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ASSEMBLY JOINT RESOLUTION No. 207

STATE OF NEW JERSEY 218th LEGISLATURE

INTRODUCED MAY 20, 2019

Sponsored by: Assemblyman JOE HOWARTH District 8 (Atlantic, Burlington and Camden)

SYNOPSIS Designates October 11th of each year as “Kate Smith Day” in New Jersey.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT As introduced.

AJR207 HOWARTH 2

1 A JOINT RESOLUTION designating October 11th of each year as 2 “Kate Smith Day” in New Jersey. 3 4 WHEREAS, Kathryn Elizabeth Smith, known as Kate Smith, was an 5 American Singer well known for her rendition of ’s 6 “;” and 7 WHEREAS, Ms. Smith was born in Greenville, Virginia, the youngest 8 of three daughters; and 9 WHEREAS, She did not speak until she was four years old, but by the 10 age of five, she was singing at church socials, and by the age of 11 eight, she was singing for service members at Army camps during 12 World War I; and 13 WHEREAS, Ms. Smith contributed to selling over $600 million, the 14 equivalent of approximately $10 billion today, of war bonds during 15 a series of marathon broadcasts; and 16 WHEREAS, Ms. Smith had a radio, television, and recording career 17 spanning five decades, and she became known as “The Songbird of 18 the South” because of her enduring popularity during World War II; 19 and 20 WHEREAS, The Flyers hockey team began playing Ms. 21 Smith’s rendition of “God Bless America” before their games and 22 noticed that the fans were more respectful and listened more 23 intently to Ms. Smith’s version of the song; and 24 WHEREAS, In addition, a statistician noted that the 25 won most of their games when Ms. Smith’s rendition was played 26 before their games; and 27 WHEREAS, At the October 11, 1973 season opener for the Philadelphia 28 Flyers, Ms. Smith made a surprise appearance to perform the 29 anthem in-person; the Philadelphia Flyers continued their winning 30 streak and won the game; and 31 WHEREAS, Ms. Smith was considered the team’s good luck charm, 32 and was asked to perform in-person at critical games; and 33 WHEREAS, Ms. Smith was posthumously inducted into the Radio Hall 34 of Fame in 1990, and the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 35 2009; and 36 WHEREAS, In 2010, a commemorative stamp was issued 37 featuring a duplication of the artwork from the cover of the “Kate 38 Smith: The Songbird of the South” CD; and 39 WHEREAS, On October 26, 1982, Ms. Smith received the Presidential 40 Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor, from 41 President ; now, therefore, 42 43 BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate and General Assembly of the 44 State of New Jersey: 45 46 1. October 11th of each year is designated as “Kate Smith Day” 47 in the State of New Jersey.

AJR207 HOWARTH 3

1 The Governor is respectfully requested to issue a proclamation 2 each year calling upon pubic officials and citizens of the State to 3 observe the day with appropriate activities and programs. 4 5 2. This joint resolution shall take effect immediately. 6 7 8 STATEMENT 9 10 This Joint Resolution designates October 11th of each year as 11 Kate Smith Day in the State of New Jersey. 12 Kathryn Elizabeth Smith, known as Kate Smith, was an 13 American Singer well known for her rendition of Irving Berlin’s 14 “God Bless America.” Ms. Smith had a radio, television, and 15 recording career spanning five decades, was posthumously inducted 16 into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1990 and the North Carolina Music 17 Hall of Fame in 2009, and received the Presidential Medal of 18 Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor, from President Ronald 19 Reagan.