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

This Week’s Meeting: We hope you will join us on Wednesday at noon for our weekly meeting in the Boxer Pause room in the University Center at Pacific University. We will be having a club assembly this week and President Lucas Welliver will present a “state of the club” address.

All of our upcoming meetings in the month of September will be on the Pacific University campus.

What A Night For A Century Of Celebration!: Over 100 people took over Carpenter Creek Farm & Winery on Saturday, Sept. 7, at the Rotary Club of Forest Grove celebrated its 100th anniversary.

Attendees were treated to an evening of celebrating the club’s past, present and future, with short speeches talking about how our club has made an impact in Forest Grove and surrounding communities for the last century. Speeches were presented by Rotarians Tim Schauermann (1977-78 club president), Julia Kollar (2022-23 club president), District Governor Jeannine Murrell (2015-16 club president), Seth Berdahl and Fareeha Nayebare (2023-24 Rotary Youth Exchange inbound student).

Berdahl and his yet-to-be-named barbershop group provided entertainment during the dinner. The performance provided a tangible link between past and present. Berdahl is one of the club’s newest members while barbershop singing links Forest Grove’s designation as “Ballad Town U.S.A.,” and the city’s long-running All-Northwest Barbershop Ballad Contest and Gay 90s Festival.

Past District Governor Jim Boyle helped present District 5100’s “Home Club of District Governor” banner in recognition of Murrell’s year as district governor.

After a barbeque dinner, attendees were treated to slices of a specially made cake, which featured the names of the club’s past presidents and photos of several past presidents.

Special guests at the celebration included Forest Grove Mayor Malynda Wenzl, Past District Governors Jim Boyle and Larry Hatch, and District 5100 Lieutenant Governor Terry Hatfield. A total 16 of the club’s past presidents were also in attendance.

For those who were unable to attend the celebration, videos of the speeches and presentations will be posted on the club’s YouTube page in the coming days.

Rotary At Community Events In September: Our club will have a presence with a booth at two of the community’s larger events of the fall. We will have a booth at the 60th Forest Grove Corn Roast, Sat., Sept. 21, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., along College Way adjacent to Pacific University. We will need a total of eight people to work two-hour shifts at Corn Roast, which will feature our club’s new spinning prize wheel.

On Sat., Sept. 28, our club will also host a booth at the Forest Grove Oktoberfest and will be presenting a fishing game geared towards children.

If you are interested in working a booth shift, please contact Evelyn Orr.

There are additional volunteer opportunities at both events. Click Here for the Corn Roast volunteer sign-up. To volunteer for Oktoberfest, email oktoberfestfg@gmail.com.

Rotary Citation – Congrats To Our Club!: On Aug. 28, current club president Lucas Welliver presented past president Amy Tracewell with the club’s 2023-24 Rotary Citation. The club earned the citation by achieving goals set in at least of 26 goal areas outlined by Rotary International. Our club set goals for 16 areas and achieved 15 in 2023-24. Our club has achieved the Rotary Citation (known moving forward as the Club Excellence Award) for most years in recent history. Forest Grove was one of just two clubs in District 5100’s Western Region to receive the Rotary Citation.

Road Cleanup – Oct. 5: Our club’s next semi-annual road cleanup has been scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 5. We will meet at 8:30 a.m. at the Oregon Department of Forestry offices at 801 Gales Creek Road, where will do cleanup of Gales Creek Road between Thatcher Road and Forest Gale Drive, and Thatcher Road between Gales Creek Road and David Hill Road. A sign-up will be distributed soon at our weekly meetings.

For more information on this long-standing service project, please contact Andrea Stewart or Paul Waterstreet.

Habitat For Humanity Service Project – Oct. 12: Our Community Service Committee is working with West Tuality Habitat for Humanity on a service opportunity for the club on Saturday, Oct. 12. Details will be available soon. The project will likely assist Habitat’s home repair program.

Greeters Returning: 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.

Friends of Historic Forest Grove Displays: As part of celebrating the 50th Concours d’Elegance and the 100th anniversary of our club, Friends of Historic Forest Grove is looking for items to use for a lobby display to celebrate both milestones. The display will be located in the Old Train Station Museum at the corner of Main Street and 19th Avenue. A Concours display was presented in July. A display in September will highlight our club.

If you have items that you would be willing to loan to FHFG to promote the history of Concours and/or the club, you can also bring items to the museum during its open hours, Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Saturday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Mentorship Program With Rotary: Since joining our club, Rotarians Cole Thursam and Javin Frelin have been exploring how to connect younger professionals to our club and to Rotary as a whole. The two are in the preliminary stages of developing a mentorship program for young professionals in the local community that would be tied to Rotary. If you would like to learn more or are interested in taking part in this effort, please contact Cole or Javin.

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.

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.

Bloodworks Northwest Blood Drives: In an effort to build blood supplies in the Pacific Northwest, Bloodworks Northwest is sponsoring a number of blood drives in 2024 in Forest Grove. Upcoming blood drives will be held on Friday, Sept. 27 at Pacific University and Friday, Dec. 6 at the Forest Grove City Library. To sign up to give and set an appointment, please visit the Bloodworks Northwest website.

Around District 5100
Vibrant Club Workshop: This year’s Vibrant Club Workshop will take place on Saturday, Sept. 28. The pod for the West Region clubs (Forest Grove, Forest Grove Daybreak, Beaverton and Hillsboro) will take place at the Forest Grove United of Christ, 2032 College Way, and will run from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

The workshop will cover topics around membership, The Rotary Foundation and public image and will provide clubs time and topics to discuss to help strengthen their clubs. Club leadership and anyone interested in strengthening their clubs are encouraged to attend. If you are unable to attend in person, a virtual option will be available.

There is no feed to attend and snacks and beverages will be provided. After the workshop, everyone is invited to partake in the Forest Grove Oktoberfest, which will be taking place just outside the church.

Registration is now open on DacDB. We hope to see you there!

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

Club Calendar
Wed., Sept. 11: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Club Assembly/State of the Club

Thurs., Sept. 12: Executive Board Meeting, 7 a.m.
via Zoom

Wed., Sept. 18: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Scouting America Troop 213

Thurs., Sept. 19: Board Meeting, 7 a.m.
via Zoom

Wed., Sept. 25: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Michael & Claudia Yakos, Gardens of Hope