Online Meetings Continue: We will continue to meet virtually using the Zoom Meeting platform for the foreseeable future. Our meetings will begin at our normal meeting time, Noon on Wednesday. All Rotarians are welcome and participating will count towards meeting attendance. Here are the login details (will be the same for all of our online meetings moving forward)…

Direct Link: https://zoom.us/j/183084884
Meeting ID: 183 084 884

To join by phone, dial 669-900-6833 or 346-248-7799 and enter the meeting ID number when prompted.

Zoom App Downloads
Zoom Cloud Meeting App For Android
Zoom Cloud Meeting App For iPhone
Download Zoom Meeting App For Desktop

Golf Tournament: Thank you to everyone who came out to annual golf tournament on Wednesday at the Sunset Grove Golf Course. In addition to a good time over $500 was raised in support of The Rotary Foundation. Thank you to Tim Schauermann, as always, for his efforts to organize the event.

Steak Sale Deadline: Thank you to everyone who took orders for the third round of our Steak Sale Fundraiser. Pickup for delivery will take place this Thursday, 4-6 p.m., at Jeff Duyck’s warehouse located on 19th Avenue between Main and Ash Streets (this is where pickup was for the first two steak fundraisers).

Please bring your money to pay for the allotment of steaks you signed up for. Checks should be made payable to the Foundation of the Rotary Club of Forest Grove.

With the first two steak fundraisers, we sold over 2,000 total steaks with a final net proceed of $6,145 to benefit the Youth Exchange Program. To put it in perspective, last year’s Steak Feed netted $5,300 for the club.

A big thank you to Jeff Duyck for coordinating this effort with Columbia Empire Meats.

In Memorium – Robert Epler: It is with great sadness that we learned that Robert Epler, who was a longtime member of our club, passed away on Friday, August 28 at the age of 93. Robert joined Rotary back in 1983 and served as club president during the 1992-93 Rotary year. Robert owned EF Nursery for many years before passing the business to his son, Tom. We will post service information once it becomes available. Our prayers and condolences to the entire Epler family.

Bob Nixon & Rotary: Our longtime friend Bob Nixon has decided after 58 years in Rotary that it is time to resign his membership from the club. While the Board has accepted his resignation, they also voted to make Bob an honorary member of the club in recognition of his decades of service to Rotary and to our community.

We do not have enough space here to list all that Bob has done for us over the years. He had been a Rotarian since his induction on May 25, 1952. He served as club president for the 1962-63 Rotary year.

Satellite Club/Thirsty Thursday Meeting: Thank you to everyone who attend the monthly Satellite Club/Thirsty Thursday meeting at Plum Hill Vineyards on August 20. We had a great turnout, enjoyed some good wine and welcomed our newest member, Juanita Lint, into the club! The next Thirsty Thursday is scheduled for September 17 with the location to be determined.

Daybreak Club Bicycle Project: Our friends at the Forest Grove Daybreak Club are looking for bikes to donate to WashcoBikes, a non-profit organization that refurbishes bikes and distributes them to residents in Washington County. If you have a bike to donate, please contact Mitch Taylor at 503-314-0766.

Corn Roast: Despite the pandemic, the annual Forest Grove Corn Roast is going to go on! This year’s event will be an eat-in-your-car event at the Cornelius 9 Cinemas on Sunday, September 20, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. There will be entertainment on site throughout the day. For more information, or if you are interested in helping sponsor this year’s event, please contact Juanita Lint at the Forest Grove/Cornelius Chamber of Commerce.

Adelante Mujeres Grand Opening: Despite the pandemic, Adelante Mujeres is moving ahead with a virtual grand opening celebration for their new downtown Forest Grove facility on Thursday, September 17 at 7 p.m. Details about the event and a RSVP link are available at https://www.avstream.me/adelante. Our club, along with the Daybreak club, donated funds to help make the renovation of their new space possible.

McDougall Garden: The McDougall Garden, near the big flagpole, is looking good. But just like any garden, weeds will pop up. Rotarians are welcomed and encouraged to stop by and pull a weed or two, even if it is just for a few minutes. Many hands make for light work. Once again, thank you to our garden committee and especially Rob Foster, Geoff Faris and Lucas Welliver for their work in this visible community project.

Rotary Phone Tree: Thank you to everyone who has made our Rotary Phone Tree such a success in caring for our members. Paul Waterstreet has completed the latest shuffle of the list, which is attached to the email version of the Rototeller.

The goal of the phone tree is to reach out and check on every member of the club to make sure they are doing all right and to provide updates on club announcements and activities (Hint: You have a great list to draw from here). The plan is for the tree to be activated every Tuesday. The idea is that for each person to call the next one on the list. The last person on the list should call the team captain to make sure the list is complete. For more information or questions, or if your information on the Phone Tree is not correct, contact Paul Waterstreet.

