Bob Scillufo and Craig Herman are indeed HerrinFesta volunteers, but most Herrinites and visitors from out of town will never see them at work, for they are out at dawn, while exhausted revelers are still sleeping off the effects of too much beer, music, and salameats. The tools they use are simple – rakes, brooms, blowers, and trash bags – but their duties are far from simple. Each morning of HerrinFesta, they show up to supervise the clean-up detail, one of the most important, and least visible jobs. Bob is Co-Manager of the Murphysboro Kroger, and Craig is a teacher’s aide at Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in Herrin, but from Friday morning through Tuesday morning of HerrinFesta, these two can be seen, blower or rake in hand, wading through the piles of garbage left behind after the shows, the rides, and the contests are over. Read more…
For Piazza Chairman Brett Crouse, life gets easier when Lee and Debbie Perkins show up the week before Festa begins. Lee, owner of Southern Illinois Services, puts life on hold, and takes a “vacation” from work, to be the guy Brett counts on for everything from setting up the stage, to arranging the picnic tables, and transporting trash cans from King’s warehouses to the Festa grounds, as well as being on hand to fix anything that breaks down. Lee’s wife Debbie, and their daughters Mindy and Jessica, are right there too, making themselves available for whatever duties come up. Read more…
Pictured (L-R): Brad Moore, art instructor for Herrin Unit 4, Anthony Yates, Cris Trapani, HFI Committee President
Herrin High School student Anthony Yates was selected as the winning artist for the 2008 HerrinFesta license plate. Each year HHS students submit designs for the annual special event plate. To get your own 2008 HerrinFesta special event plates, visit our home page for the application form. Yates will be recognized at the Mayor’s Banquet held Thursday, May 22 at 6:30pm in the Herrin Civic Center and presented with a cash prize.
Mayor Gary Bartolotti of Christopher will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at HerrinFesta Italiana May 22 at the annual Mayor’s Dinner to kick-off Festa 2008 in and around The Herrin Civic Center.
The mayor became involved in city government because he believed he could make a difference in improving the City of Christopher. In 1983 he was first elected to the Christopher City Council. In 1985 he became the youngest Mayor ever elected in the City of Christopher. He served a four-year term and in 1991 he was again elected to the Christopher City Council. In 1993 he was again elected at Mayor of Christopher and has held that post to the present time.
He spent most of his working career as a coal miner with Old Ben Coal Company Mine #21 in Sesser. He served in the elective offices of Mine Committeeman, Chairman of the Mine Committee, Vice President and President of Local Union 11214 of United Mine Workers of America from 1973 to 1995.
In February 2000, Mayor Bartolotti was involved in a roof fall accident at Old Ben Coal Zeigler #11 mine and he suffered severe injuries. Those injuries ended his mining career.
He was born March 13, 1951 to Libero and Delphine Bartolotti in a rural area north of Valier known as “The Patch.” He has three brothers, Libero Jr., Richard and Robert. Their grandfather, John Bartolotti, came to American from Italy in 1913. He was 16 years old. He was born in Bologna, Italy. His grandmother, Tessie Rapini came to America around 1916 at the age of 16. Their two sons were Libero and Leno Bartolotti.
Mayor Bartolotti joined the U. S. Army in 1969 and served tours of duty in Germany and Turkey and held the rank of Sergeant in an infantry battalion. He was discharged in 1971.
His primary concern while serving the City of Christopher has been to upgrade the City water and sewer systems. Since 1985, Christopher has rebuilt 95% of the water system and consolidated departments and modernized every department in the City. He has helped increase manpower in the Police. Fire and Maintenance Departments.
He was instrumental in saving the Christopher Senior Citizens or when it was about to collapse. He considers one of his bigg4est achievements his ability to spearhead a movement to adopt Home Rule for the City of Christopher. He is proud of his record of making many improvements in Christopher while maintaining a sound financial position for the City. During his tenure he has been instrumental in acquiring many grants for improvement of the infrastructure of the City.
His efforts have gleaned numerous awards. In l989 and l990 he received the Christopher Chamber of Commerce Achievement Award. In l989 he received the Outstanding Service Award from the Christopher Fire Department. In l995 he was voted the Best Elected Official in Franklin County. In 2007 he was named the Christopher Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year.
He is an active member of the Christopher Lions Club where he served as President and Fundraising Chairman. When asked about his hobbies, he said, “My main hobby is being Mayor of the City of Christopher.”
He married Kendra Ramsey in 2002. He has two grown children, Michael Bartolotti and Mindy Van Fossan, and two stepchildren, Kim Gilbert and Lesley Hacker. Between them, Kendra and Gary, have ten grandchildren.
Jim Gentile, Executive Director of HerrinFesta Italiana, said, “Mayor Bartolotti has devoted much of his life to the ongoing work of making Christopher a better place. He has brought pride and honor to the city he serves. He has made a difference in his community and in Franklin County.”
What began as a simple “class project” between two high school friends printing t-shirts, in a basement, with a used manual press, has evolved into a multi million dollar full-service promotional products company right in the heart of Southern Illinois.
Silkworm, inc., now located in a 32,000 square foot facility and equipped with state of the art presses, machinery and 65 dedicated team members, is the region’s leader in custom graphic design, promotional products, embroidered apparel, banners, signage, awards, and of course, printed t-shirts.
Silkworm’s success is attributed to quality end products, competitive pricing, on time delivery, cutting edge graphics and attention to detail. The real secret which is no secret to thousands of satisfied Silkworm customers) is ACS, Awesome Customer Service. With professionals at every level of the business, Silkworm empowers their team members to go above and beyond to ensure customer satisfaction. “We want to not only meet, but exceed, our customers’ expectations,” Bob Chambers, President.
Silkworm’s commitment to its customers is not confined to the 32,000 square foot of block and mortar it calls “home” as evidenced in its local and regional involvement. Everywhere you look you see Silkworm apparel, promotional products, banners and sponsorships throughout our Southern Illinois communities. The commitment to the communities they serve is unswerving.
A local company, with a regional and national customer base, Silkworm continuously strives to increase market share and has plans to establish satellite sales offices, outside of the primary sales market, in the next 12-24 months to better serve customers.
Silkworm has partnered with the Herrin Chamber of Commerce and the Festa committee, to promote HerrinFesta Italiana since its beginnings in 1991 and will be honored at the Mayor’s Banquet Thursday, May 22nd, at 6pm at the HerrinFesta Italiana Kick-off Banquet at the Herrin Civic Center and through their participation in many of the blue ribbon events during the festival.
