If you did not make it to our last Rotary Club of Forest Grove meeting, here is what you missed…

This Week: We hope you join us this week for our weekly meeting on Wednesday in the Boxer Pause Room in the University Center at Pacific University. This week’s program will be Jim Geering, chief of Forest Grove Fire & Rescue.

Upcoming Meetings: All of our weekly meetings in the month of February will take place at Pacific University. Our meeting on Wednesday, Mar. 5, will take place in the Grove Room at the Forest Grove School District offices.

Crab Feed – Save The Date: This year’s Crab Feed is scheduled for Wednesday, Mar. 19, 5:30 p.m. The evening event serves as our club’s chance to honor our new Paul Harris Fellows and those who have given generously to The Rotary Foundation.

Tickets are $45 for crab dinner or $25 for a dinner without crab. Crab meat to go will be available for $45 per pound and steaks to will be available for $20 for a pack of two steaks. Orders must be received by Friday, Mar. 14. We hope to see everyone there for a fun evening of fellowship and food and to celebrate our giving to The Rotary Foundation!

For more information, or if you want to help out with the planning committee, please contact Crab Feed Committee chair Julia Kollar.

Purchase your Crab Feed tickets now at the following links:
Crab Feed Dinner | Crab Feed Dinner (No Crab) | 1 Lb. Crab Meat To Go | Steaks To Go

Save The Date – Steak Feed: Make sure to mark Friday, June 6 on your calendar for our annual Steak Feed at Pacific University. This is one of our two big fundraisers of the year with proceeds from the evening benefitting our involvement in the Rotary Youth Exchange program. This is an all hands on deck event and we need all of our members to be there and make the event a great success.

As in past years, we will have tickets for club members to sell coming up in a few weeks. Tickets will be $25 and will include a choice New York steak, salad, rolls, beans, drinks and dessert. For more information, contact Steak Feed chair Geoff Faris.

RYLA Applications Now Open: Our club, and others within District 5100, are now accepting applications for the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) program. This one-week leadership event, designed for young adults ages 21-32, takes place July 12-18 at the Menucha Retreat Center in Corbett.

RYLA takes place every July and brings together dozens of young adults from every stage of life, from current college students to those just starting life after college and those with a family and solid career. Working together, participants learn from world-class speakers and activities during the week, and explore and strengthen their ideas of leadership and community.

We have one club member who has already expressed interest in attending RYLA, but we have sponsored more attendees in the past. If you know of someone that would be interested and would benefit from RYLA, please contact Andrea Stewart.

Concours Sponsorships: The Concours Committee is actively procuring sponsors for the 2025 show, which takes place on Sunday, July 20. If you know of a business or individual that might be interested in sponsoring our signature event, please contact Janet Peters at 503-679-6479 or rjlc4peters@msn.com, or Amy Tracewell at 541-844-9467 or amy.tracewell@pacificu.edu.

Congratulations Outbound Youth Exchange Students!: Our 2025-26 outbound Rotary Youth Exchange students now know where they will be headed next year. Irene Barbour-Weiss will be headed to Mexico while Danny Cervantes will be headed to Denmark. We wish Irene and Danny the best as they prepare for their experiences and adventures.

Pickleball Evenings – Presented By Rotary: The Rotary Club of Forest Grove is helping to sponsor indoor pickleball Monday through Thursday evenings at the Forest Grove National Guard Armory, 2950 Taylor Way. Coordinated by Rotarian Steven Barnard, the evenings run from 5:30 to 8 p.m. There is a $5 fee to help cover facility rental. Players of all ages and ability levels are welcome with reserved courts for beginners and intermediate-level players.

Proceeds from the pickleball evenings go to cover facility rental for the armory, but also to help fund the Forest Grove School District Community Alternative Learning Center’s (CALC) Career & Technical Education (CTE) Fridays. At our Jan. 29 meeting, our club presented a $5,000 check to Tim Graham, principal of CALC, to benefit the program.

For more information on the pickleball evenings, please contact Steven at 443-454-5177 or sbarnard@fgsd.k12.or.us.

Rototeller – Help Wanted: Blake Timm, the editor of the Rototeller, is looking for a club member who would be interested in helping fill in to take notes at meetings on an occasional basis. With his increased duties as area governor and work, he is having to miss more Wednesdays than he did in the past. The job would entail taking notes about any club announcements and a five to six-paragraph recap of that week’s program. Please contact Blake for more information.

