Watch The Awards Presentation
Watch The Year In Review Video

Just because the Rotary Club of Forest Grove couldn’t meet in person didn’t mean that members couldn’t celebrate the year past.

Members gathered via Zoom on June 25 for the Rotary Club of Forest Grove’s annual End of the Year Celebration. While everyone enjoyed a beverage or two from the comfort of their own home, Tim Pearson presided over his final meeting as president.

After a Video Presentation on the past year’s activities, Pearson presented a number of awards to club members in recognition of service over the past year and longtime service to Rotary. The meeting concluded with a virtual handing over of the gavel from Pearson to the club’s 2020-21 president, Julia Kollar.

Kollar will be the fourth female president in the history of the Rotary Club of Forest Grove, which was founded in 1924. She is the third female to assume the club’s top office in the last six years.

2019-20 Rotary Club of Forest Grove Awards
Rotarian Of The Year: Ken Cunningham
Ken Cunningham was named the club’s Rotarian of the Year in recognition of his longtime service as the club and foundation treasurer as well as his service as the general chairman of the Concours d’Elegance. A member of the club since 2004, Ken is wrapping up a 10-year run as club and foundation treasurer this month. His work has been critical to the financial success of both the club and foundation, especially with his attention to detail in protecting both entities’ non-profit status. A longtime active member of the Concours d’Elegance Committee, Ken served as the show’s general chairman in 2011, 2018 and 2019 and was to serve as chairman for the 2020 Concours.

Service Above Self Awards: Sharon Olmstead, Janet Peters and Paul Waterstreet
Presented to Rotarians who have longtime outstanding service to the club and live the Rotary motto of Service Above Self.

Sharon Olmstead has been active as a member of the club’s Scholarship Committee since joining in 2014 and has served the last two years as the committee chair. Sharon was key in the committee completing its work despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, which included a change in the application deadline and the move to accepting applications online. Sharon also plays a critical role in our Hope For The Holidays committee, which included securing a $1,000 grant from Walmart that aided last year’s event.

Janet Peters continues to be active in the club in any way she can. A member since 2013, Janet serves on the club’s board of directors and is involved with the Rotaract Committee, Youth Exchange Committee and Youth Funding Committee. Janet recently agreed to serve as the club’s Grants Chair for the 2020-21 Rotary year.

Paul Waterstreet has been a member of the club since 2016. He has chaired the We Care Committee for the last two years and has done an incredible job of building the Family of Rotary within the club. When the COVID-19 pandemic caused the club to stop meeting for a time (and subsequently move meetings online), Paul developed and executed a club phone tree to keep members checking on each other and up to date on club happenings. Paul also serves on the club board of directors.

Rotary Spirit Award: Blake Timm
Presented to a Rotarian who lives the Spirit of Rotary in everything they do.

The club’s immediate past president, Blake Timm continues to be active as the club’s webmaster and in producing the Rotary Rewind newsletter. A member of the club since 2011, Blake has served three years on the club’s board of directors in addition to his year as president in 2018-19. In addition to his work with Rotary, Blake is active in serving his church and his profession of college athletic communications.

Four-Way Test Award: Mark Nakajima
Awarded by the Four-Way Test Committee, the Four-Way Test Award is presented to a member of the club who typifies the ideals of the Four-Way Test.

Mark Nakajima’s legacy of service to the Forest Grove community started almost as soon as he moved to Forest Grove 31 years ago. He is one of the founding members of the City of Forest Grove’s Forestry Committee, which he continues to serve on. The committee was key in Forest Grove being recognized as a Tree City USA. Within the community, he has also served numerous terms on the Forest Grove School District Budget Committee and was part of the Highway 47 Bypass Advisory Committee. Mark has been an active member of the club since 1990.

Mark is part of a family of Rotarians. His mother-in-law, Mary Easton, is a member of the Daybreak club and his late father-in-law, Dave Easton, was a member of Daybreak and the 1976-77 president of our club. The three of them, through Ace Hardware, give back numerous monetary and in-kind contributions to the community.

President’s Award: Bryce Baker
Chosen by the club president to recognize someone who has provided exceptional service to the president during the year.

Bryce Baker stepped in wherever needed to helped President Tim make this year successful. In addition to his work as club program chair (since January), Bryce took a big role in making sure the club’s Zoom meetings have run smoothly. In addition to preparing for his presidential year in 2021-22, Bryce continued to chair the club’s Community Service Committee and helped spearhead a club partnership with the Forest Grove High School Community Food Pantry. Bryce has been a member of the club since 2016.

