Carl Heisler demonstrates the proper form for teeing off the first tee at our annual golf tournament.

Golf Tournament: If you weren’t there last week, you missed out! Thank you to everyone who joined us not only for our weekly meeting but that participated in our club’s annual golf tournament last Wednesday at the Sunset Grove Golf Course. As per usual, Tim Schauermann put together a fun event that provided more than just a walk through nine holes. For example, all players teed off on the first hole while on their knees.

We expect that Tim will have “official” results next week, both in terms of the winners and losers and the amount of string sold to benefit The Rotary Foundation. The results will be accompanied by the presenting of prizes, usually consisting of whatever Tim has left over in his garage.

September Potluck: On Wednesday, September 7, we will meet in the evening for a potluck and social at the home of Pete and Parri Van Dyke, 1336 Rosearden Drive, Forest Grove. A new member orientation will start at 5 p.m. (all members are welcome) with the potluck beginning at 6:30 p.m. Club members are asked to bring a main dish or side dish to share. There will not be a noon meet on Sept. 7.

If you know of someone who might want to become involved in Rotary, both the new member orientation and the potluck are a great opportunity to introduce them to our club!

New Member Orientations: September 7 will be the first of four new member orientations that the club will hold throughout the year. The other orientations are scheduled for December 7, March 1 and June 1. All Rotarians are welcome to take part and to bring potential new Rotarians.

Youth Exchange Update: For the first time since 2020, our involvement in Youth Exchange is back! Our outbound exchange student, Blue Barbour-Weiss, will leave for Ecuador on Aug. 25. We wish her all of the best on her journey this year!

Our inbound exchange student, Juan, arrived from Ecuador on Aug. 20. For the first four months of his exchange, Juan will stay with the Barbour-Weiss family.

Host families are still needed that can host Juan during the winter (December through March) and the spring (March through June). If your family has interest, and for information on the requirements for hosting, please contact Youth Exchange Committee chair Melinda Fischer.

Applications for prospective inbound exchange students will be available in the counseling office at Forest Grove High School beginning on Sept. 7. Applications will be due on Sept. 16. Only sophomores may apply to be an outbound student.

New Concours Chair Needed: After this year’s show, Ryan Garcia will stepping aside as Concours chair. Thank you, Ryan, for your incredible dedication to the show through the pandemic and seeing us through to our first live presentation in three years! If you are interested in taking over as committee chair, please contact President Janet Peters or Allen Stephens with the Concours Committee.

Club Treasurer Needed: As Lucas Welliver transitions into his vice president and program chair duties, the club is looking for a new individual who can step in as treasurer. Lucas will be stepping aside as treasurer in January. The treasurer is an officer of both the club and the foundation. If you are interested in the position or have questions, please contact President Janet.

Steak Feed/Concours Leftovers: We have a number of leftover food items from both the Concours and Steak Feed that are available for purchase. If you are interested in adding any of the following to your pantry, please contact President Janet.

Steaks: We have approximately 26 packs of two raw steaks available for purchase. Each pack of steaks sells for $20 each.

Ice Cream: We have a number of five-gallon tubs of vanilla ice cream available for $27 per tub.

Strawberries: To go with that ice cream, we have a number of tubs of strawberries available for purchase for $15 per tub.

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.

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.

Service Opportunities For Club Members
Corn Roast: Once again this year, the Forest Grove/Cornelius Chamber of Commerce will be utilizing our canopies for the annual Corn Roast & Harvest Festival on Saturday, Sept. 17. We are in need of a club member who can assist in directing volunteers to erect the canopies in preparation for the event. If you are interested and can assist, please contact President Janet.

Strobe Balance Study: At our Aug. 3 meeting, Brian Jackson, a professor of exercise science at Pacific University, spoke looking for volunteers for a strobe balance study that he is conducting with Pacific’s School of Physical Therapy. The objective of the study is to gain preliminary data on the effects of strobe (stroboscopic eyewear) use on balance and stability (and fall likelihood) in older adults.

