The Best In Show award winner at the 2023 Forest Grove Concours d’Elegance was this 1932 Chrysler Imperial CL Lebanon owned by Larry Naninni of Pine Grove, California.

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

This Week – At Pacific University: This week’s meeting and our meeting on July 26 will take place in the dining commons in the University Center at Pacific University. Join us as we hear from Eva Aguilar about recycling in Washington County.

Upcoming Meetings: After July 26, our weekly meetings will take place at the Cornelius Public Library for the foreseeable future. Due to renovations to Pacific Hall (the former library), our usual meeting space in the University Center will be used as classroom space for much of the 2023-24 academic year.

Concours d’Elegance – Thank You: Thank you to all of our members who made our 49th Concours d’Elegance another great success! We had a great day at Pacific University with some great weather and over 300 classic cars on campus. We are grateful for all that each of our Rotarians did to make the weekend, from vineyard concert to tour to show, another incredible event. Information on how we did to support our Scholarship Program and community outreach efforts in the coming weeks.

If you are interested in getting further involved with the Concours, the steering committee is always looking for volunteers to prepare for the show throughout the year. For more information, contact Tom Raabe or Geoff Johnston.

Name Badges – The Rules Have Changed: With the fact that we will be moving from place to place for the next few months, members were asked to take their badges home with them at last week’s meeting. Normally, we would fine members for taking their badges home…but it is now the opposite. Please bring your own badge to the meeting to avoid a $1 fine. All fine money collected goes towards the club’s contribution to the PolioPlus fund.

For those who do not yet have their badges, we will find a way to make those available while we are at Pacific over the next two weeks.

Save The Date – Golf Tournament: Mark your calendars for Wed., Aug. 16, as we conduct our annual golf tournament at Sunset Grove Golf Course. Join us for this social event and nine holes of golf with some unique rules to make it fun. Lunch for all members will be available at noon with the golf portion of the day commencing at 1 p.m.

A sign-up sheet will be distributed during our weekly meetings. You can also contact Tim Schauermann.

Fernhill Wetlands Service Project: Thanks to the Rotarians who rose to the occasion on July 6 and showed up at Fernhill Wetlands to help remove graffiti from the bid viewing shelters. We had a great crew that showed up on short notice for an hour-and-a-half of work. Thanks to Amy Tracewell, Parry Harmon, Janet Peters, Jill Verboort, Lucas Welliver and Greg Nemchick for making the time to serve the community!

Nyuzen Sister City Recognition: The City of Forest Grove’s Sister City Committee is looking for local businesses who would like to participate in a video celebrating the 70th anniversary of the city’s sister city relationship with Nyuzen, Japan.

The video would involve local businesses holding a 70th anniversary banner and will be presented in Japan to the people of Nzuyen in late September. Filming takes just a few minutes and can be done on July 18, August 11 or August 16.

If you are interested in participating with this project, please contact Pat Truax at 503-310-7740 or pattru2003@yahoo.com and she will schedule a time with you. Thank you in advance for your support of the sister city program.

Fernhill Wetlands Community Event: There will be a Fernhill Wetlands Community Event taking place on Saturday, July 22, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The aim of the event is to help people learn how to cohabitate with urban wildlife while painting and discovering the nature of the wetlands. The event will includes talks from experts from the Portland Audubon Society, Urban Coyote Project, Clean Water Services and others. The event is free but you should bring snacks and water.

For more information on this event, contact Jose at pepespublicartstudio@gmail.com.

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 (over 100 videos to date) are archived on our club’s YouTube page. Visit https://bit.ly/fgrotaryprograms.

Service Opportunities For Club Members
Elks Backpack Program: The Elks Backpack Program, which provides food for youth in the Forest Grove School District experiencing food insecurity, is looking for 50 new or gently used backpacks for the program. If you have backpacks to donate, please bring those to a future meeting and we will get them to the appropriate people.

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.

During the summer, the Food Pantry is open Mondays from 2-3:30 p.m. The pantry will be closed on July 24 and Sept. 4. 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.

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
A September Service Month?: A District Governor classmate has proposed an idea to designate September as Service Month. This concept meets the initiative that Rotary International has introduced about partnering with other service organizations to complete a large service project. This proposal would take it a step further by seeking to have September as Service month officially added to the national calendar, so it would receive recognition similar to national holidays. 

Now, this may sound grandiose, however, it does encourage partnerships which could allow for more IMPACT, REACH and ENGAGEMENT. 

