If you didn’t make it to our last Rotary Club of Forest Grove meeting, here’s what you missed…

Online Meetings: 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

Upcoming Meetings: Please note that there will not be a club weekly meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 23, in observance of Christmas. Additionally, there will be no Thirsty Thursday meeting this month.

Hope For The Holidays: Thank you to all of our club members who have donated toward our annual Hope For The Holidays project. As of Wednesday, $10,700 in pledges and donations had been collected.

Due to the pandemic, there are some changes to the program for this year. The amount provided is being reduced from $500 to $250, which will allow the club to help more families. We will also be doing the shopping at Walmart over three separate evenings, Dec. 16-18, from 6-8 p.m.

If you would like to participate in this year’s shopping nights or have questions about the program, please contact Claudia Yakos.

Troop 213 Christmas Tree Sales: It is officially the holiday season and Scouts BSA Troop 213’s Christmas Tree Stand is open for business! The tree lot in the Safeway parking lot is open weekdays from 5 to 7 p.m. and on Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. If you wish to purchase a tree earlier on weekdays, you can pay at Maridon’s Restaurant.

Trees are available while supplies last. Five to seven-foot Douglas firs are available from $30 to $40 while five to eight-foot noble firs are available from $40 to $60.

This is Troop 213’s major fundraiser of the year and will go cover the troop’s annual charter renewal, leader training, merit badges and, most importantly, to help offset costs of summer camp for many scouts.

Thank You Janet Peters & Allstate: Our sincere thanks to Rotarian Janet Peters, who has secured a $1,000 grant from Allstate to assist in two club projects. A $500 portion will go to benefit Hope For The Holidays, while another $500 will go to the project to refurbish the barbeque built by the club at Rogers Park. Thank you Janet & Allstate!

Optional Giving Invoice: Members have received an optional giving invoice by both regular mail and email. This provides members an opportunity to give donations to The Rotary Foundation and Polio Plus as well as our club’s two hallmark programs, Hope For The Holidays and the Scholarship Program. For more details or questions, please contact club treasurer Lucas Welliver, lucaswelliver@gmail.com.

So far through the option giving invoice, our club has seen donations of $3,085 for Hope For The Holidays, $2,435 toward the Rotary Foundation’s Annual Fund, $815 towards the club’s Scholarship Fund and $790 towards PolioPlus.

President-Nominee For Our Club: The Nominating Committee is in the process of identifying the next president-nominee for our club. This person would follow Josh Shinoda in being our club president for the 2023-24 Rotary Year.

Members are encouraged to provide names of individuals to the Nominating Committee of members that they believe would do well as president of our club. The names of those individuals will be kept confidential to the Nominating Committee. The committee’s goal is to have an individual identified and selected before Dec. 31.

The training and leadership experience Rotary provides is tremendous and the benefits are priceless,” said club immediate past president Tim Pearson. “Compensation comes in the form of that amazing feeling you get when doing good in your community and for people around the world.  I like to call it ‘Psychic Income.’”

If you would like to forward a name for consideration or have questions, please contact Tim.

Support Local Business: The Forest Grove/Cornelius Chamber of Commerce would like to encourage all the area businesses or individuals to purchase gift cards from the local restaurants who are in desperate need right now and donate those cards to the Forest Grove Food Bank who could also use some extra help in this especially critical time.  Whether you mail them or drop those cards off at the Chamber, we will make sure they get to those in need before the holidays are over. For more information, please contact Juanita Lint at the chamber at 503-357-3006 or director@visitforestgrove.com.

Chamber Grants: In other Chamber of Commerce news, Juanita Lint reported that the Chamber has received a $70,000 grant to provide heaters and tents to help provide space for outdoor dining for local restaurants. So far, 19 local eateries have applied to the Chamber to utilize those funds. In addition, the Chamber has also applied for a grant to provide for software updates and point of sale enhancements for restaurants to enhance online ordering & delivery.

FGHS Community Food Pantry: Even with schools closed, the need for resources at the Forest Grove High School Community 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. There is particular need for dish soap and laundry soap.

During the fall, the Food Pantry will be open on Mondays from 2- 4 p.m. Donations are accepted on-site on Mondays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The pantry will remain open on Mondays over the Winter Break.

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.

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.

Rotary Phone Tree: The phone tree continues and has been re-shuffled to keep things fresh. The latest phone tree was emailed out last week. If you have questions, or if your information on the Phone Tree is not correct, contact Paul Waterstreet.

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.

Blood Drive Upcoming: St Anthony’s Catholic Church will be partnering with the Red Cross for a blood drive on Tuesday, Jan. 26, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the church’s parish hall at1660 Elm Street. Advance appointments are required and the Red Cross is adhering to strict COVID-19 safety protocols. To sign up for an appointment, please call 800-RED-CROSS or visit redcrossblood.org.

Past Programs: 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.

Around District 5100
‘Grow Rotary’ District Committee: District 5100 is facing a challenge and we would like to share it with all of you. We have reviewed the last 15 years of membership and discovered the District has lost one Rotary club per year over that time frame. This phenomenon has been a consistent fact dating back to the early 2000s and is primarily the reason why the membership within District 5100 has declined. Basically, we have dropped from 4,000 members 15 years ago to approximately 3,300 members today.

