HR1349 LRB095 21568 GRL 51469 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives are pleased to congratulate the Smith family,
4 the owners of Tempel Farms in Wadsworth/Old Mill Creek, on the
5 occasion of the 50th anniversary of the first Tempel Lipizzans'
6 arrival in the United States; and
 
7     WHEREAS, Lipizzans are a species of horse that are
8 officially recognized as a "rare breed"; with only about 2,000
9 Lipizzans living in the world today; and
 
10     WHEREAS, After a year of sensitive negotiations with the
11 Austrian government, the late Tempel Smith, owner of Chicago's
12 Tempel Steel Company, and his wife, Esther, received clearance
13 to import the first 20 Lipizzans from the breeding farms of the
14 Spanish Riding School in August of 1958; over the past 50
15 years, nearly 900 Lipizzan horses have been born at Tempel
16 Farms, with the current herd of 80 Lipizzans being the largest
17 privately owned herd anywhere on Earth; and
 
18     WHEREAS, Tempel Farms in Wadsworth/Old Mill Creek is the
19 only place in the United States where Lipizzan stallions
20 regularly perform the breathtaking leaps and ballet-like
21 precision of classical dressage in the tradition of the famed
22 Spanish Riding School in Vienna, Austria; the farm is one of

 

 

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1 only a few places in the world where beautiful white "dancing"
2 Lipizzans breed, train, and perform on the same property; every
3 summer, visitors from around the world travel to Tempel Farms
4 to enjoy Lipizzan "horse ballets," similar to those that
5 entertained European royalty during the late Renaissance; and
 
6     WHEREAS, The Tempel Lipizzans have been a featured
7 attraction in four presidential inaugurals, the 1976
8 Bicentennial Celebration in Washington, D.C., the Belmont
9 Stakes, and the Oklahoma Mozart Music Festival; Tempel
10 Lipizzans have pulled the casket of The Unknown Soldier of the
11 Vietnam War at Arlington National Cemetery, been ridden by
12 Ronald Reagan and Morocco's King Hassan II, and have been
13 called to a command performance for the Carter family on the
14 White House lawn; and
 
15     WHEREAS, Tempel Farms was recently selected as the site for
16 equestrian events in the City of Chicago's 2016 Olympics bid;
17 and
 
18     WHEREAS, The Tempel Lipizzans have been highly lauded for
19 their cultural importance; in 1997, the President of Austria
20 presented Tempel Smith's daughters with the Officers Cross,
21 Grand Decoration of Honour for Service to the Republic of
22 Austria, in recognition of the Smith family's "careful
23 management of a cultural institution with such close ties to

 

 

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1 Austria"; in 2007, the Illinois Department of Tourism named The
2 Tempel Lipizzans one of the State's "Top 25 Summer Fun Ideas";
3 and
 
4     WHEREAS, The owners and staff of Tempel Farms and their
5 beautiful Tempel Lipizzans are invaluable to the rich cultural
6 history of the State of Illinois; therefore, be it
 
7     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
8 NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
9 congratulate the Smith family, the owners of Tempel Farms, on
10 their milestone anniversary and wish them continued success and
11 happiness in the future; and be it further
 
12     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
13 presented to the Smith family as a symbol of our esteem and
14 respect.