| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| ||||||
| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives wish to congratulate the Heath family, the | ||||||
| 4 | Crawford County Heritage Foundation, the Robinson Area Chamber | ||||||
| 5 | of Commerce and the City of Robinson on the occasion of the | ||||||
| 6 | Heath Candy Company's 100th anniversary; and
| ||||||
| 7 | WHEREAS, The rich history of Heath Candy started in early | ||||||
| 8 | 1914, when L.S. Heath was looking for a business for his two | ||||||
| 9 | elder sons, Bayard and Everett (Skiv); on January 7, 1914, they | ||||||
| 10 | opened the Heath Brothers Confectionery, where they sold | ||||||
| 11 | fountain drinks, ice cream, and homemade candies; and
| ||||||
| 12 | WHEREAS, Bayard and Skiv continued to expand their | ||||||
| 13 | confectionary business by introducing new items, which proved | ||||||
| 14 | to be very popular with their customers; after acquiring a | ||||||
| 15 | popular "Trail-Toffee" recipe from a Greek candy maker in | ||||||
| 16 | Champaign, Bayard decided to develop it further; in 1928, after | ||||||
| 17 | many months of trial and error, the brothers declared their | ||||||
| 18 | formula for "English Toffee" to be "America's Finest", and | ||||||
| 19 | dubbed it Heath English Toffee; and
| ||||||
| 20 | WHEREAS, In 1931, the brothers began selling their new | ||||||
| 21 | confectionary and moved to the dairy industry with their | ||||||
| 22 | father, but continued their enterprise in a small kitchen they | ||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| 1 | built; the brothers had new delivery order forms printed to | ||||||
| 2 | include an additional selection, "Heath English Toffee Bars"; | ||||||
| 3 | when this item was checked, the milk route driver left a box of | ||||||
| 4 | the delicious candy along with the dairy needs; this simple | ||||||
| 5 | marketing plan worked and the Heath English Toffee Bars grew in | ||||||
| 6 | popularity as the market base grew; and
| ||||||
| 7 | WHEREAS, In 1946, the company was incorporated as L.S. | ||||||
| 8 | Heath and Sons, Inc.; included in the original corporation were | ||||||
| 9 | L.S. Heath and his 4 sons, along with his daughters, Ruby Heath | ||||||
| 10 | Dowling and Mary Heath Morris, and the grandchildren living at | ||||||
| 11 | that time; and
| ||||||
| 12 | WHEREAS, The Heath family said farewell to the company on | ||||||
| 13 | January 24, 1989, when L.S. Heath and Sons became a subsidiary | ||||||
| 14 | of Leaf, Inc.; headquartered in Bannockburn, Leaf's is a | ||||||
| 15 | subsidiary company of Huhtamaki Oyj of Helsinki, Finland; in | ||||||
| 16 | January of 1997, Leaf sold their North American operations to | ||||||
| 17 | Hershey Chocolate, U.S.A. under the leadership of Hershey; | ||||||
| 18 | currently, the Robinson plant manufacturers a variety of | ||||||
| 19 | candies, including the original Heath English Toffee Bar; and
| ||||||
| 20 | WHEREAS, The Heath Candy Company was and still is a vital | ||||||
| 21 | part of the Robinson community; L.S. and his sons will forever | ||||||
| 22 | serve as models of hard work, integrity, and dedication for the | ||||||
| 23 | people in Robinson and the State of Illinois; therefore, be it
| ||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| 1 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
| 2 | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 3 | we congratulate the Heath Family on the Heath Candy Company's | ||||||
| 4 | 100th anniversary and recognize and thank those that continue | ||||||
| 5 | to preserve the history of this great company; and be it | ||||||
| 6 | further
| ||||||
| 7 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 8 | presented to Roger Pethtel, Mayor of Robinson, as a symbol of | ||||||
| 9 | our esteem and respect.
| ||||||