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

Rotarians At Work Day – Save The Date: Mark your calendars for Saturday, May 6, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., which will be our annual Rotarians at Work Day. The Community Service Committee is working with the city of Forest Grove and the city of Cornelius to develop the list of projects for the day. In Cornelius, potential projects include helping to distribute door hangers promoting library resources and painting the exteriors of restrooms at the city’s parks. Projects in Forest Grove are still to be determined.

A sign-up sheet has been distributed in weekly meetings. If you want to add yourself to the list, please contact Michael Cook.

This is a great opportunity to not only serve the community but to also promote Rotary’s presence in the community.

Satellite Club/Thirsty Thursday Meeting: This month’s Satellite Club meeting is scheduled for this Thursday, Apr. 20, 6:30 p.m., at Zesti Food Carts, 2131 Yew St., Forest Grove. All club members are invited for an evening of fellowship.

Concours Polo Shirts: For the first time in many years, the club is producing updated Concours d’Elegance polo shirts. Club members typically wear these shirts on Concours day and at our club promotional functions, such as the Steak Feed. The new polo shirts will be the navy blue that we have had in past years and feature the updated Concours d’Elegance logo and our club logo.

Orders are being taken now with both men’s and women’s sizes available. Men’s shirts will cost around $25 and women’s sizes will be around $35. If you are interested in purchasing a shirt, please contact Tim Pearson.

Concours Sponsorship Opportunities: The Concours d’Elegance Committee is well underway with procuring sponsorships for our 2023 show, which will take place on Sunday, July 16. There is plenty of sponsorship opportunities for both businesses and individuals for starting as low as $350. How important is sponsorships? Most of the profit that comes from Concours, which helps pay for our service outreach and funds our Scholarship Program, comes from sponsorships.

Click Here To Download The Sponsorship Flyer, which describes a number of the show’s sponsor opportunities. For more information or to help secure a sponsorship, please contact Tim Pearson at 503-998-8616 or timpearsonpc@gmail.com or Andrea Stewart at 503-357-1427 or astewart@pacificu.edu.

Concours Entertainment Sponsorship: At last week’s meeting, Tim Pearson announced a new entertaimment sponsorship that is available for the Concours d’Elegance. The sponsorships, sold for $250 each, include four tickets to the show, inclusion in the Concours program as an entertainment sponsor and on signage at the entertainment stage, recognition by the emcee, and a 35% discount on any advertisement that they would like to purchase in the program. There are multiple sponsorships available. For more details, or to purchase, please contact Tim Pearson.

Steak Feed: If you haven’t already marked your calendars, mark them for Friday, June 9 on the canpus of Pacific University. Our second-biggest fundraiser of the year (behind Concours d’Elegance), this is an “all hands on deck” event where we need as many Rotarians as possible to help make the event happen. Proceeds from the Steak Feed directly fund our involvement in the Rotary Youth Exchange program.

Rotarians will receive an envelope in the next two weeks with 10 Steak Feed tickets and a list of committee work assignments. Please do what you can to sell your Steak Feed tickets to friends, family, co-workers, enemies…anyone who wants to support the work of our club and enjoy a delicious steak dinner with all of the trimmings. Tickets are $25 each.

For any questions, please contact Steak Feed chair Geoff Faris.

Steak Packets Available: Speaking of steaks, we still have about 25 frozen packs of two steaks available for purchase. Packs are $20 each. If you are interested, please contact President Janet.

RYLA Applications Open: The application period is now open for the annual Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA). Held annually, RYLA is week-long intensive leadership camp that is open to youth and young professionals ages 19 to 32. The program has been described as a life-changing professional experience for many participants, many of whom also become Rotarians.

Our club annually sponsors one to two RYLA participants, all of which attend on scholarships provided by District 5100 clubs. This year’s RYLA will take place July 8-14 at the Menucha Retreat Center in Corbett, just east of the Portland metro area.

If you know a youth who might benefit from attending RYLA, have them visit ryladistrict5100.org. The website includes a link to the online application form.

