HR0055 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0055 LRB094 07100 CSA 37245 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The City of Arcola will celebrate its Sesquicentennial Homecoming on July 9-10, 2005; Arcola was incorporated in 1873; and

WHEREAS, One hundred and fifty years of Amazing Arcola - the city that moved from the river to the railroad, had to take a new name, and became famous for broomcorn, football, and Raggedy Ann; and

WHEREAS, The City of Arcola, population 2,652, is located in Douglas County; on October 22, 1855, a surveyor from Coles County laid out a small piece of ground a half-mile wide, with the Illinois Central Railroad cutting right through the middle, and the new little settlement was called Okaw; and

WHEREAS, When the town of Okaw applied for a postal permit, they were told there was already a town named Okaw with a post office, so Okaw was renamed Arcola; and

WHEREAS, Arcola's Colonel Cofer brought a few bushels of broomcorn seed and planted twenty acres; the seed produced a fine product and many area farmers began growing fields of broomcorn, making this area "Broomcorn Capital of the World"; and

WHEREAS, Johnny Gruelle, the creator of Raggedy Ann and Andy, was born in Arcola and Arcola has a Johnny Gruelle Raggedy Ann and Andy Museum; and

WHEREAS, Arcola is also the entry point to Illinois' largest Amish settlement and the Illinois Amish Interpretive Center and Amish country tours; and

WHEREAS, Arcola has a quaint downtown area with lots of unique shops and historically-restored buildings; some of the churches and the library are the original buildings; Arcola is home to the Arcola Purple Riders and the Famous Arcola Lawn Rangers; and

WHEREAS, Several activities during the Sesquicentennial Homecoming are being planned, along with the reopening of the centennial vault; therefore, be it

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

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