Rising Star Award: Andrea Stewart
Presented to a newer member of the club who has jumped in to participate and make an immediate impact in the club.

A member of the club since 2016, Andrea Stewart has become heavily involved in a number of key areas of the club. She has been a member of the Youth Exchange Committee since joining the club and has been the counselor for our last two in-bound students. Andrea has also spearheaded the Youth Citizen of the Month program the last two years as part of the Youth Funding Committee and this year took on a co-chair role in leading our road pick-up projects with Jerry Hoerber. Andrea is also finishing her first year on the club’s board of directors.

Rotary Connects The World Awards: Jeff Duyck, Lucas Welliver & Michael Yakos
Based on this year’s Rotary presidential theme, these awards were presented in appreciation to the help provided to President Tim Pearson in his Rotary year.

Jeff Duyck has been a member of the club since 1991 and may be one of the club’s most involved Rotarians. In addition to his behind the scenes work with the Concours and Steak Feed, Jeff regularly provides the trailer for the club’s involvement in the annual Forest Grove Holiday Light Parade and provides space in his warehouse for the club to store equipment. This year, Jeff spearheaded a steak selling fundraiser in lieu of the canceled Steak Feed, which will net over $7,000 for the club.

Lucas Welliver has been a member of the club since 2014 and never backs away from an opportunity to help the club. The club’s secretary the last 18 months, he will transition into being the club and foundation treasurer in July. Lucas played in key role in the finalization and approval of the club’s revised by-laws, is a member of the McDougall Garden Committee and leads the club’s Sports Action game, which raises funds for the Rotary Foundation.

Michael Yakos has been a member of the club since 2016, Michael Yakos led the Satellite Club in the 2019-20 Rotary year and saw that part of club increase in membership and activity. In addition to his work with the Satellite Club, Mike worked with both the Forest Grove High School Interact Club and Pacific University Rotaract Club. The club’s foundation chair in 2018-19, Mike will move back into that role for the 2020-21 Rotary year.

Legacy Award: Paul Minor
Presented to Rotarians who achieve 50 years of service to the Rotary Club of Forest Grove

A member of our club since 1970, Paul Minor continues to play an active role. Paul is particularly involved with the Concours d’Elegance Committee, where he produces the show annual program, designs the annual poster the flyers used to promote the show. An avid photography buff, Paul uses his talent to provide for most of the photography at the show. President of our club in 1997-98, Paul was a successful dentist in Forest Grove for 49 years prior to his retirement in 2014.

Satellite Club Rotarian of the Year: Melinda Fischer
A member of the club since 2017, Melinda Fischer has been an active member of the club well before officially becoming a member. She has been involved with hosting Rotary Youth Exchange students for some time, officially joined the committee upon her induction and is now the club’s Youth Exchange Committee chair. Melinda is also involved with the District 5100 Conference Committee.

Satellite Superstar: Kevin Harmon
Kevin Harmon and his wife, Patty, joined the club in 2018 and have become very involved with their hearts for service. This spring, with the COVID-19 pandemic at full throttle, Kevin arranged to have Farmers Insurance donate $7,500 to the club’s foundation for the specific purpose of helping the Forest Grove High School Community Food Pantry. Kevin coordinated with Farmers’ home office and four other agents to make the donation possible.

Rotaract & Interact Recognitions: The club recognized and presented awards to the presidents of both the Forest Grove High School Interact Club and Pacific University Rotaract Clubs. Serving as Interact co-presidents in 2019-20 were Zach Burke and Soiban Hayes. Serving as co-presidents of the Rotaract Club were Alssie and Alesia Casayuran.

Paul Harris Fellows
In addition to the club’s annual awards, 10 individuals were honored as Paul Harris Fellows by Rotary International. Designation as a Paul Harris Fellow indicates dedication to The Rotary Foundation by lifetime monetary contributions of $1,000 or more. Individuals may also dedicate Paul Harris Fellowships in honor of loved ones.

Paul Harris Fellows
Ken Cunningham
Lorena Faulkner (presented by John & Mary Welch)
Alexander Johnston (presented by Geoff Johnston)

Paul Harris +2 (Contributions of at least $3,000)
Nikki DeBuse
Janet Peters
Chuck Pritchard

Paul Harris +3 (Contributions of at least $4,000)
Julia Kollar
Tim Pearson

Paul Harris +4 (Contributions of at least $5,000)
Richard Kidd

Paul Harris +6 (Contributions of at least $7,000)
Tom Raabe