Full Text of HR1573 95th General Assembly
HR1573 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 |
| Representatives are pleased to congratulate Joe Ellena on his | 4 |
| retirement as Chief of the Standard Fire Department; and
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| WHEREAS, The Standard Fire Department was originally | 6 |
| started as a village fire department after the founding of the | 7 |
| village in 1907; Joe Ellena has been its longest serving chief; | 8 |
| and | 9 |
| WHEREAS, Early in Joe Ellena's tenure as Chief, Mid-America | 10 |
| Growers, an industry new to the area, suffered a disastrous | 11 |
| fire, and the department was unprepared to handle the crisis; | 12 |
| the pumper was a 1948 model, equipment was lacking, and the | 13 |
| frustration of being forced to watch an uncontrollable fire had | 14 |
| a great impact on Joe; and
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| WHEREAS, Joe began the transformation of the department | 16 |
| from a social club to the professional organization it is | 17 |
| today; a bar was removed from the station and the hall was no | 18 |
| longer rented out for private events; an overhead door was | 19 |
| installed in the rear of the building to accommodate the | 20 |
| addition of a 3,500 gallon water tanker, which was built by the | 21 |
| department; air packs were purchased and extensive training was | 22 |
| completed; and
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| WHEREAS, Paperwork and
record keeping was improved under | 2 |
| Joe Ellena's time as Chief; the Department became heavily | 3 |
| involved with rescue work and became the sole provider of auto, | 4 |
| farm, and rope rescue in Putnam County; and a designated rescue | 5 |
| squad was established; and
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| WHEREAS, In 1978, Joe resigned as Fire Chief in order to | 7 |
| establish and develop a private business; Joe later returned to | 8 |
| fill the vacancy after the departure of the previous chief; a | 9 |
| new fire station was designed and built, more than tripling the | 10 |
| space previously available; a third tanker was added, along | 11 |
| with a fire engine carrying a 55-foot aerial device; the rescue | 12 |
| squad added a hovercraft for water rescue, and a 6-wheel drive | 13 |
| ATV for wildland fires and timber rescues; and the last of | 14 |
| Joe's projects was the construction of a training facility | 15 |
| available to any department; and
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| WHEREAS, Joe Ellena is the loving husband of Shirley; they | 17 |
| have four children, Sheryl Sons, John (Ashley) Ellena, Janet | 18 |
| (Steve) Cimei, and Robert (Jennifer) Ellena; they are the proud | 19 |
| grandparents of Nathan, Aaron, Hannah, Morgan, Joseph, | 20 |
| Spencer, Taylor, Brianna, and Gianna; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 22 |
| NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we |
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| congratulate Joe Ellena for his dedication to the people of | 2 |
| Standard and wish him the best in his future endeavors; and be | 3 |
| it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 5 |
| presented to Joe Ellena as a symbol of our respect.
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