment while they were training at Dellwood Park;
in 1930, Joliet Rotary sponsored the first Boy Scout camp at
Morris, which is still in existence; later, Joliet Rotary

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sponsored the first Girl Scout camp at Custer Park; and
WHEREAS, From 1984 to 1988, over $250,000 and in-kind
contributions were donated to build the Rotary Sports Complex
at the Galowich YMCA on the west side of Joliet; in 1989,
Joliet Rotary established a $75,000 endowment fund to maintain
the YMCA Sports Field; and
WHEREAS, In 1990, Joliet Rotary donated $30,000 to Habitat
for Humanity to construct two homes; in 1991, Joliet Rotary
donated $30,000 to Will-Grundy Free Medical Clinic for an
endowment fund for medications; in 1992, Joliet Rotary donated
$26,100 to D-FY-IT drug testing program for local high schools,
in 1993, Joliet Rotary donated $30,000 to purchase equipment to
establish a handicapped playground for Easter Seals; in 1994,
Joliet Rotary purchased a 15-passenger van for the Salvation
Army; in 1995, Joliet Rotary donated $30,000 to help refurbish
facilities for an abused women's shelter; in 1996, Joliet
Rotary donated $32,000 to Easter Seals for furnishing a
supervisory group home; in 1997, Joliet Rotary donated $30,000
to United Cerebral Palsy Park for specialized playground
equipment; in 1998, Joliet Rotary donated a total of $30,000
for endowed scholarships to be awarded annually by Joliet
Junior College, Lewis University, and the University of St.
Francis; in 1999, Joliet Rotary donated $30,000 for funding of
the Will-Grundy Rotary Dental Clinic; in 2000, Joliet Rotary

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donated $27,400 to Morningstar Mission Ministries for their
kitchen renovation project; in 2001, Joliet Rotary divided a
$30,000 donation to the Salvation Army for renovation of their
kitchen and to the Will County Humane Society for renovation of
their facility; in 2002, Joliet Rotary donated a total of
$30,000 to the Rotary College Scholarship Program for the
scholarship fund established at Lewis University, University
of St. Francis, and Joliet Junior College; in 2003, Joliet
Rotary donated $30,000 to Joliet Hospice for the construction
of a patient room; in 2004, Joliet Rotary donated $14,000 to
Lamb's Fold toward a new shower room for the women and
children; and
WHEREAS, Thousands of dictionaries are provided by Joliet
Rotary to Joliet public and private school 4th graders each
year; and
WHEREAS, Countless additional donations of time, talent,
and treasure have benefitted the local Joliet community as well
as Rotary beneficiaries around the world; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
we congratulate the current and past members of the Rotary Club
of Joliet on the occasion of the club's 100th anniversary and
thank the members for providing 100 years of service above

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self; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
presented to the Rotary Club of Joliet, Illinois, USA as a
symbol of our esteem and respect.