HR0010 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0010 LRB103 24814 MST 51145 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, A Christmas Story is a 1983 Christmas comedy film directed by Bob Clark and based on Chicago-born Jean Shepherd's semi-fictional anecdotes in his 1966 book In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash, with some elements from his 1971 book Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories And Other Disasters; and

WHEREAS, A Christmas Story was released on November 18, 1983; initially overlooked, its critical reputation has grown considerably over the years, and it is regarded by some as one of the best films of 1983; and

WHEREAS, Author Jean Shepherd was born in 1921 on the south side of Chicago; he briefly lived in East Chicago, Indiana and was raised in Hammond, Indiana; he set A Christmas Story in Hohman, Indiana, a fictionalized version of his hometown of Hammond; and

WHEREAS, A Christmas Story has been shown in a marathon annually on TNT since 1997 and on TBS since 2004 titled "24 Hours of A Christmas Story", consisting of 12 consecutive airings of the film from the evening of Christmas Eve to the evening of Christmas Day; and

WHEREAS, A Christmas Story is often ranked as one of the best Christmas films; in 2012, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant"; and

WHEREAS, Yano Anaya, who played Grover Dill, Emmanuel Soba, co-creator of A Christmas Story Family, and Paul A. Bachmann, business partner, helped create the online community, A Christmas Story Family, designed to connect fans with the cast members; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we declare November 18, 2023 as "A Christmas Story Family Day" in the State of Illinois; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to Yano Anaya, Emmanuel Soba, and Paul A. Bachmann as a symbol of our respect and esteem.