1-1 1 1-2 SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 509 1-3 WHEREAS, The Senate of the State of Texas is proud to commend 1-4 David Alton Hudgins for his superb work in establishing a veterans 1-5 memorial in Ellis County; and 1-6 WHEREAS, David grew up in Gilmer, Texas, where he played high 1-7 school football; he attended Tyler Junior College before enrolling 1-8 in the Houston Fire Department Academy in 1968; he is currently a 1-9 Certified Master Firefighter by the Texas Fire Commissioner; and 1-10 WHEREAS, After working as a firefighter in several Texas 1-11 towns and owning his own restaurant, David moved to Waxahachie 1-12 in 1986, where he accepted the position of Fire Chief; and 1-13 WHEREAS, David is well known by his fellow citizens as an 1-14 exemplary and civic-minded gentleman; he has donated his time and 1-15 energies to the Keep Waxahachie Beautiful Committee, the First 1-16 Methodist Church, and Historic Waxahachie, Incorporated; and 1-17 WHEREAS, In the late 1980s, David and his associate 1-18 Perry Giles began plans to build a veterans memorial in 1-19 Ellis County; after much planning and fundraising, David and 1-20 Perry secured the appropriate financing and location for their 1-21 monument; and 1-22 WHEREAS, David, who handled fundraising and publicity for 1-23 the project, raised over $100,000 for the monument, in addition 2-1 to securing thousands of dollars worth of donated materials and 2-2 labor from craftsmen and artists; over the course of three years, 2-3 David and his partner closely supervised the monument's 2-4 construction, which was finished November 11, 2000; and 2-5 WHEREAS, The Ellis County Veterans Memorial now stands on 2-6 the grounds of Waxahachie's newly constructed Civic Center; this 2-7 enduring symbol of the profound respect the citizens of Ellis 2-8 County hold for those men and women who fought and died for the 2-9 United States is worthy of the respect and admiration of all 2-10 Texans; now, therefore, be it 2-11 RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 2-12 77th Legislature, hereby recognize the noble work of 2-13 David Alton Hudgins in initiating and overseeing the 2-14 construction of the Ellis County Veterans Memorial; and, 2-15 be it further 2-16 RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be prepared for 2-17 David Hudgins as an expression of high esteem from the 2-18 Texas Senate. 2-19 Cain 2-20 ______________________________________ 2-21 President of the Senate 2-22 I hereby certify that the above 2-23 Resolution was adopted by the Senate 2-24 on March 20, 2001. 2-25 ______________________________________ 2-26 Secretary of the Senate 2-27 ______________________________________ 2-28 Member, Texas Senate