78S10558 MMS-D

By:  Hopson                                                     H.C.R. No. 17 



CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
	WHEREAS, The luminescence of myriad stars has long shone 
forth from the city of Kilgore; and
	WHEREAS, Among the brightest of those lights has been Van 
Cliburn, the renowned classical pianist, who lived there in his 
youth; in addition, Kilgore was the birthplace of Alice Lon, a 
vocalist who won widespread popularity as the Champagne Lady on The 
Lawrence Welk Show in the 1950s and who went on to perform for two 
decades in nightclubs and in concerts; and
	WHEREAS, For 18 seasons, the actors and actresses of 
Kilgore's annual Texas Shakespeare Festival have brought the 
splendor of the Bard's plays to the stage, in what has been 
acclaimed as the best Shakespeare festival in the state; equally 
dedicated to their craft are the famed Kilgore College Rangerettes, 
who have dazzled audiences overseas, at the 2001 presidential 
inaugural parade, and at every Cotton Bowl since 1951; Kilgore 
itself has also been the star of the show in an episode of the 
television travel magazine Show Me Texas; and
	WHEREAS, Once a quiet rural community, Kilgore saw its name 
blazed across Texas with the discovery of oil around the city in the 
fall of 1930; situated near the heart of the East Texas oil field, 
the largest such field in the lower 48 states, the town at one time 
boasted a downtown block with the densest concentration of oil 
derricks anywhere on the globe; in the late summer of 1931, as 
tumultuous conditions continued to beset the new boomtown, the 
state sent a star of its own, the legendary Texas Ranger Manuel T. 
"Lone Wolf" Gonzaullas, to help restore order; and
	WHEREAS, During World War II, oil from the East Texas field 
helped to fuel the Allied effort; today, more than 60 oil derricks 
dot the Kilgore skyline, and each is surmounted by a star that is 
lit after dark--a reminder that the Stars and Stripes of our country 
wave free in part because of the major contribution that East Texas 
oil made to the Allied victory; and
	WHEREAS, In view of these many associations with stellar 
individuals, institutions, and contributions in the nation's 
behalf, the Kilgore Chamber of Commerce is seeking appropriate 
recognition for this outstanding community; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the 78th Legislature of the State of Texas, 
1st Called Session, hereby designate Kilgore as the official Texas 
City of Stars.