If you didn’t make it to our last Rotary Club of Forest Grove meeting, here’s what you missed…

Online Meetings Continue: We will continue to meet virtually using the Zoom Meeting platform for the foreseeable future. Our meetings will begin at our normal meeting time, Noon on Wednesday. All Rotarians are welcome and participating will count towards meeting attendance. Here are the login details (will be the same for all of our online meetings moving forward)…

Direct Link: https://zoom.us/j/183084884
Meeting ID: 183 084 884

To join by phone, dial 669-900-6833 or 346-248-7799 and enter the meeting ID number when prompted.

Zoom App Downloads
Zoom Cloud Meeting App For Android
Zoom Cloud Meeting App For iPhone
Download Zoom Meeting App For Desktop

Quarterly Dues: By now, club members should have received the July quarterly club dues billing in your mailbox or inbox. At the June Board of Directors meeting, it was agreed to extend pay-as-you-go for meals for all members through the end of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, this dues billing reflects only quarterly club dues, district dues and Rotary International dues.

Please do your part and make sure that invoices are paid in a timely fashion.

We understand that this is a challenging time for all of us and that some of our members are affected more significantly than others. If you are able, please pay your dues invoice as soon as possible so that we can continue to meet our RI and District obligations. If you believe that your situation will make it hard or impossible to make a payment, please contact President Julia Kollar. The club will consider and work with those hardships on a case-by-case basis.

Pacific University Rotaract: We are happy to announce that Andrea Stewart has agreed to serve as the club liaison to the Pacific University Rotaract Club for this Rotary year. Thank you, Andrea, for your continued exceptional service to the club!

Thirsty Thursday/Satellite Club Meeting: The next Rotary Satellite Club/Thirsty Thursday meeting is scheduled for Thursday, July 16, at 6:30 p.m. The meeting is tentatively scheduled to take place at Pat’s Corner at McMenamins Grand Lodge, 3503 Pacific Ave., Forest Grove, for a socially-distanced gathering. (NOTE: This is a location change from what was initially announced last week.)

First Responder Meals: The last of our First Responder Meals went out on June 23 to the folks at OHSU Hillsboro Medical Center (formerly Tuality Community Hospital). June’s meals were provided by Bella Donna restaurant in Forest Grove. Thank you to everyone who donated to make this effort possible and a special thank you to Howard Sullivan for bringing the idea to the club and making it happen!

Steak Fundraiser: Thank you to all of our members from making both rounds of our Steak Sale Fundraiser such a success! The second round resulted in the sale of over 400 packages of steaks.

With the two fundraisers combined, we sold over 2,000 total steaks with a final net proceed of $6,145 to benefit the Youth Exchange Program. To put it in perspective, last year’s Steak Feed netted $5,300 for the club.

Once again, a big thank you to Jeff Duyck for coordinating this effort with Columbia Empire Meats and past president Tim Pearson for coordinating the sales. Stayed tuned as we will try to put together another steak fundraiser close to Labor Day.

McDougall Garden: The McDougall Garden, near the big flagpole, is looking good. But just like any garden, weeds will pop up. Rotarians are welcomed and encourage to stop by and pull a weed or two, even if it is just for a few minutes. Many hands make for light work. Once again, thank you to our garden committee and especially Rob Foster, Geoff Faris and Lucas Welliver for their work in this visible community project.

Golf Tournament Update: Even with social distancing guidelines, we will be able to have our annual golf tournament. The tournament will take place on Wednesday, August 26, at 1 p.m., at Sunset Grove Golf Course. It is possible that it will be a golf only event as we will likely not be able to have the usual lunch portion together. Tim Schauermann is in the planning stages and more details with be forthcoming.

Rotary Phone Tree: Thank you to everyone who has made our Rotary Phone Tree such a success in caring for our members. Paul Waterstreet shuffled the list and was sent out as part of last week’s Rotary Rewind.

The goal of the phone tree is to reach out and check on every member of the club to make sure they are doing all right and to provide updates on club announcements and activities (Hint: You have a great list to draw from here). The plan is for the tree to be activated every Tuesday. The idea is that for each person to call the next one on the list. The last person on the list should call the team captain to make sure the list is complete. For more information or questions, or if your information on the Phone Tree is not correct, contact Paul Waterstreet.

