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Next Meeting: September 8th, 2017

ImageWe will not have a meeting this Friday, September 1st, 2017 due to the Labor Day Holiday.  Our next meeting will be Friday, September 8th for Loftus Day at the Lansing Center.  Please bring your flowers to decorate the graves.  Have a safe and restful weekend.  Thank you!

What is Loftus Day?
Loftus Day is a tradition unique to our Lansing Rotary Club. Every year at a September meeting, a Rotarian who has passed away during the year is honored. After an abbreviated meeting, if they so choose Rotarians visit and lay flowers at assigned grave sites of deceased Lansing Rotarians.
 
It’s a tradition that began in 1924 when club member Frank Loftus brought a bouquet of fresh garden flowers to the regular meeting of the club. Afterwards, he took the flowers to the grave of Charles W. Nichols, a past Rotary president who had recently died. The custom grew in an informal manner and when Loftus died four years later, the official Frank Loftus Day Memorial Service was held- a cherished Lansing Rotary Club tradition that each September honors deceased club members who are buried in the Lansing area.
 
It’s a time to remember, pay respect, and reflect on the many dedicated people who contributed not just to our club, but to the causes they’ve helped to support throughout our history, ranging from local charities to Rotary’s international outreach. 
 
How Do I Participate?
 
  You will be sent the names of the members who are in your group, who the leader of the group is, and the assigned gravesites. The sites will all be in the same general area in the same cemetery. Your group and cemetery remains the same every year.  At the end of the Rotogram, beneath "DOWNLOAD FILES" is the Loftus Day Committee Chairs for 2017.  This will give you the names of the Chairs and each Rotarian in the committee with the gravesites.  Also, Evergreen and Mount Hope Cemetery have now made electronic versions of their maps available and they are at the end of the Rotogram.  If you have any questions, contact cathy@lansingrotary.com
 
* Contact your group leader about the group’s plans for visiting the sites. Some visit the sites sometime during the week preceding the meeting. Most will visit the sites after the meeting on Loftus Day.
 
* Some members bring flowers from their gardens and some order flowers which will be on a table for you to pick up at the meeting. Rick Anthony (Rick Anthony Flowers) 484-5387.
 
*After an abbreviated meeting, your group will meet at your assigned site.
Editarian Report for August 25, 2017
President Brewster called today’s meeting to order at the Lansing Center as we overlooked the Grand River and downtown on the river side of the building.
 
The invocation was presented by Laurie Baumer and focused on the message of world peace which was followed by the singing of our National Anthem.
 
Guests and visiting Rotarians were introduced and welcomed to the meeting. Chris Holman sprung big bucks to host 5 guests from China to our meeting. Chris also took a moment to remind us to sign up for the September 18 Golf Outing.
 
Pat Munshaw provided the Remembrance Report and reported that the health of the Club is “superb”!
 
Rich Schaefer provided an informative reminder about Loftus Day activities for our next meeting on September 8. Loftus Day is an 89-year tradition in our Club started by Frank Loftus in which we honor deceased Rotarians. There is a list of each committee and your committee chair will be contacting you about visiting the cemeteries on September 8 following our abbreviated Club meeting. During the meeting, we will honor Jack Bates. If you need flowers, please contact Rotarian Rick Anthony at Rick Anthony’s Flower Shoppe (517-484-5387).
 
Ken Beachler introduced Adam Woolsey as our special music performer today. Adam has performed for the Club a number of times over the years and he recently was nominated for 3 Pulsar Awards from the Lansing City Pulse. He received nominations for each show he performed in this year! Adam is also a teacher at Jackson Lumen Christie High School. Adam performed with the amazing John Dale Smith and they highlighted two selections from She Loves Me, the upcoming musical at Riverwalk Theater in September. The show is a similar story to the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan movie You’ve Got Mail but set in the 1930s.
 
President Brewster thanked Diane Sanborn for serving as our Chair of the Month and as the Chair of the Day and turned the program over to Diane who introduced our speaker John Reurink, the Publisher of Michigan Information & Research Services (MIRS) and a longtime friend of Diane.
 
John identified himself as a member of the media and offered to be called out at any time for “fake news”. MIRS was founded in 1961 by John McClellan. It started as a way to track bills through the legislative process and provide recaps of what happened at the legislature. In 1981, MIRS added a listing service.
 
John purchased MIRS in 1996 when press coverage of the state Capitol was very different. All the Detroit television stations had Lansing bureaus, the Detroit News had 6 reporters in Lansing, the Free Press and Associated Press each had 4 reporters and MIRS had one reporter. Today, there are no television stations providing a Lansing bureau, there are 2 Detroit News reporters, 2 Free Press reporters, 1 Associated Press reporter and 4 full time and 4 part time MIRS reporters.
 
MIRS is a business to business media company providing subscription services for legislative information to entities such as corporations, health care systems, school districts, multi-client lobbying firms, etc. They track 2-3,000 bills depending on the year within their database and provide analysis on the bills. They also provide real time floor action coverage, bill tracking, an alert system related to tracked bills and a Monday morning podcast service.
 
In 1996, MIRS had 112 subscribers and today they have over 3,000. In a recent EPIC poll, 58% surveyed said MIRS covered the news of Michigan’s State Capitol the best.
 
John answered some questions from Rotarians related to the evolution of term limits and a part-time legislature in our State.
 
President Brewster thanked John for his presentation and thanked him for all the work being done by MIRS.
 
There will be no meeting next week (September 1) due to the Labor Day Holiday.  Our next meeting will be at the Lansing Center on September 8th for Loftus Day.  See you then!
 
Julie Pingston's email is:  jpingston@lansing.org
Speakers
Sep 08, 2017
Sep 15, 2017
Sep 22, 2017
Sep 29, 2017
@ Eagle Eye
View entire list
Rotary Club of Lansing
P. O. Box 13156
Lansing, MI   48901-3156
Download Files
Maps of Mt. Hope Cemetery
Loftus Day Committee Chairs 2017
Maps of Evergreen Cemetery