[ Search ] [ PDF text ] [ Legislation ]
[ Home ] [ Back ] [ Bottom ]
92_HR0517
LRB9209335RHrh
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives are pleased to recognize milestone events in
4 the history of businesses in the State of Illinois; and
5 WHEREAS, It has come to our attention that Huot Oil is
6 celebrating the 90th anniversary of service to the motorists
7 of Kankakee and Iroquois counties; and
8 WHEREAS, A large part of the success of Huot Oil can be
9 directly attributed to the man who started it all, Elzie
10 Huot, a hard-working young man who in 1911 landed a job in
11 the petroleum industry with the Indian Refining Company; he
12 amazed local buyers by re-inventing the rundown business into
13 a striving business; and
14 WHEREAS, Just months after getting his business off the
15 ground, Elzie Huot was not satisfied selling kerosene and
16 therefore set his sights on the growing gasoline market; he
17 captured business from the already-established Standard Oil
18 Company by delivering gas wholesale to stations from Bonfield
19 to Clifton and from Momence to Watsweka; he built his
20 business that initially sold five to 10 gallons every two
21 weeks into a thriving business that sold six hundred gallons
22 of gas a week; and
23 WHEREAS, Once Elzie Huot established himself as a
24 kerosene and gasoline distributor, he set his sights on
25 building his own bulk plant; in 1921, he approached Joseph
26 Baron and Baron-Huot Oil was established; the partnership
27 disbanded in 1926 after Mr. Huot started a new venture into
28 owning service stations, however, the Baron-Huot corporate
29 name remained as a salute to the company's origin; and
30 WHEREAS, Elzie Huot supplied his first service stations
31 with his own private brand of gasoline, "Silver Fox"; after
-2- LRB9209335RHrh
1 he branded with DX Sunray Oil and became the company's
2 exclusive northern Illinois dealer, his business venture grew
3 to nearly 80 sites in Kankakee, Iroquois, Will, Kendall,
4 Kane, DuPage, and DeKalb Counties; he later struck a deal and
5 took full title to all the stations in Kankakee and Iroquois
6 counties and spent his free time grooming his sons, Marvin
7 and Wayne, to follow in his footsteps; and
8 WHEREAS, With the advent of the automobile and an
9 increasingly mobile society, Elzie Huot and his sons were
10 only able to sell gasoline, tires, and batteries; during the
11 oil embargo in the 1970s, gas was a hot commodity and often
12 sold out in under an hour; because of the gas shortage the
13 business took a whole different turn as the Huot's started
14 building "convenience stores" equipped with bread, milk,
15 cigarettes, candy, pop, and ice to make up for declining
16 profits; and
17 WHEREAS, Elzie Huot lived long enough to see his sons and
18 grandsons become involved in the business he began, passing
19 away in 1984 at the age of 94; today three of the five
20 principals of Baron-Huot Oil are women; Marlene Huot is the
21 secretary/treasurer and her daughters, Dawn Vaubel and
22 Meredith Huot-Coy, are the vice president and assistant
23 treasurer, respectively; Derek Coy is Director of Operations
24 and Merchandise Manager for all Huot Oil locations; the Huot
25 family hopes to continue the family business for many
26 generations to come; and
27 WHEREAS, Currently there are 18 Huot Oil locations, eight
28 of them are owned directly by the Huot's; and
29 WHEREAS, Huot Oil has prospered into a successful
30 business venture from its initial single horse-drawn delivery
31 truck back in 1921; it currently supplies Kankakee and
32 Iroquois County motorists with 20 millions gallons of
-3- LRB9209335RHrh
1 gasoline each year; therefore, be it
2 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
3 NINETY-SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
4 we congratulate Huot Oil on the celebration of its 90th
5 anniversary of business to the motorists of Kankakee and
6 Iroquois counties; and be it further
7 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
8 presented to the Huot family as an expression of our esteem.