So, this year, the District decided to launch a new initiative focusing on growth opportunities within our geographic area of District 5100 and we created a ‘Grow Rotary’ Committee. The ‘Grow Rotary’ Committee has eight members including Immediate Past District Governor Diane Noriega and Past District Governor Kristi Halvorson, current governor line representatives Steve Williams and Jim Boyle. The committee also includes District Membership Committee representatives in Dennis Long and Raven Russell and a couple of Assistant Governors, Susanne Holmberg and Dennis Curtis, who have been instrumental in starting different types of Rotary clubs in the past.

The primary objective is to start new Rotary clubs where no Rotary clubs exist.  We currently have interest in starting clubs in Sandy and Happy Valley. If you have friends, family or know former Rotarians who might be interested in joining these clubs as charter members, please contact iPDG Diane Noriega for Sandy, Dennis Curtis for Happy Valley and Jim Boyle for all other opportunities.

District 5100 Training Assembly: This year’s District 5100 Training Assembly, which is typically an in-person event, will be delivered online once again this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sessions that are specific to club and district positions are scheduled to be delivered on Saturday, Apr. 10. Sessions providing general topics to the entire Rotary membership are scheduled to be delivered on Saturday, Apr. 17. More details will be made available in the coming months.

Around Rotary International
Rotary’s Newest Object Of Focus – Protecting The Environment: Rotary shares an interest in protecting our common legacy: the environment. We are committed to supporting activities that strengthen the conservation and protection of natural resources, advance ecological sustainability, and foster harmony between communities and the environment. We empower communities to access grants and other resources, embrace local solutions, and spur innovation in an effort to address the causes and reduce the effects of climate change and environmental degradation. Read More

Why I Raise Money For The Rotary Foundation (by Foundation Trustee Brenda Cressey): Several years ago, my husband and I had the opportunity to take part in a multi-project mission with more than 100 Rotarians, spouses, Rotaractors and even a few new Rotarians from Rotary District 5280. We flew to Panama to visit project sites, perform cataract surgeries, and deliver wheelchairs.

There were several “Rotary moments” on that trip, but the truly unforgettable moment for me was when a grandfather, having no legs, was presented with the gift of mobility in the form of a bright red wheelchair.

Seeing his grandson in tears reminded me that we not only changed that grandfather’s life, but the life of that young boy who had been lovingly carrying his grandfather everywhere since he became big enough to do so. Moments like that one are why I never miss an opportunity to promote the World Fund and encourage others to support it with their generous giving.

As an alum of The Rotary Foundation, I have also visited project sites in Mexico several times, working with local Rotarians to develop a long-term partnership that continues to this day. Read More

Last Week’s Program: Ryan Wells City of Cornelius

Click Here To View The Entire Program

At Wednesday’s meeting we were joined by Ryan Wells, the community development director for the City of Cornelius, who presented on the continued growth taking place in the community.

Ryan opened with providing updates on how the city of conducting business during the COVID-19 pandemic. City offices are partially staffed at this time, with employees working both from offices and from home. Public meetings are pre-application meetings for development permits are being conducted online. Development inquiries continue for both commercial and residential development.

Ryan noted that, despite the pandemic, there has been no sign of slowing in homebuilding in Cornelius. In his experience working in planning and urban development, this has been the most robust homebuilding season that he has ever seen.

The City of Cornelius continues to grow. The city has now has a population of 12,635 people and an area of 2.36 square miles. Of those 12,635 residents, 51.5 percent are Latino.

Ryan spent much of the rest of the presentation highlighting a number of key development projects that Cornelius has seen over the last two to three years.

Commerical Development Highlights
• Cornelius Place, which was built as a public/private partnership to house Cornelius Library and two stories of affordable senior housing. Since its opening, the library has experienced double the number of checkouts.

• The Higher Taste, a manufacturer of frozen and fresh vegetarian and vegan foods. Opened a 17,200-square-foot manufacturing facility earlier this year.

• Myers Container, a manufacturer of steel drums, taken over the 183,00-square-foot former Stewart-Stiles facility. Approximately 100,000 square feet is being used to manufacture steel drums with the rest of the building being used for warehouse space.

• Development is in process for construction of a Carl’s Jr. restaurant on the former Happy Hour restaurant site between Adair and Baseline near Walmart.

Residential Development
• Greystone: A 54 unit single-family residential subdivision with neighborhood park. Located off NW 341st Ave.

• Council Creek Terrace A 56-lot residential townhouse subdivision project located on the north end of the city along 19th Ave. Will have a pocket park overlooking Council Creek.

• Brooks Terrace: Located along No. 7th Ave., near Wilco. This is a 15-lot subdivision with 34 single and multi-family units. It is a functional continuation of the Cedar Terrace development.

• Laurel Woods: This 905-lot project features both single-family attached and detached residential subdivision. This is the biggest residential development in Cornelius history. It is being built over 12 phases with phases 1-7 currently under construction. The development includes 10.25 acres of open space, including 6.5 acre a community park and 0.9-mile trail. Park will include an accessible playground developed in concert with Harper’s Playground.

A total of 1,217 new residential units have been approved since 2015. The majority of these have been single-family units. The city expects a 25-30 percent population increase over the next five years.

Club Calendar
All Club Activities Are On Zoom Unless Otherwise Noted
Wed., Dec. 16: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Program: Megan Van de Mark, Certified Backyard Habitat Program
Dec. 16-18: Hope For The Holidays
Contact Claudia Yakos for more details
Wed., Dec. 23: No Meeting. Merry Christmas!
Wed., Dec. 30: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Program: Maria Reyes, Oregon Zoo