FGHS Community Food Pantry: Even with schools closed, the need for resources at the Forest Grove High School Community Food Pantry continues. The pantry continues to need the following items to serve the community that is depending on it…

Food: Pasta, Canned Sauces, Tortillas, Rice, Beans, Canned Fruit, Jelly, Peanut Butter, Boxed Milk, Canned Vegetables, Bread, Applesauce, Granola Bars, Fruit Snacks, Macaroni & Cheese, Tuna, Crackers, Maseca and Vegetable Oil.

Hygiene Items: Shampoo, Conditioner, Body Wash, Tampons/Pads, Toothbrushes, Toothpaste, Deodorant, Hair Brushes, Toilet Paper.

Over the summer, the Food Pantry will be open on Monday and Thursday from 2-4 p.m.

If you can donate any of the above items, please contact Brian Burke, bburke@fgsd.k12.or.us. If you wish to make a cash donation to the pantry, Click Here.

Food Pantry Need: The Food Pantry is looking for a 20-square-foot freezer that could be donated to help with keeping more perishable foods. If you know of one that might be available, please contact wither Brian Burke (contact information above) or Bryce Baker.

Take Out Locally!: There are many local restaurants and coffee shops that are continuing to operate for take-out during the stay-at-home order. Those local businesses are seeing a significant drop in business and could use our support. Could you commit to patronizing one of these eateries at least once per week to help stimulate the local economy? Click Here For A List Of Places That Are Opened For Takeout (updated on May 18), courtesy of Court Carrier and Jeff King at the City of Forest Grove.

Around District 5100
Do You Want To Be District Governor?: It doesn’t seem possible, but District 5100 is accepting nominations for District 5100’s Governor for the 2023-24 Rotary Year.

An informational meeting will be held via Zoom on September 3 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. If you are interested in the role of District Governor, either now or sometime in the future, please feel free to join the call.

Each member of the Governor team, including a spouse, will talk about their experiences and answer your questions. The primary qualification is that candidates have served as a club president. Read more about qualifications HERE.

Applications are currently available from the Chair of the Nominating Committee, iPDG Diane Noriega at dcdnoriega@mac.com. The interview process will take place Friday evening, October 2, with an informal gathering and interviews on Saturday morning, October 3.

Register in advance for this meeting by Clicking Here.

Save The Dates: The annual District 5100 Training Assembly is scheduled for the weekend of April 17 and 18. The exact date, location and delivery method is to be determined. The annual District 5100 Conference is scheduled for April 29 through May 2 at the Vancouver Hilton.

Around The Rotary international World
Africa Declared Free Of Wild PolioVirus: The World Health Organization (WHO) on 25 August announced that transmission of the wild poliovirus has officially been stopped in all 47 countries of its African region. This is a historic and vital step toward global eradication of polio, which is Rotary’s top priority.

After decades of hard won gains in the region, Rotary and its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) — WHO, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Gavi, the vaccine alliance — are proclaiming the milestone an achievement in public health. They offer it as proof that strong commitment, coordination, and perseverance can rid the world of polio.

The certification that the African region is free of wild poliovirus comes after the independent Africa Regional Certification Commission (ARCC) conducted thorough field verifications that confirmed no new cases and analyzed documentation of polio surveillance, immunization, and laboratory capacity by Cameroon, Central African Republic, Nigeria, and South Sudan. The commission had already accepted the documentation of the other 43 countries in the region.

The last cases of polio caused by the wild virus in the African region were recorded in Nigeria’s northern state of Borno in August 2016, after two years with no cases. Conflict, along with challenges in reaching mobile populations, had hampered efforts to immunize children there. Read More

New Rotary Fundraising Tool Coming Soon: Fundraising is about to get personal at Rotary with a new online and mobile-friendly program for members and supporters, called Raise for Rotary. Initially only available in English and U.S. currency, Raise for Rotary gives members, donors, and participants a new opportunity to create custom fundraising pages to share with their social networks and raise funds for The Rotary Foundation. The new platform will be promoted in September.

Make plans now to start a virtual fundraiser with Raise for Rotary to celebrate special occasions and share it with family members and friends. Athletic pursuits, tributes, and responses to current events are also popular reasons to garner support for a favorite Rotary cause. This new fundraising platform will help increase our impact with more contributions collected for Foundation funds, such as the World Fund, Polio Fund, Disaster Response Fund, and Rotary’s areas of focus.

By sharing these fundraising pages widely on social media, email, or text messaging, more people will learn about and support the good work that Rotary and Rotaract clubs do in local communities and around the world.

Last Week’s Program: No Program (Golf Tournament)
Did you miss a meeting or want to go back and check out a program again? Most of our programs since May are archived on our club YouTube page. Visit https://bit.ly/fgrotaryprograms.

Club Calendar
All Club Activities Are On Zoom Unless Otherwise Noted
Wed., Sept. 2: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Program: Tim Schauermann, Pacific University Reopening
Thurs., Sept. 3: Steak Sale Pickup, 4-6 p.m.
Jeff Duyck’s Warehouse, 19th Avenue at Main St.
Wed., Sept. 9: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Program: Court Carrier, City of Forest Grove Rebranding & Business Opportunities
Thurs., Sept. 10: Executive Board Meeting, 7 a.m.
Wed., Sept. 16: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Program: To Be Determined