Rep. Dave Severin attended the Illinois State Fair with student Gentry Heiple. | State Representative Dave Severin/Facebook
Rep. Dave Severin attended the Illinois State Fair with student Gentry Heiple. | State Representative Dave Severin/Facebook
State Rep. Dave Severin (R-Thompsonville) shared his experience of attending the grand opening of Conservation World in a Facebook post.
The exhibit is part of the Illinois State Fair and provides youth with the opportunity to try activities such as fishing, shooting BB guns on ranges, and hiking on trails, according to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
Severin attended the event with Gentry Heiple, a Carterville Junior High School student. Heiple and Severin collaborated in March to introduce legislation that would establish an official state snake.
"Today was a special day spent visiting the Illinois State Fair and helping with the opening of Conservation World," Severin said. "I had the honor of seeing my good friend Gentry Heiple back in action. Gentry has all the qualities of a future leader and in my mind is the state of Illinois' number-one snake enthusiast. He brought me the idea to name the eastern milksnake as the state of Illinois' official state snake. The governor signed that bill into law earlier this year. Gentry and his parents were on hand today to watch him give a great speech prior to the grand opening of Conservation World."
The campaign to designate an official state snake began after Severin received a request from Heiple proposing that Illinois should adopt an official state snake, SE Illinois News reported.
"I was proud to team up with Gentry to present legislation that designates the eastern milksnake as the state of Illinois’ official state snake," Severin said in a post on his website. "I truly enjoyed working with Gentry on this 'how a bill becomes a law' project."
Lindsay Stockhecke, Gentry's mother, said she is proud of her son's determination to get the project completed.
"Gentry learned a lot about the legislative process by teaming up with Rep. Severin to get this done," Stockhecke said on the legislator's website. "We are thankful to Rep. Severin and to the members of the State Government Committee for their indulgence and assistance in seeing this project through."
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