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…

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
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Download Zoom Meeting App For Desktop

Toiletry Drive Update: Thank you to those who helped President Julia with the packaging of toiletries, cleaning supplies and feminine hygiene products for the upcoming distribution at the Forest Grove High School Food Pantry. We have enough toiletries, household cleaning items and feminine hygiene products to provide for 50 families. The materials will be distributed on Monday, April 5, from 2-4 p.m.

This is part of our work with the Forest Grove High School Food Pantry to provide toiletries, personal hygiene items and cleaning materials that are not part of the Oregon Food Pantry’s typical distribution. This effort is funded through $2,000 from our club and a $2,000 matching grant from District 5100. This will help sustain the purchase of these items and distribution over the next few months.

Concours Postponed For 2021: Due to events outside of our control, the Rotary Club of Forest Grove and the Concours d’Elegance steering committee has made the difficult decision to postpone the 2021 Forest Grove Concours d’ Elegance. Car owners who submitted an entry application will not be charged any fees and will be contacted soon. We are looking ahead to the next event on July 17, 2022. What follows is the announcement sent out to entrants and posted on the Concours website.

With heavy hearts, the Steering Committee of the Forest Grove Concours d’Elegance has made the difficult decision to postpone the 2021 field show to 2022. We are working to schedule a cars and coffee and tour on Sunday, July 18, 2021. More details to be communicated later.

This is a tough decision, but after consulting with advisors and long-time supporters, we felt it is the best decision at this time. The current uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic made securing a location extremely difficult for an event of our size. After a heroic effort by the Steering Committee to support large-show alternatives, we decided to refocus our energies toward the future.

The Concours is made possible by collector car owners, Rotary Club volunteers, and sponsors from the community. Many of these supporters and volunteers are focused on staying safe and navigating their businesses during these uncertain times. This includes Pacific University whose event support staff has undertaken the unprecedented task of running on-campus vaccination clinics with an unspecified end date.

Each year, the net proceeds from the Concours d’Elegance fund scholarships and community service projects. The Forest Grove Rotary Club has returned more than $1 million to the community, including direct support of various non-profit organizations, service projects, and scholarships to hundreds of Washington County high school students heading to Pacific University and other institutions of higher education. The local community still depends on this support.

We appreciate the Steering Committee’s hard work, volunteers who donate their time, the enthusiasm of the car owners, and the many sponsors that support our event.

We hope you are safe through these uncertain times, and we appreciate your continued support for 2022. We will see you on Sunday, July 17, 2022.

For more information on the Concours d’Elegance, visit forestgroveconcours.org.

Club Giving Goals Met: Despite the pandemic, our club has come through with its contributions to The Rotary Foundation! We have met our club goal of $9,500 towards the foundation’s Annual Fund and $3,500 towards the PolioPlus Fund. As of April 2, our club has contributed $9,807 towards the Annual Fund and $3,535 towards PolioPlus. Thank you to all of our members for your support of Rotary’s mission around the world.

Remember that you can always check the progress towards our club’s goals online on Rotary Club Central. You must have a registered account on the Rotary website to access Rotary Club Central.

To date, District 5100 ranks No. 1 in Rotary in Polio Plus contributions and No. 2 in Rotary’s total fundraising statistics. Worldwide, however, Rotary is being in fundraising totals compared to this time last year.

Road Cleanup: Thank you to all Rotarians and friends who participated in our semi-annual road cleanup on March 20 along Gales Creek and Thatcher Roads. Many hands made quick work with everyone in and out in two hours (and avoiding last weekend’s rain). Thank you to Bryce Baker, Jim Crisp, Diana Waterstreet, Angela Jones, Melinda Fischer, Duncan Stewart and Greg Nemchick for participating and a special thank you to Andrea Stewart and Paul Waterstreet for their continued work to facilitate the program!

Board of Directors Elections: Be watching your inbox soon for first-round balloting to name three new members to the club’s Board of Directors. The new members will replace Ryan Garcia, Michelle Thomas and Paul Waterstreet, all of who are completing their three-year terms.

