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

Club Announcements
We Are At Prime Time: A reminder that our Wed., Feb. 24 and Wed., Mar. 4 meetings will take place at Prime Time, 4450 Pacific Ave., Forest Grove. We will return to the Boxer Pause on the Pacific University campus on Wed., Mar. 11.

Dues Adjustments: With the move from having meals catered to taking them from the commons when we meet at Pacific University, our club’s meal price has been reduced to $7.70 per member. The club will be adjusting quarterly billings to $10 per meal starting with the March billing. The difference between $7.70 and $10 will help cover the cost of prospective guest meals, special guest meals and dates that we meet off-campus (where meal costs are higher).

Rotary Scholarships: Applications for the 2020 Rotary Club of Forest Grove Scholarship Program are now available! The program is open to graduating seniors who live in the Forest Grove, Gaston and Banks school district attendance areas. The program is funded through the proceeds our club receives by putting on the annual Concours d’Elegance. Seniors who wish to apply can get an application from their school guidance counselor or download the form from the Rotary Club of Forest Grove Website. Applications are due by Thurs., April 9.

Jazz & Dinner Event: As part of the effort to bring more people to Forest Grove in conjunction with the Concours d’Elegance, Court Carrier (through his role as city tourism director) is developing a wine and jazz event that will take place on Friday, July 17, 4:30 p.m., at the Tualatin Estate Vineyard. The event is designed to be a community event featuring a number of local wineries. If you are interested in more information, or are interested in being part of the steering committee, please contact Court at ccarrieriv@gmail.com.

Rogers Park Service Opportunity: Our club has applied for, and received, a $2,000 District 5100 matching grant to go towards a project in Rogers Park that will be tied into the renovations that will take place with the construction of Anna & Abby’s Yard. More details on what this project will entail will be forthcoming.

Crab Feed: Our annual crab feed has been scheduled for Wednesday, March 18, at the Forest Grove Senior & Community Center. This will be an evening meeting and no noon meeting will be held that day.

As part of the Crab Feed, we will do our annual recognition of Paul Harris Fellows. If you think you are close to receiving your first or next Paul Harris Fellow recognition, or want to know how close you might be, place contact our Rotary Foundation chair, Tom Raabe.

Steak Feed: Save the date! Our annual Steak Feed, which raises funds for our involvement in the Rotary Youth Exchange program, is scheduled for Friday, June 12, on the Pacific University campus. More details will be available soon.

FGHS Community Food Pantry: The Community Service Committee is looking to develop a partnership with the new Community Food Pantry that has opened at Forest Grove High School. Club leaders have met with the high school to not only discuss volunteer opportunities but also possible donations of food, money and equipment.

The pantry is currently looking for donations of refrigerators, food and clothing racks (think the rolling Gorilla Rack style) and clear storage bins. If you can help in procuring some of those items for the pantry, please contact Bryce Baker, baker.w.bryce@gmail.com.

The Community Food Pantry is currently open Wednesday through Friday after school and on Mondays and Tuesdays by appointment.

ShelterBox: Our two club ShelterBox ambassadors, Jeannine Murrell and Pamelajean Myers, recently attending the ShelterBox 20th anniversary conference in Las Vegas. The duo will be presenting a program in the near future on the conference and an update on ShelterBox’s work around the world. Jeannine reported that approximately 88 million people worldwide have been displaced through disaster and that ShelterBox can reach approximately 20 percent of those people.

Creating Friendships Through Peace: Rotarian Michael Colvin is again working with Creating Friendships Through Peace to bring teenagers from Cyprus to spend three weeks this summer in the United States. If you are interested in learning more about the program or are interesting in helping host, please contact Michael.

Board of Directors Elections: We will be holding elections for three expiring Board of Directors positions at our Wednesday, March 11 meeting. Members of the board serve three-year terms. Individuals elected this year would serve until June 2023 and will replace expiring terms for Doug Thompson, Mackenzie Johnston Carey and Josh Shinoda. Nominations can be made to secretary Lucas Welliver until Wednesday, Mar. 4. Nominees must have at least one year of service to the club as of the beginning of the Rotary Year on July 1, 2019.

Next Week’s Duty Roster for Feb. 24: Make note of your assignment!
Greeters: Michael Colvin & Jim Crisp
Thought for the Day: Josh Shinoda
Rototeller Article: Tom Meier
Raffle Prize: Mike Hundley

District Announcements
Save The Date – District Training Assembly: The 2020 District 5100 Training Assembly will take place on Sat., Apr. 4, at Oregon City High School. Anyone interested in learning more about Rotary and our district and anyone who is involved or wishes to be involved in the leadership of the club is strongly encouraged to attend. Sign ups will be circulated at weekly Wednesday meetings. A full rundown of available sessions is on DacDB.

Save The Date – District 5100 Conference: The Annual District 5100 Conference will take place May 14-17 at the Mt. Hood Oregon Resort (formerly The Resort At The Mountain) in Welches. This conference is a celebration of the Rotary year and the good work our Rotarians do in District 5100. There is a block of rooms set aside for the District at $129 per night. Mention “Rotary District 5100 Conference” for that rate. Reservations can be made by calling 503-622-2220 or online at mthood-resort.com.

Rotary And Toastermasters Partnering: Members of Toastmasters and Rotary will enhance their skills, broaden their networks and increase their positive impact in communities through a new collaboration. The ongoing relationship between the two organizations will begin at the grassroots level with local club members learning and working together. Additionally, Toastmasters will create a set of eight structured communication and leadership development courses for Rotary with a phased rollout that will be available in English in 2020, and in more languages in 2021.

“The strategic alliance with Rotary is exciting and allows both organizations to leverage our unique and similar strengths,” says Deepak Menon, Toastmasters’ 2019-20 International President. “We look forward to providing our current and prospective members with ongoing additional offerings that meet their evolving needs.” Read More At Rotary.org.

Last Week’s Program: Greg Nokes, African American History In Oregon
Last week’s speaker was Greg Nokes. A retired newspaper journalist who worked with Associated Press both domestically and broad as well as with The Oregonian, Greg is now an author and lecturer on Pacific Northwest history. With February being Black History Month, Greg presented on African American history in Oregon.

While it is known that Oregon was admitted to the union as a free state in 1859, many do not know that Oregon also barred African Americans from living in the state at the time of statehood. In fact, there were a small number of whites in the Oregon territory that owned slaves. In the 1860s, there were between 50 and 100 slaves kept in the state.

Greg became interested in Oregon’s history with slavery when researching the story of Ruben Shipley. One of his books on the subject, Breaking Chains, details the story of Robin & Polly Holmes. The pair came to Oregon with their children as slaves and gained their freedom in 1850, but slaveholder Nathaniel Ford refused to give up their children. Robin Holmes successfully sued Ford in Oregon’s territorial court and won the freedom of the children.

You can learn more about Greg Nokes and his books at gregnokes.com.

Club Calendar
Wed., Feb. 26: Weekly Meeting, Noon, Prime Time, 4450 Pacific Ave., Forest Grove
Program: Richard Thompson, The Trolleys of Forest Grove
Wed., Mar. 4: Weekly Meeting, Noon, Prime Time, 4450 Pacific Ave., Forest Grove
Program: Melissa Erickson, Adelante Mujeres
Thurs., Mar. 12: Executive Board Meeting, 7 a.m., Moore & Welliver Lawyers
Wed., Mar. 18: Crab Feed, 5:30 p.m., Forest Grove Senior & Community Center
Thurs., Mar. 19: Board Meeting, 7 a.m., Forest Grove Chamber Office
Sat., Apr. 4: District Training Assembly, Oregon City High School