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

Scholarship Program: The application window is now open for the 2021 Rotary Club of Forest Grove Scholarships. The scholarship program is open to all graduating high school seniors residing in the Forest Grove, Banks and Gaston school district attendance areas.

This year, through the work of Sharon Olmstead and the Scholarship Committee, the entire application process will be done online. Applications must be submitted by midnight on Thursday, Apr. 1. Click Here For Full Scholarship Detail Information.

For additional questions, please contact Sharon Olmstead at sharon.olmstead8571@gmail.com.

Club Visioning: The club visioning process allows Rotary clubs to look critically at their own clubs and create goals and direction for the next five years. It has been almost five years since our last club visioning process and it is time to do it again. Club members are invited to a virtual club-visioning event on Saturday, Feb. 27, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The District 5100 Club Visioning Committee will guide this exercise. If you are interested in participating, please contact President Julia Kollar. There is the possibility that the visioning session will be broken into two shorter meetings instead of one long one.

Rotary Foundation Update: Despite the pandemic, our club is making great strides towards its fundraising goals for The Rotary Foundation. To date, our club has raised $5,909 towards a goal of $9,500 toward the Foundation’s Annual Fund and $1,192 towards our $3,000 PolioPlus Fund goal. The club’s goals towards Rotary Foundation fundraising and other goals for the Rotary Year can be found on the Rotary Club Central section of the Rotary website.

In addition to the fundraising for The Rotary Foundation, the club has raised approximately $18,800 through our steak sales, the wine sale and member contributions that directly go toward our club’s local work, such as Hope For The Holidays and our Scholarship Program. Thank you for continuing to be so generous during this challenging time.

Hope For The Holidays: Thank you to all of our club members who made our 2020 Hope For The Holidays event such as a success! In all, the club was able to serve a record 45 families, presenting each with a $250 Walmart gift card to use on the Dec. 21 shopping night. In addition to the families, $1,000 was provided to the Forest Grove High School Food Pantry to shop for food and other critical supplies. A special thank you to the 22 Rotarians and their family members who took part on shopping night and to the steering committee, chaired by Claudia Yakos.

A full recap of the event can be found on the Rotary Club of Forest Grove Website.

Photos from the event can be found by Clicking Here and Clicking Here.

Concours d’Elegance Update: The Concours Committee is busy making plans for July 18, 2021!

This year’s Concours will likely look different from the past, and the committee is busy preparing for many different scenarios. As of now, we are planning for an in-person show. However, we are making sure that a move online will be possible. We hope that by April we will know more about the likelihood of having a show. In the meantime, we have been busy with backend changes to class structure, website hosting, virtual car shows, and more! Registration for the 2021 Concours is scheduled to open on February 1. More details to come.

Follow-Up – End Poverty Program: Our Jan. 6 program presenter, Peter Fry with Endpoverty, is in need of advisors to add to their network. Endpoverty is a nonprofit focusing on ending the cycle of poverty internationally by empowering local entrepreneurs and creating more jobs for their communities. Advisors would provide guidance in their areas of expertise to these entrepreneurs. Below are some of the types of advisors they are in need of:

• E-commerce (Jeilo): Online sales/marketing products consumables.
• Business Strategy (Health): Pathology Network & Aroha Center – logistics, business strategy (treatment or just diagnosis), health value chain.
• Animal Husbandry (GenePlus): Logistics.
• Franchising (Farmers Pride): Pricing strategy, distribution, logistics, procurement.

If you are interested, email Josh Shinoda.

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 a 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: An updated version of the Rotary Club of Forest Grove phone tree was emailed out recently. 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 at 1660 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
District Youth Exchange Update (From District 5100 Newsletter & Dan Boldt, District Youth Exchange Chair): Your District 5100 Youth Exchange Committee anticipates –finally –the availability of vaccinations, the opening of in-person schools and re-energized Rotary Youth Exchange students for 2021. Thus, the committee is cautiously gearing up to prepare these students for their 2021 exchanges.

Rotary clubs have completed their recruiting and students have been nominated to the District. District youth exchange officers have interviewed each new student and are now preparing the requisite training for the new students. The lengthy formal applications are nearly complete for:

39 Long-term Outbound Candidates (OBCs) for the 2021-22 school year.

• 12 new.
• 27 “deferred” students who would be overseas right now had the pandemic not caused the cancelation of all 2020-21 Rotary Youth Exchanges.

43 Short-Term Outbound Candidates for the summer of 2021.

• 11 new.
• 4 students who moved from Long-term to Short-term
• 28 “deferred” students whose exchanges were canceled in the summer of 2020.

On January 9-10, the first short-term orientation was presented to those students virtually. On January 16-17, the first long-term orientation will be presented to the 12 new long-term OBCs in-person or virtually (students and their families have decided which) at the 4-H Center in West Salem, practicing full COVID protocols. The smaller-than-normal group allows us to do this by breaking the students into three smaller groups, with one or two adults rotating between each of three “lesson” rooms. This was very much a classroom setting, not a social gathering.

Planning is underway for the traditional Eastern Oregon Discovery Excursion for Jan. 28-31, For our new outbound candidates, this event must be dramatically smaller this year to comply with state mandates. Nonetheless, orientation lessons will be continued, final country assignments made, and a day of skiing, snowboarding, or snowshoeing will be enjoyed. Planning is also underway to re-connect with the “deferred” students by bringing them on their own Eastern Oregon Discovery Excursion, IF coronavirus conditions will allow, on Feb. 26-28.