Have A Program Idea? Let Hector Know!: Do you have an idea for a program presentation that you would like to see at our meetings? Let our incoming program director, Hector Mendez-Colberg know as he is setting up the schedule for 2025.

Greeters Are Back: President Lucas is bringing back the role of having greeters at our weekly meetings. This role will not be pre-assigned. Instead, the ninth and 10th Rotarians showing up a meeting each week will serve as greeters. Please be prepared to take on that responsibility and let President Lucas know if you have any questions.

Service Opportunities For Club Members
Do You Know Of Service Opportunities?: Are you aware of service opportunities in our area that our members might be interested in? We can advertise those here! This space is not limited to club-sponsored activities but to any service opportunity in the community. To promote the service activity, please send a detailed description of the project, the date and time, contact information and a link to register to Rototeller editor Blake Timm, blakertimm@gmail.com.

CALC Volunteer Opportunities: Forest Grove School District’s Community Alternative Learning Center (CALC) has two volunteer opportunities for Rotarians and friends. The school is looking for volunteers to assist with interviewing students for mock job interviews. There will be another opportunity forthcoming on a victory garden that is being planted at school. Both opportunities will take place at a date to be determined.

If you are interested in either opportunity or if you have questions, please contact principal Tim Graham or Steven Barnard.

FGHS Community Food Pantry: Our club’s support for the Forest Grove High School Food Pantry continues.  Thanks to its partnership with the Oregon Food Bank, food donations are still welcome but are of less need at this time. Of need, however, are toiletries and hygiene products as well as household cleaning materials.

The Food Pantry is open Mondays from 4-5:30 p.m. The pantry is located along Nichols Lane between the football field and the Basinski Center. Click Here for more information on the FGHS Food Pantry and on other resources for those experiencing food insecurity.

For information on the Food Pantry, please contact Brian Burke, bburke@fgsd.k12.or.us. If you wish to make a cash donation to the pantry, Click Here.

Around District 5100
District 5100 Spring Training – April 12: Mark your calendars for Saturday, Apr. 12, because its time for players to report to Rotary District 5100’s Spring Training — and it’s not just for the pros!

Whether you are a rookie or a seasoned player, this virtual event has required position-specific training and elective courses to help you knock your Rotary skills out of the park.

Swing by from anywhere and get ready to hit the ground running for a winning Rotary season. Don’t let this pitch pass you by — let’s make 2025 the championship year for your club! Stay tuned for registration info soon.

District Leadership Opportunities: Running a successful organization requires that we plan for succession, and then continue to invest in future leaders. District 5100 is always looking for those Rotarians who would like to advance in Rotary leadership. Some positions require some past leadership experience. For more information, please contact the District Office, District Governor Jeannine Murrell or Area Governor Blake Timm.

Public Image: We need Rotarians who are able to complete some mission critical tasks for the benefit of the District. These are singular projects for different events happening between now and the end of the Rotary year. If you have a background in press releases or writing social media content, please contact DG Jeannine Murrell.

Vision to Action Committee: Calling those who have an interest in helping clubs envision and plan their club’s future! District 5100, with the assistance of the Vision to Action Chair, Renee Brouse, is forming a Vision to Action Committee! This committee will be trained to facilitate the new Vision to Action curriculum as well as aid in the new three-year rolling plan from RI, and help create a pathway for annual reviews and other resources as needed. Want to join the committee and be a part of the future? Contact Renee Brouse.

District Diversity, Equality, & Inclusion Committee: This committee is working on facilitating with clubs the RI DEI policies and real-life applications for Rotarians and clubs. They meet once a month. The chair of the committee is Chase Morinaka.

Club Calendar
Wed., Feb. 19: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Chief Jim Geering, Forest Grove Fire & Rescue

Thurs., Feb. 20: Board Meeting, 7 a.m.
via Zoom

Satellite Club/Thirsty Thursday Social, 6:30 p.m.
Zesti Food Carts, 2131 Yew St., Forest Grove

Wed., Feb. 26: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Edith Velazquez, Virginia Garcia Memorial Foundation

Wed., Mar. 5: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Grove Room, Forest Grove School District Office, 1728 Main St.
Program: Robert Abbey, Read For A Cause

Wed., Mar. 19: Crab Feed, 5:30 p.m.

Fri., June 6: Steak Feed, 5 p.m.
University Center, Pacific University

Fri., Jan. 18-Sun., July 20
Concours d’Elegance Weekend