If you didn’t make it to this week’s Rotary Club of Forest Grove meeting, below is an overview of what you missed.

Announcements
Peace Village: Our Rotary club is partnering with the Daybreak Club to put together a Peace Village camp this summer for local youth. An initial planning meeting is scheduled for Tues., Jan. 15, 7 p.m., at the Forest Grove City Auditorium. Anyone interested in being part of this project is welcome to attend. For more information, contact Loren Waltz. To learn more about Peace Village, Visit Their Website.

Your Dues Are Due: Quarterly dues for the club are now due. If you have not received an invoice in your mailbox or your email inbox, you will very soon. We must pay Rotary and District 5100 dues this month, so please be prompt in remitting your payment.

Hope For The Holidays Pledges: We still have a number of pledges for Hope For The Holidays still outstanding. If you made a pledge to help that service project, please make sure it is paid as soon as possible.

Rotary Foundation Update: To date, club members have contributed a total of $3,705 towards The Rotary Foundation and $1,285 towards PolioPlus. We are a third of the way towards reaching our club goals of $9,000 for TRF giving and $1,500 towards PolioPlus giving. Thank you!

Next In Line: Bryce Baker has agreed to step into the officer rotation for our club. He will serve as club president in 2021-22. We look forward to your leadership. Bryce!

Have A Program Idea?: We have made the transition for program chairs with Julia Kollar starting her term. If you have an idea for a program or would like to present something yourself, let Julia know. She will also have a program planning board at meetings so you can see what is on deck and what dates may be available.

Farmer’s Day: Our annual Farmer’s Day program will take place on Wed., Jan. 23. We will have a speaker from the Oregon State University Extension Service. This is our way to say thank you to all of those in the agricultural industry for all they do for our community. A sign-up to invite farmers in the area will be distributed at next week’s noon meeting.

Next Week’s Duty Roster: Make note of your assignment!
Greeters: Joe Post & Amy Presley
Thought for the Day: Julie Schmidlkofer
Rototeller Article: Jerry Frye
Raffle Prize: Sharon Olmstead

Wednesday’s Program: Stacy Metzger, Forest Grove Fire & Rescue
A retired optometrist and graduate from Pacific University, Stacy Metzger is a support volunteer at Forest Grove Fire and Rescue doing emergency preparedness education in the community. She is also the coordinator for the Forest Grove Map Your Neighborhood preparedness program.

We need to prepare because there is a 37% chance of a magnitude 8 or 9 earthquake happening in the next 50 years. But there are all types of disasters we need to prepare for.

Some New Year’s resolutions for you:

1. Personal preparedness
2. Prepare your neighborhood
3. Prepare Forest Grove

Personal preparedness: You need to be prepared for a minimum of two weeks. But at minimum you should prepare for three days. The number one thing to prepare is to have 1 gallon of water per person per day. Then you need to gather up three days worth of food. If you shelter in place, you can always eat the food in your fridge first. Other things to have is a can opener, first aid supplies, flashlight and extra batteries, matches for camp stove, utensils, plastic bags, small bottle of chlorine bleach, and 3 days of your medication with your prescription number readily available. Also have copies of important telephone numbers and insurance cards.

Network with your neighbors: When a large disaster happens, your neighbors can often become your first responders because 911 will most likely be overloaded. Coordinate a gathering of folks from your neighborhood and you can learn about how to prepare, what equipment you may have, and how we can help each other. You make a map and find out where the gas turn offs are, where elderly or disable people are and who might need help, where children might be alone. You also have a sign for everyone to hang up that says you are either ok or you need assistance.

Prepare Forest Grove: What research has indicated is that even if you have all the resources, the communities that are the most resilient have the strongest social network. This might entail getting together a sort of emergency coalition comprised of all sorts of people from different industries and businesses who are actively coordinating and preparing for a disaster. The first meeting will happen next month. If you are interested in being on this coalition, contact Stacy at stacylmetzger@gmail.com.

Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.

Stacy is presenting a community program on January 26th, from 9am – noon at the Forest Grove High School auditorium. This is a family friendly event, is free, with refreshments provided. You will learn more about how to prepare for an emergency, how we can create a more resilient community, and what the city can and cannot provide.

Club Calendar
Tues., Jan. 15: Peace Village Information Meeting, 7 p.m., Forest Grove City Auditorium
Wed., Jan. 16: Weekly Meeting, Noon, Pacific University
Program – David Noyes, Scouts BSA
Thurs., Jan. 17: Board Meeting, 7 a.m., Forest Grove Chamber Office
Thurs., Jan. 17: Thirsty Thursday/Satellite Club Meeting – Time & Location TBA

Upcoming Programs
Wed., Jan. 16: David Noyes, Cascade Pacific Council, Scouts BSA
Wed., Jan. 23: Farmer’s Day – OSU Extension Service Program
Wed., Jan. 30: Rob Foster – Trip to Pakistan
Wed., Feb. 6: Dr. Lesley Hallick – Pacific University Update