FGHS Community Food Pantry: Even with schools closed, the need for resources at the Forest Grove High School Community Food Pantry continues. The pantry continues to need the following items to serve the community that is depending on it…

Food: Pasta, Canned Sauces, Tortillas, Rice, Beans, Canned Fruit, Jelly, Peanut Butter, Boxed Milk, Canned Vegetables, Bread, Applesauce, Granola Bars, Fruit Snacks, Macaroni & Cheese, Tuna, Crackers, Maseca and Vegetable Oil.

Hygiene Items: Shampoo, Conditioner, Body Wash, Tampons/Pads, Toothbrushes, Toothpaste, Deodorant, Hair Brushes, Toilet Paper.

Over the summer, the Food Pantry will be open on Mondays and Thursday from 2-4 p.m.

If you can donate any of the above items, please contact Brian Burke, bburke@fgsd.k12.or.us. If you wish to make a cash donation to the pantry, Click Here.

Concours d’Elegance Canceled: With the uncertainly on the COVID-19 situation, the Rotary Board of Directors, at the unanimous recommendation of the Concours Steering Committee, has canceled the 2020 Concours d’Elegance, scheduled for Sunday, July 19. The committee will refocus its efforts on the 2021 show. The club board will be talking in the coming weeks to find avenues that we can fundraise for our scholarship fund with the absence of our top fundraising event of the year. Click Here For The Complete Announcement From The Concours Committee

Take Out Locally!: There are many local restaurants and coffee shops that are continuing to operate for take-out during the stay-at-home order. Those local businesses are seeing a significant drop in business and could use our support. Could you commit to patronizing one of these eateries at least once per week to help stimulate the local economy? Click Here For A List Of Places That Are Opened For Takeout (updated on May 18), courtesy of Court Carrier and Jeff King at the City of Forest Grove.

Around District 5100
A Cup Of Jo Podcast: As part of her outreach to District 5100 in this socially-distanced time, District Governor Jo Crenshaw had started to produce a podcast. The first edition of “A Cup Of Jo” introduces her to our district along with some of her ideas and goals for the 2020-21 Rotary Year. The podcast also includes audio from RI President Holder Knaack about his presidential theme, Rotary Opens Opportunities. Click Here To Listen To The Podcast

District 5100 Discussion On Racial Justice: Throughout recent months, we have seen our country shaken once again by racial injustice facing Black communities. These events are not new, yet we have seen an incredible urgency in the movement for Black lives taking place both nationally and globally. Rotary has recognized Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) as a top priority. Building off of Rotary International’s response to racism, and as an organization that maintains a core value of promoting peace, how can we address matters of racial injustice in our local district and clubs?

District 5100 Rotaract invites you and any of your club members to join a District 5100 Discussion on Racial Justice Zoom call on Monday, July 20 at 6:30pm. We seek to provide a discussion platform for Rotaractors or Rotarians within District 5100 that wish to engage on matters of racial injustice in our clubs. This call will be hosted by District Rotaractors Sydney Schilling (DRR, 2020-21) and Rhett Martin (DRR, 2019-20). We specifically aim to address how Rotaractors and Rotarians in our district can better educate ourselves around racial justice to create more inclusive and welcoming environments for Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC). As Rotarians and Rotaractors, the opportunity is now to identify how we can prioritize DEI efforts within our clubs, and acknowledge where we can do better – both at the club and district level. Click Here To View The Facebook Event For More Details

Around The Rotary international World
Virtual Rotary Convention 2020: The 2020 Rotary International Virtual Convention week has come and gone but your chance to experience it has not. All of the general sessions and featured breakouts from the previous week have been archived and are on available on-demand. Click Here For On-Demand Viewing.

There is still more content that will be made available well into July. The online House Of Friendship allows Rotarians to connect with Rotary Fellowships, Rotary Action Groups, Partners, Projects and Rotary International resources to learn more, ask questions and interact virtually with fellow members. The online House of Friendship runs through July 31.

