HR 9097 2003
1	House Resolution
2	A resolution recognizing April 10, 2003, as Polk County
3	Legislative Day in Tallahassee.
4
5	WHEREAS, Polk County encompasses 17 municipalities in the
6	heart of Central Florida across 2,010 square miles of land
7	dotted with more than 554 freshwater lakes and lush nature
8	preserves featuring rare and exotic wildlife, rolling hills,
9	sparkling rivers, beautiful savannas, and pinewood forests, and
10	WHEREAS, Polk County's population is 502,000 persons who
11	reside in an area the size of the State of Delaware and is a
12	population center for the State of Florida, with more than 7.5
13	million people living within a 100-mile radius of our inland
14	community, and
15	WHEREAS, Polk County is known for its historic charm and
16	small-town atmosphere, blended with its largely undiscovered and
17	unspoiled natural surroundings, and
18	WHEREAS, the vacation destinations of Polk County are
19	visited by more than 1.5 million tourists annually and include
20	Cypress Gardens, Historic Bok Sanctuary, Hollis Gardens, Fantasy
21	of Flight, and the Frank Lloyd Wright architecture at Florida
22	Southern College, and
23	WHEREAS, Polk County's Lake Wales Ridge has the distinction
24	of being Florida's original beach-front property and features
25	more than 50 species of endangered, threatened, rare, or
26	special-concern wildlife, and
27	WHEREAS, Polk County has been deemed the Largemouth Bass
28	Fishing Capital of the World for its wonderful fishing in
29	numerous undeveloped lakes, as well as Winter Haven's chain of
30	14 lakes connected by well-established canals, and
31	WHEREAS, Polk County is home to the Detroit Tigers and the
32	Cleveland Indians during spring training season, and
33	WHEREAS, Polk County is the center of citrus production and
34	phosphate mining for the world, and
35	WHEREAS, Polk County is the corporate headquarters for
36	Publix Super Markets, the largest private company in the state,
37	employing more than 120,500 persons, and is also home to the
38	W.S. Badcock Corporation, which has been located in Mulberry
39	since 1904, and
40	WHEREAS, Polk County has been home to some of the state's
41	leading Legislators and former Governor Lawton Chiles, NOW,
42	THEREFORE,
43
44	Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of
45	Florida:
46
47	That the House of Representatives recognizes April 10,
48	2003, as Polk County Legislative Day in Tallahassee.