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. This week we will hear about Pacific University’s Junior All-Sports Camp from Pacific men’s basketball head coach Justin Lunt, football offensive coordinator Jim Craft and assistant cross county/track and field coach Mackenzie Beeler.

Thanksgiving Break: As per our usual tradition, we will not have a weekly club meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 27 in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday.

December Meetings: In December, our meetings on Wednesday, Dec. 4 and Wednesday, Dec. 18 will take place in the Boxer Pause. Our meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 11 is our annual holiday concert with Forest Grove High School’s musical groups and will take place at the Forest Grove United Church of Christ, 2032 College Way (across the street from Pacific University). There will be no meetings on Wednesday, Dec. 25 or Wednesday, Jan. 1.

Satellite Club/Thirsty Thursday Meeting: The monthly satellite club meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 21, at Zesti Food Carts, 2131 Yew St., at 6:30 p.m. All Rotarians are invited and encouraged to attend.

Wreath Sales: Thank you to all of our Rotarians and friends who took part in our annual wreath sale. Wreaths will be available for delivery on Friday, Nov. 29. Details on how deliveries will work in forthcoming. Please contact Janet Peters with questions.

All proceeds from the wreath sale will benefit our Hope For The Holidays service project, which provides holiday meals to families experiencing food insecurity in partnership with Forest Grove High School’s Food Pantry.

Hope For The Holidays – Mon., Dec. 23: This year’s Hope For The Holidays food distribution will take place on Monday, Dec. 23, 4 p.m. at the Forest Grove High School Food Pantry. This is the closest that we have ever been able to have our project to Christmas. The plan once again is to provide holiday meals to 100 needy families.

There will be volunteer opportunities both at the actual event and preparing the boxes the day of the event. For more information, or to find out how you can participate with the logistics for the project, please contact Parri Van Dyke.

Troop 213 Christmas Tree Sales: Our chartered Scouting America Troop 213 will once again have their annual Christmas tree stand in the parking lot of Ballad Town Center (Safeway). The tree stand will open on Saturday, Nov. 30, and run through Dec. 23 or when tree sells out. The troop will have around 400 trees available for purchase. This is the troop’s major fundraiser for the year and primarily assists scouts in being able to attend summer camps.

The Rotary Club of Forest Grove has been the charter organization for Troop 213 for decades. If you can, please support the troop this holiday season.

Pickleball Evenings – Presented By Rotary: The Rotary Club of Forest Grove is helping to sponsor indoor pickleball Monday through Thursday evenings at the Forest Grove National Guard Armory, 2950 Taylor Way. Coordinated by Rotarian Steven Barnard, the evenings run from 5:30 to 8 p.m. There is a $5 fee to help cover facility rental. Players of all ages and ability levels are welcome with reserved courts for beginners and intermediate-level players.

For more information on the pickleball evenings, please contact Steven at 443-454-5177 or sbarnard@fgsd.k12.or.us.

Greeters Are Back: 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.

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.

Holiday In The Grove – Volunteers Needed: The City of Club of Forest Grove is looking for volunteers to assist with the annual Holiday In The Grove festivities on Saturday, Dec. 7. Opportunities are available during the day as “Tinsel & Tidings Helpers,” assisting in downtown with events, along with needs for Holiday Light Parade traffic control and the parade staging area. More volunteer opportunities will be added as the event comes closer.

Click Here to view opportunities or to sign up. For questions, please contact Donna Gustafson via email, dgustafsonconsulting@gmail.com.

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. The next local blood drive will be held on 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
November Is Rotary Foundation Month (by PDG Renee Campbell, District 5100 Rotary Foundation Chair): It takes donors at every level, according to our capacity, to fund the great work of our Rotary Foundation, and we are blessed in District 5100 with all those donors from Legacy and Bequest Societies, Arch Klumph Society, Major Donors, Paul Harris Society, Paul Harris Fellow, Sustaining Members, and Every Rotarian Every Year (EREY) donors. Those EREY donations at $25-$50 raise over $5 million internationally each year. Every donation is welcome and appreciated.

It is so easy to contribute. Head to Rotary.org and there is a DONATE button on every page. There you can make a one-time gift or a recurring gift we call Rotary Direct at $25 or more per month, quarter, or annually. If you sign up for a recurring gift of $85 per month, which is $1,000 a year, you will be eligible for membership in the Paul Harris Society (PHS).

May I offer an additional incentive if you are just getting started in your Rotary Foundation giving? If you sign up for Rotary Direct at $25 per month or more by November 30, we will provide 250 Paul Harris points to help you to your first or next Paul Harris Fellow recognition.

And if you join the Paul Harris Society at $1,000 per year, we will provide an additional 250 Paul Harris points toward your first or next Paul Harris Fellow recognition. This can be done with a monthly, quarterly, or an annual gift. Many choose to do this through a Required Minimum Distribution from their retirement account, donor advised fund, or an outright gift, etc.

Let me know if you have done either – or both – and you could receive a total of 500 points.

Rotary WASH Action Group: The WASH Rotary Action Group was formed in 2007 by a group of Rotarians, recognized by Rotary International, and focused on WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) projects. Since then it has facilitated many hundreds of projects – helping clubs find partners, ensuring sustainability, stressing the importance of a needs-driven approach, and developing best practices. We encourage a holistic, integrated approach in which water is not the end in itself, but is rather the means to a better life and livelihood in the community. Most importantly, WASH Rotary Action Group links water and sanitation to improved hygiene, better health, and empowerment of the community – especially women, irrigation and agriculture, education and literacy and, ultimately, child mortality.

To learn more about this Rotary action group and to find out how you can get involved, visit https://www.wash-rag.org/about/.

Last Week’s Program: Club Assembly – Pickleball Tournament
As you may know, our club is helping to sponsor the weekly pickleball nights at the Forest Grove National Guard Armory put on by Rotarian Steven Barnard. At last week’s meeting, we had a club assembly to discuss setting up a pickleball tournament that would be sponsored by our club and could potentially be used as a fundraiser.

There is currently a pickleball tournament committee that has been formed, chaired by Mallory Hiefield with Steven, Cole Thursam and Lucas Welliver as member. The tournament has been set for Saturday, Jan. 25 and would be held at the armory. Additional information on start time, tournament format and sign-ups will be forthcoming.

At the moment, it was decided that the first tournament should be open specifically to Rotarians, families of Rotarians and invited guests. If this first tournament is successful, there could be the potential for a summer tournament that would be open to the public.

If you are interested in learning more details or interested in being part of the committee, please contact President Lucas.

Club Calendar
Wed., Nov. 20: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Jim Craft, Justin Lunt & MacKenzie Beeler, Pacific University Junior All-Sport Camp

Thurs., Nov. 21: Board Meeting, 7 a.m.
via Zoom

Wed., Nov. 27: No Meeting – Happy Thanksgiving

Fri., Nov. 29: Wreath Sale Deliveries

Wed., Dec. 4: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Keith Buckley, Pacific University Athletics

Wed., Dec. 11: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Forest Grove United Church of Christ, 2032 College Way

Program: Holiday Concert With Forest Grove High School Music Groups

Mon., Dec. 23: Hope For The Holidays Service Project, 4 p.m.
Forest Grove High School