A simple way to begin may be to get proclamations made across the District to make September Service Club Month in your cities and counties. Hopefully, it will be picked up nationally, and going forward television and print media will take it upon themselves to reach out to service clubs every September to see what’s new, do features and provide publicity for us. It will also give our clubs an excuse to contact the media every September. 

This is something for you all to consider. If you choose to participate, please take lots of photos and send them to me. Be sure to promote the events on your social media channels as well!

On another note: we are considering establishing a District 5100 Service Committee – Anyone interested in joining us?

Contact me at: rbrouseymca@hotmail.com.

In Service, 
Renee Brouse
District Governor 23-24

District 5100 Newsletter: Click Here To View The Monthly District 5100 Newsletter

Around Rotary International
How Art Can Channel Diverse Experiences (By Meral Alma, Rotary Club of Düsseldorf-Schlossturm, Germany): I was born in Germany and raised amidst a tapestry of diverse cultures – Turkish, Arabic, and German. Today, I view these varied cultural imprints and experiences as a profound treasure.

It’s akin to a grand mansion with myriad windows that open possibilities to perceive situations and people from different angles. The remarkable spectrum of attitudes and experiences has brought me to a profound understanding that in life, the pursuit of recognition or acceptance should never be tethered to conformity or submission. Instead, one must forge one’s own perspective and chart a personal path towards liberation and fulfilment, even if it entails enduring profound challenges spanning years or even decades.

Our world is an intricately interconnected web, where countless threads bind everything together. However, many of these connections remain hidden to our social bubbles, bombarded by information and disinformation, while boundaries shift, and value systems erode. It’s crucial to firmly position oneself and form an independent opinion.

Within Rotary, I have consistently encountered genuine, engaging, and dedicated individuals. The concept of uniting individuals from diverse backgrounds and professions to facilitate the exchange of ideas, coupled with the humanitarian essence of Rotary, resonates with the values instilled in me. Rotary serves as a platform for exchanging ideas, examining circumstances from diverse viewpoints, and taking tangible actions that embody our values rather than merely discussing them.

The Painted Transcript Of Perceived Reality
I am a painter who creates expansive worlds on canvases stretching up to 16 meters tall. Within these painted realms, figures, environments, and stories come alive, perpetually in motion and undergoing transformative journeys. They capture raw emotions, delicate beauty, and occasional harshness inherent in these experiences.

Life, a perpetual state of transformation, offers a profound chance to decisively shape our own evolution and that of the world. As an artist, I translate the world and the impressions I carry within me into the studio, pouring them onto the canvas. The force behind each stroke, the confident precision, and the dynamic interplay of colours and forms – these elements later become palpable, evoking a response within the viewer.

My approach to painting prioritizes liveliness and expressiveness over precise replication. It’s about accentuating unique traits, seizing moments and emotions, and then channelling them onto the canvas for the viewer’s consumption. By doing so, I aim to render intangible ideas into something concrete and relatable.


In my artwork, I frequently depict the punk as a singular character. To me, this symbol represents not the historical rebellion against societal norms, but an invitation to forge a personal path. It embodies the courage to uphold one’s values and convictions, refusing to live a life driven by the need for external validation or fear of potential drawbacks. The emergence of the punk figure in my works several years ago was a revelation. With the canvas lying horizontally before me, I let the paint flow freely, gradually outlining the contours of the figure with bold, determined brushstrokes. Layer by layer, the mysterious form took shape, unveiling its hidden essence beneath the evolving tapestry of paint.

But my intention extended beyond mere representation. In our interactions with others, and even within ourselves, numerous motives, traits, and emotions often lay concealed, perceptible only through subtle sensations. To capture this profound encounter within my artwork, the punk heads bear an extra visual layer – an empowered alter ego that surfaces solely in darkness, rendering tangible the intangible depths of our being.

See more of Alma’s paintings on this Rotary Instagram post.

This story was originally published on the Rotary.org website.

Club Calendar
Wed., July 19: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Dining Commons, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Eva Aguilar, Washington County Recycling

Thurs., July 20: Board Meeting, 7 a.m.
Via Zoom

Thurs., July 20: Satellite Club Meeting, 6:30 p.m.
Location TBA

Wed., July 26: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Dining Commons, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Claudia Yakos, Gardens of Hope

Wed., Aug. 2: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Cornelius Public Library, 1370 N. Adair St., Cornelius
Program: William Howe, SAGE Citizen Project