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

Crab Feed Is Back: After two years of cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Crab Feed is coming back in 2022!

Our club’s annual Crab Feed is scheduled for Wednesday, April 20, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Forest Grove Senior & Community Center. The Crab Feed is designed to be a social event for club members and their families to celebrate the good work that we do throughout the year. This is also traditionally when the club recognizes its latest Paul Harris Fellows.

Julia Kollar is re-forming the committee to take on the planning and execution of this event. If you are interested in helping out, please contact Julia at juliakollar@aol.com.

Advanced tickets will be required to be purchased prior to the event (to assist in budgeting) and will be available soon.

Steak Feed Returns: Our annual Steak Feed is also returning after a two-year hiatus. This year’s event will take place on Friday, June 10, on the campus of Pacific University.

Designed as a community event, the Steak Feed is specifically targeted as a fundraiser for our club’s involvement in the Rotary Youth Exchange program (which we also hope to see return in 2022). A meal featuring a choice steak, potatoes, vegetables and dessert is prepared and served by club members.

As one of our club’s major fundraisers, the Steak Feed is an “all hands on deck” event with all club members expected to volunteer. More details on this year’s event will be available soon. For more information, please contact Geoff Faris.

And Another Steak Sale Too: The club is starting its next Steak Sale Fundraiser, which benefits all of our club’s community outreaches. We are offering packs two choice sirloin steaks from Columbia Empire Meats for $20 per pack (note the price increase from previous sales).

Orders for this round are due to Julia Kollar by no later than Sunday, March 13. Steak pickup will be on Thursday, March 17, from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Jeff Duyck’s warehouse on 19th Avenue between Main and Ash Streets.

For more information or questions, please contact Julia.

Scholarship Program Is Open: Applications are now being accepted for the Rotary Club of Forest Grove’s annual scholarship program. Scholarships are awarded to high school seniors that live in the Forest Grove, Gaston and Banks school district attendance areas. These scholarships are made possible thanks to contributions from club members and from our annual car show, the Concours d’Elegance.

Scholarships vary in amounts from $500 to $2,000 and are awarded to help pay for the first year of college of vocational school at a school in the United State.

The application deadline is midnight on Saturday, April 7. The application process will once again take place completely online. Click Here For Additional Details.

For questions, please contact Scholarship Committee chair Sharon Olmstead at sharon.olmstead8571@gmail.com.

Road Cleanups Return (Change In Date): After a hiatus by Washington County due to the pandemic, our semi-annual road cleanup service project is set to start up again. Mark your calendars for Saturday, March 12 (note date change), beginning at 8:30 a.m. at the Oregon Department of Forestry at 801 Gales Creek Road.

As part of the Washington County Adopt-A-Road program, our club conducts cleanups on Gales Creek Road between Thatcher Road and Forest Gale Drive and along Thatcher Road between Gales Creek Road and David Hill Road. Our club has been involved with the program for over 25 years. There is no better way for club members to honor Jerry Hoerber’s memory than by taking part in this project, which he started and served as chair of for over a quarter-century.

Welcome To Our Newest Member, Emily Duyck!: We are proud to welcome Emily Duyck as its newest member! Emily was inducted our evening meeting on January 19. Emily was sponsored for membership in the club by Melinda Fischer.

Emily grew up in the Forest Grove countryside playing on her grandpa’s dairy farm, riding motorcycles in Gales Creek, and helping her family’s funeral business. Her love of the Beavers led her to study at Oregon State University where she graduated and joined the food manufacturing industry as a  research and development specialist. During her time in the industry, she created some really fun and tasty foods that you see today at grocery stores and coffee shops. She now works at her family’s business, Duyck and Vandehey Funeral Home, where she enjoys helping families in one of their most difficult times.

In her free time, Emily enjoys spending time with her husband Jeff and 9-month-old son Henry who she will gladly share pictures of. They often spend their weekends with family and participating in local community events.

Emily’s love for the Forest Grove community is what led her to Rotary. She would like to give back to her community that she cares so much for and to meet new friends along the way.

Evening Meetings Return To Thursdays: After listening to feedback from members, we will return to having weekly meetings at noon on every Wednesday of the month. Satellite Club meetings will return to the third Thursday of each month beginning in February. As always, meeting locations will be published in the Rototeller.