The Virtual Convention is also making available 40 breakout sessions throughout the month of July on a variety of subjects. The list includes such topics as “Achieving A Polio-Free World,” “Did You Know That Rotarians Have An Amazing Special Power,” “Lifting Team Performance,” “Transforming Leadership Through Mental Health” and many more. The breakout sessions are free but advance registration is required. Click Here To See The List & Register

Nigeria Now Polio Free: The quest to free the world of polio is one step closer. The World Health Organization announced in June that polio is no longer endemic in Nigeria, leaving the devastating disease endemic in only two countries in the world.

“The outstanding commitment and efforts that got Nigeria off the endemic list must continue, to keep Africa polio-free,” said WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan. “We must now support the efforts in Pakistan and Afghanistan so they soon join the polio-free world.”

Nigeria has not reported a case of wild poliovirus since 24 July 2014, and all laboratory data has confirmed that a full 12 months have passed without any new cases. Read More

Supporting The Environment – New Rotary Focus: The Rotary Foundation Trustees and Rotary International Board of Directors have both unanimously approved adding a new area of focus: supporting the environment.

More than $18 million in Foundation global grant funding has been allocated to environment-related projects over the past five years. Creating a distinct area of focus to support the environment will give Rotary members even more ways to bring about positive change in the world and increase our impact.

Supporting the environment becomes Rotary’s seventh area of focus, which are categories of service activities supported by global grants. It joins peacebuilding and conflict prevention; disease prevention and treatment; water, sanitation, and hygiene; maternal and child health; basic education and literacy; and community economic development.

Grant applications for projects will be accepted beginning on July 1, 2021. Gifts and commitments from Rotarians and others will be sought to provide global grant support for the new area of focus.

More information about this new cause will be announced soon.

Last Week’s Program: Dr. Divyh Chandler, COVID-19 Knowledge Update

Click Here To Watch The Full Program

Divyh Chandler, M.D., Ph.D., is a faculty chair in neuroscience and on the faculty in medicine at Singularity University in Santa Clara, California, and is a visiting scholar in the department of medicine at Stanford University. She presented a fascinating program on COVID-19, detailing the science behind the pandemic and the progress in flattening the curve and how we can go about life in this pandemic.

In her opinion, the worldwide bodies charged with identifying and preventing pandemic were under-resourced to handle COVID-19, in terms of funding, staff and research and development. This includes the World Health Organization. We as a global society have to do better. In her opinion, we need an early warning system to alert the world to a potential pandemic much like we have with early warning for hurricanes.

Other ideas could have helped during this and future pandemics, in her opinion, include universal health care and work to create a universal flu vaccine. While the flu vaccine changes from year to year, there are parts of the flu cell that remain the same from year to year. That lends hope that some type of universal vaccine could be developed. One is actually in clinical tests.

How do we build a better surveillance system? It can begin with sequencing the genomes of viruses. The CRISPR-based detection platform allows scientists to be able to edit the human genome to help in the prevention of disease through genetic sequencing.

Telemonitoring and active sensing through technology is another way to help track disease through wearables and connecting devises for gathering the information. Technology is also being developed that could identify disease hot spots through testing sewer waste and even on “smart toilets” that sample human waste.

Dr. Chander addressed the concept of contact tracing and some of the fears that people have with tracking. One suggestion she provides is to have people’s smartphones connected to others in a way that protects privacy that alerts others who have been in contact with someone who has tested positive.

Other countries, such as China, have developed ways to trace spread of COVID-19 using a vast surveillance system that includes the use of drones. There is danger in the right to privacy and the fact that we may be faced with the tradeoff of personal privacy for the sake of public health. How do we protect privacy? Wash your hands and wear a mask.

 Club Calendar
All Club Activities Are On Zoom Unless Otherwise Noted
Thurs., July 9: Executive Board Meeting, 7 a.m.
Wed., July 15: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Program: Cheryl Mulick, Paws Helping Veterans
Thurs., July 16: Board Meeting, 7 a.m.
Thurs., July 16: Satellite Club Meeting/Thirsty Thursday, 6:30 p.m.
Pat’s Corner at McMenamins Grand Lodge, 3505 Pacific Ave.
Wed., July 22: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Program: Tualatin Valley Beekeepers