For questions, please contact our club’s RYLA chair, Andrea Stewart, at 503-357-1427 or astewart@pacificu.edu.

Concours Concert Details: The Concours d’Elegance will once again feature a Friday night vineyard concert. The event will take place on Friday, July 14 at the Eagles Nest Reserve Winery, 12995 SW Bishop Rd., Hillsboro. Court Carrier is looking for assistance on identifying potential caterers and musical performers for the evening concert, which will be held at a local winery. If you have possible leads or want to be involved with the planning committee, contact Court at 971-404-7864 or ccarrieriv@gmail.com.

Youth Exchange Update: Back in January, we learned that our selected outbound Rotary Youth Exchange student had withdrawn from the program for personal reasons. Since then, our club has officially applied to host an African exchange student in a one-way exchange through the “Power of One” program.

The club has recently learned that we were approved for a “Power On One” exchange. We will be hosting a female student named Fareeha from Uganda. We are not waiting on guarantee forms in order to move forward with approval from Forest Grove High School.

The Youth Exchange Committee, meanwhile, is make applications available for the 2024-25 outbound program at Forest Grove High School on May 1. Applications will be due on June 2 with interviews taking place in early June.  Applicants should be freshmen at Forest Grove High School.

For more information on the District 5100 Youth Exchange Program, visit https://www.youthexchange5100.org/. For information at the club level, please contact our Youth Exchange Chair, Melinda Fischer, at 503-502-6523 or wreathmaker@icloud.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.

The Food Pantry is open on Mondays from 4-6 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

Rotary Spring Training Event – This Weekend: The 2023 Spring Training Event (formerly District Training Assembly) is at Sherwood High School this Saturday, Apr. 22. It is not too late to register and take part, but you must be registered by Monday, Apr. 17 to receive lunch at the event.

This year’s lineup will have some wonderful workshops and training opportunities as well as a new concept called “Birds of a Feather” for attendees to participate in.

There will also be post-training activities, so bring your family and plan on staying after the event. Langers Entertainment Center, the premier family entertainment center in Sherwood, has offered Rotary space to fellowship after the training, complete with snacks and a $25 game card for every attendee. You can bowl, climb the rock wall, play laser tag, do the rope challenge course and much more.

The Rotary Spring Training Event is more than a training. It is time to connect and enjoy fellowship with your fellow District 5100 Rotarians as, together, we create hope in the world.

A registration link was emailed out to all Rotarians and can also be accessed through DacDB. Click Here To View The Schedule Of Classes & Events.

If you want additional information, please contact DGE Renee Brouse at rbrouseymca@hotmail.com.

Rotary Direct Matching Points Available: District 5100 is offering three Jubitz Rotary Foundation (TRF) recognition point offers this year in conjunction with this year’s Spring Training Assembly.

The one-time offer provides for 250 TRF Recognition Points for joining Rotary Direct or for increasing giving through Rotary Direct or 500 TRF Recognition Points for joining the Paul Harris Society.

Rotarians can take advantage of this offer to complete their own Paul Harris Fellow or to recognize someone significant their life.

Here’s How It Works:

• Sign up for Rotary Direct, which required a minimum monthly contribution of $10 or more to the TRF Annual Fund – SHARE.
• Increase current Rotary Direct giving by increasing by a minimum of $100 per year to the Annual Fund – SHARE.
• Sign up for the Paul Harris Society (PHS) through Rotary Direct with a minimum monthly contribution of $85 or more to the Annual Fund – SHARE.

Spring Training registration will open on Mar. 1. Your completed Rotary Direct form must be submitted to the Foundation Table at Spring Training on Sat., Apr. 22 Click Here For The Rotary Direct Form.

This year, you do not have to attend Spring Training to turn in your Rotary Direct form. A member from your club can submit the form for you or you may also send it to the District 5100 Office, 6700 SW 105th Ave., Suite 313, Beaverton, OR 97008, or by email to office@district5100.org. Mailed applications must be received by Apr. 18, 2023.