Forest Grove Partnering With Lake Oswego On International Project: The Rotary Club of Forest Grove Board of Directors voted to partner with the Rotary Club of Lake Oswego on an international project. Called Project Flourish, the project is based with the MAIA Impact School in Guatemala, which strives to teach girls, and particularly girls of Mayan descent, to finding their empowered voice and to embrace what education can do for them.

Guatemala has the worst gender equity gap in the Americas. This initiative centers on the creation and implementation of an educational program to connect talent with opportunity for first-generation “Girl Pioneers” (young women born into situations of quadruple discrimination as rural, poor, female, and Indigenous) in Guatemala. The elements of this program center on the following:

• Formal internships to generate experience and informed decision-making
• Preparation for university entrance exams
• Training on soft skills for job interviews and workplace readiness/success
• Workplace English & IT training to increase employability

This project creates a powerful pilot that will serve 42 girls and their families (approximately 336 people). These girls and families represent over a dozen rural villages in Sololá. Once created, the project will continue in perpetuity to serve generations of young women who will break out of poverty.

The project is partially funded through a Rotary International Global Grant. We will have a program on this impactful project later this year.

Online Dues Payments: Our club is now equipped to process dues payments online! We can now process credit card or debit card payments for quarterly dues. Information on how to pay online will be included with quarterly billings that will be coming to your mailbox or email inbox.

With the transition to billing with Quickbooks, some members may not have received their quarterly invoice. If you did not, please contact treasurer Lucas Welliver at 971-241-7426 or lucaswelliver@gmail.com.

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 on Mondays from 4-5:30 p.m. The pantry is now open in its new site in the building along Nichols Lane between the football field and the Basinski Center.

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.

Additionally, Rotarian Gwen Hullinger has put together an Amazon wish list of items that can be purchased and donated. Click Here To View That List.

Past Programs: Did you miss a meeting or want to go back and check out a program again? Most of our programs since May 2020 are archived on our club’s YouTube page. Visit https://bit.ly/fgrotaryprograms.

Around District 5100
District Video Updates: The latest video updates from District 5100 leaders are available online. We encourage you to click on the links below and learn more about what is going on with our district’s committee.

Update From District Governor Nominee Renee Brouse
PolioPlus Committee Update
Rotary Essential Enrichment Learning (REEL) Update
ShelterBox Ambassador Update
Vocational Service Committee Update
Rotary Youth Exchange Committee Update

Save The Date: District 5100 Rotary One Conference: Mark your calendars for May 19-22 as District 5100 will present its first combined Spring Training Event and annual conference in Seaside. The combined conference will provide Rotary training opportunities, inspirational speakers and a celebration of what is hoped to be a great year in District 5100.

Around Rotary International
Rotary Foundation Receives Highest Rating From Charity Navigator For 14th Consecutive Year: For the 14th consecutive year, The Rotary Foundation has received the highest rating — four stars — from Charity Navigator, an independent evaluator of charities in the U.S.

The Foundation earned the recognition for adhering to sector best practices and executing its mission in a financially efficient way, demonstrating both strong financial health and commitment to accountability and transparency. Only one percent of the organizations Charity Navigator evaluates have received 14 consecutive 4-star evaluations.

“We are honored to have been recognized and to be among the top 1% of charities evaluated,” said Rotary Foundation Trustee Chair John Germ. “Our donors can feel proud knowing that their gifts will allow them to make an impact in their communities and the world for years to come.”

The rating reflects Charity Navigator’s assessment of how the Foundation uses donations, sustains its programs and services, and practices good governance and openness.

The 2022-23 Rotary Theme – Imagine Rotary: Rotary International President-elect Jennifer Jones wants members to imagine the possibilities in the change they can make to transform the world.

Jones, a member of the Rotary Club of Windsor-Roseland, Ontario, Canada, revealed the 2022-23 presidential theme, Imagine Rotary, as she urged people to dream big and harness their connections and the power of Rotary to turn those dreams into reality.

“Imagine, a world that deserves our best,” Jones told incoming district governors on 20 January, “where we get up each day knowing that we can make a difference.”

Jones, who will make history on 1 July by becoming Rotary’s first female president, gave a live online address to precede Rotary’s annual training event for district governors from around the world, the International Assembly. The assembly was rescheduled because of the COVID-19 pandemic and will now be held virtually 7-14 February.

