HJ0043 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HJ0043 LRB104 14799 LAW 27942 r

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois General Assembly wish to congratulate the Nestle USA plant in the Village of Morton on the occasion of its 100th anniversary; and

WHEREAS, Nestle USA's roots in Morton were established in 1835; at that time, Elijah Dickinson, a veteran of the War of 1812 who originated from Spotsylvania County, Virginia, brought pumpkin seeds with him when he moved with his family from Kentucky to Eureka, Illinois, which was then called Walnut Grove; and

WHEREAS, More than six decades later, the Dickinson brothers purchased their first vegetable cannery in the City of Eureka in 1898 and later opened a second plant in the City of Washington in 1909, processing corn, peas, string beans, and pumpkins; and

WHEREAS, The Dickinson Canning Company began operations in Morton in 1925, with its third plant for processing corn; by the end of the 1920s, the plant was responsible for producing almost 2,000,000 cans of corn while employing 225 people, mainly women, to pack inventory; and

WHEREAS, Libby, McNeill & Libby, commonly referred to as Libby's, was an American company that switched from canning meats to canning vegetables in 1905 and purchased the Morton, Eureka, and Washington plants in 1929; in the process, the company gained contracts with local farmers to grow a cultivar of pumpkins; and

WHEREAS, During World War II, Libby's used German prisoners of war to work in the plants due to the labor shortage; and

WHEREAS, After the Eureka and Washington plants closed, the Morton plant expanded in 1960, packing corn, beans, and pumpkins; around this time, pumpkins began playing a crucial role in the Village of Morton, leading to the creation of the Morton Pumpkin Festival; and

WHEREAS, The first annual Morton Pumpkin Festival was organized by Bob Humprey and the Morton Chamber of Commerce in 1967, with nearly 12,000 festivalgoers in attendance and 7,000 pumpkin pies distributed; at the inaugural festival, Connie Wunder was named festival queen, and prizes were awarded to first-grader Lisa Kahler for winning the pumpkin-decorating contest, the Ben Franklin Store for placing first in the commercial class floats category, and the Restmor Home for taking first in the non-commercial class floats category; and

WHEREAS, After Libby's was acquired by Nestle in 1971, the Morton plant began to exclusively can pumpkins the following year; and

WHEREAS, The Morton plant, otherwise known as the Nestle USA plant, has overcome adversity over the last century, such as when it faced the exceptionally rainy growing season of 2009, which led to a canned pumpkin shortage nationwide; and

WHEREAS, The Morton plant has made profound contributions to the Village of Morton over its 100-year history, from producing over 85% of the world's canned pumpkins locally to inspiring community events, such as the Morton Pumpkin Festival; and

WHEREAS, Today, the Village of Morton is widely known as the Pumpkin Capital of the World, a nickname first bestowed on the village by then-Governor James R. Thompson in 1978; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we congratulate the Nestle USA plant in Morton on achieving its 100th anniversary, and we thank the plant for its continued contributions to the Morton community; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to Nestle USA in Morton and the Village of Morton as a symbol of our esteem and respect.