Thank you to Rotarian Al Jubitz for his gracious support in allowing the use of his TRF points and thank you all donors who believe in Rotary’s work, both locally and globally.

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

Around Rotary International
Standing In Solidarity With Turkey (by Vesna Baur, Rotary Club of Cacak, Serbia): There are times when events in the world leave you speechless. As I watched the news from Turkey and Syria following the devastating earthquakes there, I found myself in disbelief and despair as, day after day, the number of casualties and missing grew. I have friends who live very close to the epicenter, and I have not heard from them. I hold out hope that I will.

My friendships go back decades to when we were teenagers, living in Paris, and our parents were working in France as expatriates. After our parents decided to return to our countries of origin, we stayed in contact loosely through phone and mail.

Through these infrequent contacts, we discovered we still had a common interest in our business pursuits. In Serbia, we use leftover organic agricultural produce and convert it into energy. In their countries, they grow plantations of almonds and other nuts whose shells have a high caloric value. Their fruit factories represent potential organic waste for converting.

During business trips that also served as reunions, I had the opportunity to stay with families in Malatya, Adıyaman and Gaziantep. In 2018, I lived in their houses and learned about their traditions. My hosts held fruit from their plantations and proudly gave me more than I could carry. Those same friendly hands prepared and shared food. We ate lunch on the floor, as is the custom in these remote areas, but we had a roof over our heads. I am filled with anxiety wondering if those roofs are still there. I want to believe that the generously sharing hands are still OK, even if the roofs are gone.

Nikola Bo’i’, governor of District 2483 (Serbia & Montenegro), made an appeal to clubs in our district to give to The Rotary Foundation’s Disaster Response Fund. Our club is also working with other clubs to create a mobile clinic, and many of us are planning cultural events in the upcoming year to raise money for those affected by the earthquakes.

The Serbian Government has chosen our city of Čačak to be the “First Capital of Culture in Serbia in 2023,”and many cultural programs will be sponsored and held here. As an entrepreneur and president of the Association of Business Women, I am helping organize cultural activities for various special days. On one of these days, we will screen a film about Mileva Mari’, Albert Einstein’s wife and the mother of his two sons. Simultaneously, one of our female artists, Marina Bukvicki, will perform pantomime and paint three large pictures on stage. We will later auction her artworks to benefit earthquake survivors.

In addition, we will hold a symposium for women entrepreneurs on the topics of mental health and empowering girls and women, in collaboration with the Association of Business Women, the Committee for Mental Health, and the Committee for the Empowerment of Girls and Women in District 2483.

The natural disasters in Turkey and Syria leave us numb. I hope to hear from my friends soon. But we, as Rotary members, can all stand in solidarity with these communities as they seek to recover. Please consider how you can contribute to the many relief efforts being organized by Rotary members or clubs, and consider a gift to the Rotary Foundation Disaster Response Fund.

Last Week’s Program: Karen Martinez, Roxie Ross & Carol Alery, National Day of Prayer

At our last meeting, Forest Grove city councilor Karen Martinez, along with Roxie Ross and Carol Alery, presented to our club about the National Day of Prayer. An annual event, this year’s observance will take place on Thurs., May 4 at the big flag pole between 19th Ave. and Pacific Ave. in Forest Grove. There will be two sessions, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Club Calendar
Wed., Apr. 19: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Club Assembly

Thurs., Apr. 20: Board Meeting, 7 a.m.
via Zoom

Thurs., Apr. 20: Satellite Club/Thirsty Thursday Meeting, 6:30 p.m.
Zesti Food Carts, 2131 Yew St., Forest Grove

Thurs., Apr. 26: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Jenny Woodman, Oregon Zoo Foundation

Sat., May 6: Rotarians at Work Day, 9 a.m.- 1 p.m.
Locations To Be Announced

Fri., June 9: Steak Feed, 5-8 p.m.
Pacific University Campus

Sun., July 16: Concours d’Elegance
Pacific University Campus