Patch wrote a long article about an idea hatched at a legislative staff holiday party.
It’s to name Italian beef as the official state sandwich.
Currently, the horseshoe, served only in Springfield and consisted of bread with meat on top covered with cheese sauce with French fries around the plate’s edge has that “honor.”
It reminds me of how the most conservative State Rep., Weber Borchers of Decatur, who generally mocked such resolutions, explained how he ended up sponsoring legislation to name the Monarch Butterfly, the state butterfly.
I was standing on the stage of a junior high when a youngster approached me and asked if I would introduce a bill to name the Monarch the state butterfly.
“What could I do?” Borchers, clearly embarrassed, asked his colleagues.
“There were 300 beady little eyes looking up at me.”
The kids had taken cottage cheese container tops and put colored Monarchs on them.
These were given at least to every House member; maybe to Senators as well.
Needless to say, Borchers passed his legislation.
