[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 16]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 22881]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO CENTRALIA, ILLINOIS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JOHN SHIMKUS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 26, 2008

  Mr. SHIMKUS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a great 
city in Southern Illinois which has earned a great honor.
  Centralia, Illinois, was recently named a 2008 Governor's Home Town 
Award winner for its Centralia Clean Community Campaign, a community 
cleanup program. This year, roughly one in eight members of the 
community participated in some facet of the community cleanup, which 
included such events as curbside pickup, school neighborhood cleanups 
and liberty garden planting.
  I want to congratulate the citizens of Centralia not only on earning 
this recognition, but also on their civic mindedness and their 
willingness to take the time to show their pride in their community by 
helping to keep it clean. I especially want to acknowledge Bev Virobik, 
coordinator for Clean & Green and Keep Centralia Beautiful for her 
organization's efforts in leading this project. Centralia's efforts are 
truly a model for other communities to follow in expressing their civic 
pride.

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