Jones told the incoming governors about a chance she took when a member asked for assistance in getting a young peace activist out of Afghanistan during the U.S. troop withdrawal last year. At first unsure how she could help, she relied on “that certain Rotary magic” and contacted a former Rotary Peace Fellow she had met a few years earlier. Less than 24 hours later, the activist was on an evacuation list, and soon she was on her way to Europe. Read More

Last Week’s Program: Monique Hammond, Hearing Loss

Click Here To Watch The Full Program

Last week we were joined via Zoom by Monique Hammond, a hearing loss expert, who provided us an overview of her journey with hearing loss and provided a presentation on what causes hearing loss and how it can be prevented. Monique is also the author of a book, What Did You Say, An Unexpected Journey Into The World Of Hearing Loss.

A registered pharmacist by training, Monique’s journey into the world of hearing loss began with a loud sound exposure at a church fundraiser, which caused sudden one-sided deafness in her left ear. Within the span of four hours from the loud sound, she had lost the ability to hear.

The sudden deafness caused her to leave her career as a pharmacist (which requires the ability to hear accurately) and educate herself about hearing loss. Since then, her mission has become to keep people of all ages hearing better for longer and to provide education and training on the causes and effects of hearing loss.

Hearing loss can be described as a silent epidemic. There is much more to how a person is affected by hearing loss than just not hearing well. The number of people experiencing hearing loss is increasing worldwide and is becoming a more serious health issue. One of five Americans age 12 or older has some sort of hearing loss that interferes with communication.

Hearing loss affects quality of life at any age because it is a communication issue. It has profound effects on a person socially, emotionally, physically and financially. It can be an isolating disorder. With the isolation that the world has experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, Monique says that people can be more empathetic with those who have hearing loss.

Causes of hearing loss include aging, autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular issues, diabetes, earwax plugs, excessive noise, genetics, head trauma and infections. Aging is the No. 1 cause of hearing loss with excessive noise ranking No. 2.

Excessive noise can cause the same hearing damage as aging. We need to make the right choices to try and avoid louder noises. Monique says that we have a lot of power over the sound volume in our lives. Think abort the potential impacts of concerts, loud sports bars, auto racing events, etc. Someone cannot just get used to loud sound.

Most of the damage to the ear associated with hearing loss takes place in the cochlea, which is in the inner ear and is an organ no larger than a pea. The cochlea had 20,000 finely tuned hearing cells. When those cells are damaged, they do not regenerate. They are lost forever. Sound is a pressure wave. As sound gets louder, the hearing cells are exposed to that increased pressure, which causes damage.

Monique suggested several ways to try and limit exposure to loud noise. There are a number of apps that can be downloaded on smartphones to measure the decibel level in a location. For a simple test, if you are three feet away from someone and you have to shout to talk to that person in a crowd, then the room is too loud.

For using headphones and MP3 players, Monique suggests the 60/60 rule. Set the volume to no more than 60 percent of the maximum and listen for no more than 60 minutes at a time. If you enjoy going to concerts, consider purchasing high-fidelity earplugs which can block additional noise.

If anyone believes that their hearing is faltering and is affecting their quality of life, they should go get a hearing test.

Learn more about Monique and about hearing loss at hearing-loss-talk.com.

Club Calendar
Wed., Feb. 2: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, Pacific University
Program: Robert Cheeke, The Plant-Based Athlete

Thurs., Feb. 3: Executive Board Meeting, 7 p.m.
Via Zoom

Wed., Feb. 9: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, Pacific University
Program: Craig Campbell, Oregon Manufacturing Innovation Center

Thurs,. Feb. 10: Board Meeting, 7 a.m.
Via Zoom

Sat., Mar. 12: Road Cleanup, 8:30 a.m.
Oregon Department of Forestry, 801 Gales Creek Rd., Forest Grove

Sun., Mar 13: Deadline For Steak Sale Orders

Sat., Apr. 7: Rotary Scholarship Program Application Deadline

Wed., Apr. 20: Rotary Crab Feed, 5 p.m.
Forest Grove Senior & Community Center

Fri., June 10: Steak Feed, 5 p.m.
Pacific University Campus