Hosting Opportunity: Has your club has ever considered joining the Rotary Exchange Program? If so, the 2021-22 school year might provide the perfect opportunity to “dip your toes into the water” without recruiting an outbound or being obligated in future years.

Let me explain. Having TWO years of outbound candidates for the 2021-22 school year has created a one-year “bubble” of outbound candidates and their corresponding inbound students. Some clubs have nominated one new outbound candidate in addition to their “deferred” OBC. In some cases, like for my small club in The Dalles, this will stretch club resources. If another club would step in to host one of these inbounds, it would reduce the overload for my club. If this sounds interesting, it would be an opportunity for your club to experience an inbound exchange student without recruiting an outbound or committing to future years. You would need a school planning to operate in-person and two or three host families. If this sounds interesting, please contact me at dan.boldt@outlook.com.

District 5100 Training Assembly: This year’s District 5100 District Training Event (formally District 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 coming soon.

District 5100 Conference: The District 5100 Conference, slated for Apr. 30 and May 1, will be online. This will make the event as accessible to all Rotarians more than ever.

When the District Conference Committee, chaired by our own Claudia Yakos, started planning, chose the theme of “Wandering Through New Doors.” Now, as the COVID-19 pandemic is keeping us physically distant, it’s more important than ever to focus on the strength and opportunity that comes with opening new doors of opportunities. The District 5100 Conference will educate, connect, inspire and offer virtual fellowship. More information to come.

Around Rotary International
In Communities With No Services, Incremental Steps Can Go Along Way (by Diana Schoberg): In many remote places, toilets that are connected to sewers or septic tanks are the exception, not the rule. In those areas, toilets that operate without water seem like an ideal solution. So-called dry, or urine-diverting, toilets feature two or three holes: one for urinating, one for defecating, and, in some models, one for washing. They don’t cost much to operate, and they don’t smell. And both the urine and the solid waste can be treated and used as fertilizer. What’s not to like?

Clean water, sanitation, and hygiene education are basic necessities for a healthy environment and a productive life. Join Rotary in helping provide access to clean water.

But when a group of Rotary members tried to bring these toilets to a remote island in Indonesia, the community wasn’t ready for technology that the Rotarians thought of as no-frills, but the intended recipients saw as overly complicated. “The community didn’t want it, and in fact the project had to be redesigned. It cost the project a couple of years,” says Mark Balla, president of the Rotary Club of Box Hill Central, Australia, and vice chair of the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Rotary Action Group. “People thought it was a great idea but didn’t think about the cultural appropriateness. That’s so important when developing a project.” Read More

NOTE: Much of the material in this section comes from the member section of the Rotary website. We encourage you to log on and explore what the website has to offer at my.rotary.org.

Last Week’s Program: Karen Hill, Cornelius Public Library

Click Here To View The Entire Program

Last week, Karen Hill, executive director of the Cornelius Public Library, joined us to provide an update on how the library’s first two years of operation in its new building and how services have continued during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Currently, the library is only open for items to be picked up. The building itself is not open to the public. The library is open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday through Tuesday and 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Friday.

The library was about to celebrate its first anniversary last March when the pandemic hit. The café opened on Feb. 8 and continues to be open on a limited basis. The library launched an online program on April 30 and re-opened for curbside book pickup on June 8. The library was open during the summer and fall for limited inside browsing and computers by appointment but went back to pick-up only on Nov. 13 due to the governor’s COVID restrictions.

It was a challenge for the library to pivot for providing the 80 programs being offered. The library has re-arranged physical space, including removing all furniture and locking all individual spaces to allow for appropriate physical distancing. When in-person services are allowed, it is by appointment only with masks required. Services allowed indoors include browsing for books, using computers and printers and getting reading and research help.

In the last half of 2020, the Cornelius Public Library issued 177 new library cards, answered 2,486 questions, provided for 25,352 checkouts and had 354 appointments made. In addition, 2,216 people picked up crafts. Before COVID, the library was seeing 10,000 checkouts per month. Since July, the staff has presented 97 events/programs online and e-book usage is up 56 percent.

Among the services the library provides for pickup include the checkout of books, movies, etc.; computer printouts, take-home crafts (origami, art, STEM projects, etc.) and borrowing of laptops and WiFi hotspots. The library currently has 10 WiFi hotspots and will be purchasing 20 more in the near future.

Outreach services the library has provided include Farmer’s Market on Fridays, pop-up library services in community parks, Live Zoom tours for schools and Library 2U for residents in senior housing.

24-hour services continue at wccls.org/libraries-continue. This includes Kanopy (an online movie streaming service), Mango Languages and Lynda.com.

Despite the pandemic, all non-public operations of the library continue. The staff has purchased 3,370 new books with 20 percent of those titles in Spanish. The staff also completed work on the $5.7 million capital campaign. The library received contributions of over $18,000 in December and another $18,000 in January.

Club Calendar
All Club Activities Are On Zoom Unless Otherwise Noted

Wed., Jan. 27: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Program: Peter Kass, Homeplate Youth Services

Wed., Feb. 3: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Program: Barbara Peschiera & Elke Downer, Children’s Cancer Association

Thurs., Feb. 4: Executive Board Meeting, 7 a.m.

Wed., Feb. 10: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Program: Angeles Godinez, Centro Cultural

Thurs., Feb. 11: Board Meeting, 7 a.m.