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91_HR0374
LRB9107001CBcb
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The City of Dixon, Illinois, was established in
3 1828 when Joseph Ogee settled in the area now known as Dixon,
4 Illinois, and two years later his land was bought by Father
5 John Dixon, who soon began to ferry people across the Rock
6 River; and
7 WHEREAS, The City of Dixon, population of 15,144, has
8 been visited by Presidents, including Abraham Lincoln, who
9 was stationed in Dixon in 1832, and Ronald Reagan attended
10 school, lived, and worked in or near Dixon; and
11 WHEREAS, In the 1950s when a combination of Dutch Elm
12 disease and major highway expansion caused the removal of all
13 trees along the community's major roadways, the Dixon Men's
14 Garden Club decided to do something about the barren look of
15 the highway approaches; and
16 WHEREAS, In 1960 and 1961, the Men's Garden Club planted
17 4,000 petunias along both sides of about one-half mile of the
18 principal north-south route, South Galena Avenue, and the
19 next year, the club members put 6,000 more petunias on the
20 three-quarters of a mile of North Galena Avenue; and
21 WHEREAS, Each year, the residents of Dixon honor a group
22 of public spirited men and their project, which has earned
23 the town national recognition as "the Petunia City", where
24 the plantings have spread to other approaches to the city and
25 now extend along principal streets; most of Dixon's 15,000
26 residents have taken part in one way or another in planting
27 and maintaining 23,000 small petunia plants; and
28 WHEREAS, 1999 marks the 35th year of one of the finest
29 festivals in Northern Illinois, the Dixon Petunia Festival;
30 therefore, be it
31 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
-2- LRB9107001CBcb
1 NINETY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
2 we declare the City of Dixon, Illinois, the Petunia Capital
3 of Illinois; and be it further
4 RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
5 presented to the Mayor of Dixon, Illinois, and the Men's
6 Garden Club of Dixon, Illinois.