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

Meeting Location Change – RSVP For Lunch!: Once again this week (Wed., Mar. 8), we will meet in the Grove Room at the Forest Grove School District offices, 1728 Main Street.

The deadline for RSVP for this week’s catered lunch, provided by Sundial Bakery, has passed. If you did not RSVP for lunch, though, we encourage you to attend anyway for fellowship and our program with Peter Brandom, the new city manager for the City of Cornelius.

End of Zoom Meetings: With more people attending weekly meetings in person and with continual technical and audio quality problems in our meeting space at Pacific University, the decision has been made to end the Zoom option for weekly meetings. With changes to Pacific University’s COVID policies (vaccination is no longer required to be one campus), we hope to see more people attending in person.

Welcome Jodie Loeks: We are proud to welcome our newest member, Jodie Loeks, to the club! Sponsored for induction by Michael Cook, Jodie was inducted at last week’s meeting.

For the last 13 years, Jodie has worked as a financial advisor with Country Financial in Forest Grove. She is licensed in property, casualty and life insurance, and investments for both individuals and businesses and provides financial planning services to both businesses and individuals.

Jodie’s past professional history includes working in higher education as a financial aid director and a director of student services, as a business owner, an office manager and a purchasing and safety manager for a manufacturer with employees in three states.

A native of the Portland area, Jodie grew up in the countryside of Helvetia, just down the street from the famed Helvetia Tavern. Jodie attended Hillsboro High School until her senior year and graduated from Sunset High School. She also attended the College of Legal Arts.

Jodie has been married for the last 32 years to her husband, Mark. Together they have two adult children, Jordan and Cameron, and are the proud parents of two schnauzers. They have resided for the last six years in Banks. In her spare time, Jodie enjoys gardening, crafting, RV camping and golfing.

Jodie has also supported a number of non-profit organizations over the years, including the Beaverton Woman’s Club, Home Plate, Hazelton Betty Ford, Portland Bible Church, Special Olympics and The Fourth Dimension Recovery Centers.

Steak Sale – Thank You!: We had another successful Steak Sale thanks to all of you! We sold 130 steaks, which will provide more than $1,000 that will be earmarked towards the Rotary Youth Exchange program. Thank you!

Youth Exchange Update: Back in January, we learned that our selected outbound Rotary Youth Exchange student had withdrawn from the program for personal reason. 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 should find out which student we are hosting in the next weeks. It is a high likelihood that our student will come from Algeria or Tanzania.

The “Power On One” program has asked our club to participate in a level of funding called Enhanced Plus, where the host district pays for health insurance, clothing assistance, Rotary sponsored trips and provide a monthly stipend. Students and their families are responsible for airfare and visa and interview costs.

District 5100 is very supportive of the “Power of One” program and will support our club with additional funding should our club not be able to come up with the necessary funds.

This is an exciting opportunity for our club to continue its tradition of involvement with Rotary Youth Exchange for this year. Be watching for more details soon.

Lunch Cost Increase: Since the start of 2023, Bon Appetit has increased the amount charged to the club for lunches. Effective immediately, the club charge for weekly lunches will be $9 per person. Please contact President Janet if you have any questions.

Crab Feed – Save The Date!: This year’s Crab Feed will be on Wednesday, Mar. 29. This annual event allows us to come together as a club, enjoy fellowship and honor those members who have become Paul Harris Fellows or have reached their next Paul Harris Fellow level. We will not have a noon meeting on Mar. 29.

The crab dinner, which will include hot soup, salad, bread, a half-pound of crab and beverages, will be $45. A vegetarian option will be available for $25. Crab will also be available for purchase by the pound at market price.

Use the links below to pre-order your tickets!
Regular Crab Feed Ticket, $45
Crab Feed To-Go Meal, $42
Crab Feed Vegetarian Meal Ticket, $25

For questions, or if you want to be involved on the planning committee, please contact Julia Kollar at 503-939-2212 or juliakollar@aol.com.

In addition, Parri Van Dyke is once again putting together a silent auction and a dessert dash with proceeds to benefit The Rotary Foundation. We are looking for specific items such as weekend getaways, wine and wine tastings, hosted dinner and themed gift baskets…or maybe you have an idea of something to donate! If you would like to donate, please contact Parri at 503-680-1553 or vandykeparri@gmail.com.

NOTE: Payments for both the silent auction and the dessert dash must be paid for on the evening of the event. We will not be billing members for purchases this year.

Rotary Scholarships – Applications Open: Applications are now open for the 2023 Rotary Club of Forest Grove Scholarship Program. The program provides one-time scholarships to graduating seniors that reside in the Forest Grove, Banks or Gaston school district attendance areas. The awards may be used towards tuition of any college or vocational school in the United States.