Eligibility Requirements:

• 60-85 years of age
• Independent/capable of performing activities of daily living unassisted (e.g. no cane/walker)
• No history of seizures
• No diagnosis of epilepsy
• Fully vaccinated (with booster) or negative COVID test 48 hours prior to each testing session

Time Requirements:

• In-person pre balance assessments (around 90 minutes)
• Three weeks of daily strobe eyewear use (two times of 10 minutes per day)
• In-person post balance assessments (three weeks following pre-assessment)
• In-person retention balance assessment (three weeks following post-assessment)

Compensation: In addition to gaining information about your balance capacity, by successfully completing all three testing sessions, you will have the option of one of the following:

• $100 Gift Card
• A pair of Senaptec Strobe glasses ($300 value)

If you are interested in participating or have additional questions, please contact Brian Jackson at brianjackson@pacificu.edu.

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 2-4 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.

Around District 5100
Vibrant Club Workshop: District 5100’s Learning & Development Committee will be holding a Vibrant Club Workshop on September 24. The workshop will focus on the essential cornerstones of Rotary that can help make clubs be more vibrant and successful. There will be sessions related to leadership members, The Rotary Foundation and public image.

The workshop combines the best of in-person with technology to allow interactions and quality presentations close to you. Within the 12 regions in the district, there will be “Pods” where Rotarians will gather in person to enjoy fellowship and participate in engaged topic discussions. Each pod will be linked to the District central office team who will synchronously present topic materials. Each session will have breakouts for in-pod discussions, learning and fun Rotary fellowship.

The Vibrant Club Workshop is for all members, not just committee chairs. Registration is now through DacDB. Rotarians will be able to choose a Pod closest to them.  Fellowship will begin at 8 a.m., and the workshop will be 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 24. The location of the Western Region pod, which includes Forest Grove, has not yet been announced.

Check out the district calendar on DACdb for other learning and development opportunities. If you have any questions in the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact Gary Stewart, chair of the District 5100 Learning and Development Committee, at garylstewart@gmail.com

Around Rotary International
The Gift Of Reading: When Rotary International President Jennifer Jones visited a primary school in a farming village in Guatemala’s highlands and asked who wants to become the country’s president, the students’ hands shot into the air. Before a Rotary-supported reading program began in the village of Chajalajyá, students would often drop out after a couple years of school.

“Reading will change our society,” Principal Vilma Nizeth Moreira told Jones during an April visit to the school. “These are powerful tools we are giving children to eradicate ignorance.” Schools often teach in Spanish, but about 25 languages are spoken in the country, and there are few written materials in local languages.

The Guatemala Literacy Project has worked for 25 years to improve reading rates. In 1997, Joe and Jeff Berninger, brothers from Ohio, were volunteering as English teachers at a Guatemalan school that had no books. The two launched a project to solve that. The day the books arrived, there was a huge celebration, and a Rotarian dentist volunteering nearby heard the noise and asked what was going on. “He said this would be a perfect project for Rotary,” says Joe Berninger, now a member of the Rotary Club of Pathways, Ohio, which coordinates the project.

Rotarians in Guatemala helped develop reading programs in other schools, and since 1997, The Rotary Foundation has helped fund the literacy project with 48 grants totaling $6.5 million. Nearly 800 clubs in 90 districts have participated, making it one of the largest grassroots, multiclub, multidistrict projects in Rotary. The initiative also receives support from the U.S. nonprofit Cooperative for Education. “There’s a lot of push and drive and enthusiasm that comes from Rotary,” says Howard Lobb, Cooperative for Education’s director of partner development, also a member of the Ohio Pathways club. Read More

Last Week’s Program: Golf Tournament
With our annual golf tournament, we did not have a program at this week’s meeting. See the club calendar below or visit FGRotary.org for upcoming programs.

Club Calendar
Wed., Aug. 31: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Erica Soto, Smile Oregon

Wed., Sept. 7: Club Potluck
Home Of Pete & Parri Van Dyke
New Member Orientation at 5 p.m., Potluck at 6:30 p.m.
   NOTE: No noon meeting on Sept. 7.

Thurs., Sept. 8: Executive Board Meeting
7 p.m., via Zoom

Wed., Sept. 14: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Dave Parker, Forest Grove School District

Thurs., Sept. 15: Board Meeting
7 a.m., via Zoom