Friends, family, co-workers, and former staff will gather this weekend to remember a man who represented the Quad Cities and western Illinois in Congress for 24 years. The forum in Rock Island will officially launch the Lane Evans Legacy Project.
Co-director John Ayers helped raise money for Evans' first campaign for Congress in 1982, then worked for him for four years in Washington.
He says Lane Evans still matters today.
"That his ideas about how to win Independents and Republicans and Democrats and pull people together in this time of political divide might be a very important lesson for people to think about. How can we work together on the matters that really concern Americans."
Evans was known for his extensive record supporting working families, veterans, and seniors.
Speakers at the Saturday forum will include Illinois Congresswoman Jan Shakowsky, former US Senator Fred Harris from Oklahoma, and former Texas Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower. Plus a video greeting from former president Barack Obama.
Ayers says future events for the Lane Evans Legacy Project will include a presidential candidates forum in January.
The Lane Evans forum on Saturday will be held in Wallenberg Hall at Augustana College, from 1 to 4 pm.