The Scholarship Program is made possible by proceeds from our annual Concours d’Elegance car show.

Applications are due by midnight on Apr. 6, 2023. For more details and a link to the application, Click Here. For questions, please contact Scholarship Committee chair Sharon Olmstead, sharon.olmstead8571@gmail.com.

Rotaract/Interact Liaisons Needed: We are in need of club liaisons that would like to be involved with both the Rotaract Club at Pacific University and with the Interact Club at Forest Grove High School. Both clubs are connected to our Rotary club and aim to provide service opportunities to students. If you are interested, or would like more information on what the role entails, please contact President Janet.

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 Concert Event – Help Wanted: The Concours Committee has given the green light to go ahead with another concert event linked to the annual show. The concert is tentatively scheduled for Friday, July 14 with the Concours taking place on Sunday, July 16. If you are interested in helping plan and execute the concert event, please contact Court Carrier at 971-404-7864 or ccarrieriv@gmail.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 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
You Asked. Gordon McInally Answered: If you ask Gordon McInally anything about his upcoming year as Rotary International president, he’ll immediately stop you. “It’s not about my year. It’s about one of Rotary’s years,” he corrects. “I’m a great believer in continuity, and I don’t see the years in isolation.”

On a blustery October day, McInally (that’s pronounced MAK’-ihn-al-ee) sat down with six members of Rotary’s communications team to take questions gathered via social media from Rotary members around the world. He has a quick sense of humor and an easy banter that filled the room with laughter as a film crew set up boom mikes, cameras, and lights. In introducing himself as a member of the Rotary Club of South Queensferry, Scotland, he quipped about his distinctive speech: “Despite the lack of an accent, I am Scottish, and very proud of that fact.”

McInally’s Scottish heritage is apparent in his office, where a brightly colored landscape painting by the Scottish artist John Lowrie Morrison adorns a wall. Scotland isn’t always as dreary as it is typically depicted, he notes. “Sometimes it’s a very bright place.” In fact, there are a lot of stereotypes about Scotland that McInally is looking to move past. “The tartan, the plaid, it’s very traditional, very stereotypical,” he says. His presidential tie, instead, was inspired by the bright colors used by Morrison, his favorite artist, along with the colors in a seashell from Thailand that helped inspire his presidential theme. Among other colorful curiosities in McInally’s office is a giant cardboard rendition of his head, which he received after a Rotary institute in Minneapolis. Visitors are keen to hold it up for social media selfies. “I think they get more sense out of the head than they do out of me,” he says with a laugh.

McInally joined the South Queensferry club when he was 26 years old. He and his wife, Heather, had recently gotten married and wanted to put down roots in the community outside of Edinburgh. A farmer they had met invited them to a Rotary social event and then to a couple of Rotary meetings, and before McInally knew it, he was on the road to Rotary membership. (Heather McInally is also a Rotarian, belonging to the Borderlands satellite club of the Rotary Club of Selkirk.) “I couldn’t see how a dentist working in isolation in Edinburgh could make a huge difference in the world,” he recalls. “But I very quickly realized that by being part of Rotary, I could, and I did.”

He would like to use his year — scratch that, the 2023-24 Rotary year — to spotlight mental health, an issue that has touched his family directly and that is all too often kept under wraps. McInally is an ambassador for Bipolar UK, an organization that supports people with the illness as well as their families and caregivers. Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland recently launched a partnership with the organization to bring members’ skills to help build a more robust network of support groups around the country. “I’m a big believer in using Rotary members’ skills, rather than just their checkbooks,” he says.

Click Here To Read The Entire Q&A Feature On The Rotary Website.

Last Week’s Program: Tina Reynolds, GG’s House

NOTE: The Rototeller editor/public image chair was out of town for work and was unable to record the program last week. We apologize for the inconvenience. The editor wishes to thank President Janet for providing the recap of the program.

Last week, Tina Reynolds presented to us on GG’s House, provides essentials to people who are living on the street or just need help getting through day-to-day life. GG’s House operates out of a facility on 19th Avenue in the shopping center adjacent to Blackdog Bar & Grill.

The goods that GG’s House provides comes mostly from donations. There are very few grants to fund the program as GG’s House does not want to limit who it helps. They help anyone who needs something.

GG’s House has household items, furniture, personal hygiene items, baby items and more. They will take just about anything that is in good condition and give it back out to the community.

Club Calendar
Wed., Mar. 8: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Grove Room, Forest Grove School District Offices, 1728 Main St., Forest Grove
Program: Peter Brandom, City Manager, City of Cornelius

Thurs., Mar. 9: Executive Board Meeting, 7 p.m.
Via Zoom

Wed., Mar. 15: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Rachel Schulz, Family Justice Center of Washington County

Thurs., Mar. 16: Board Meeting, 7 a.m.
via Zoom

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

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