Thirsty Thursday/Satellite Club Meeting: Our next Thirsty Thursday/Satellite Club meeting is scheduled for Thursday, April 15 at 6:30 p.m. The location of the meeting will be announced soon.

Rotary Phone Tree: Keep up the work keeping our members in the loop with the Rotary Club of Forest Grove phone tree. 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.

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.

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 5100 Spring Training Event: The District 5100 Spring Training Event (formerly District Training Assembly) is coming up! The virtual training event will take place over two weekends on Saturday, Apr. 10 and Saturday, Apr. 17. Sessions on Apr. 10 are geared towards club officers, including membership chairs, treasurers, Rotary Foundation chairs and more. The second weekend is geared towards anyone interested in learning more about the inner-workings of Rotary.

Two keynote speakers will be appearing as part of the training event. On Apr. 10, the event will be joined Rotary Zone 26 & 27 Director Vicki Puliz. On Apr. 17, the speaker will be Mitty Chang, president and CEO of Candeavor, a digital marketing and web development agency, ad a very-involved Rotarian.

Check Out The Schedules: Apr. 10 | Apr. 17

Attending the Spring Training Event is free to Rotarians but advance registration is required. You can sign up for the event by logging into DacDB and completing the registration form.

District 5100 Conference: Registration is now open for the District 5100 Conference, “Wandering Through New Doors.” This year’s virtual event will take place on Saturday, May 1. This year’s event will include a number of inspirational speakers, headlined by New York Times bestselling author and motivational speaker Andy Andrews and Jordan Harrison, who will present on how the right words said to right people at the right time can facilitate change.

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.

The event is free but pre-registration is required. Visit rotary5100.com to register and learn more.

Special Note: Many members of our club, led by Claudia Yakos, are putting lots of time and effort into making this a great event. Thank you for all who are adding a special Forest Grove touch to the district conference.

Around Rotary International
2021 Rotary Convention Goes Virtual: For the second straight year, the Rotary International Convention will be a virtual event. While this means, unfortunately, that Rotarians will not get together in Taipei, it does mean that any Rotarian in the world will have the chance again to experience the convention’s terrific programming.

Unlike the 2020 convention, there will be a nominal charge for the 2021 virtual convention. Event registration will open in mid-April and will include a promotional fee of $49 for 21 days, with an increase afterward to $65. The cost of each preconvention event is $20. Both the convention and preconvention events include access to the online House of Friendship.

More information will be posted soon at convention.rotary.org.

Last Week’s Program: Cynthia Witham, Salem Rotary Club Haiti Water Projects

Click View To View The Complete Program

Our club is one of a number in District 5100 that has contributed to well drilling and latrine projects in Haiti coordinated by the Salem Rotary Club. Rotarian Cynthia Witham from the Salem club joined us to talk about the history of those projects and the progress that has been made.

When Cynthia joined Rotary, she was intrigued by the fact that providing water to underdeveloped nations was among Rotary’s Areas of Focus. She has a granddaughter that is adopted from Haiti and she thought it would be great to give back to a country that given her family something special. That was the genesis of the Wells for Haiti project.

The club has completed four projects so far with 17 wells drilled in 17 different locations, providing up to 150,000 people with fresh water. A fifth project is now under way. Most of the wells have been drilled in and around the city of Hinche in the central part of the country.

Why Haiti, outside of the connection with Cynthia’s granddaughter? Haiti is the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country and is one of the world’s least developed countries. Unemployment is high and secondary education is available to very few children. There is no electricity in most of the country and the major 2010 earthquake, a cholera outbreak and the COVID-19 pandemic have only made conditions even direr.

By drilling wells and digging latrines, the projects provide safe and sanitary drinking water as well as sanitary bathroom facilities. The water saves lives by providing fresh water not contaminated with disease and provides water to grow vegetable gardens. Because the wells are in place, it gives children time to go to school instead of going to fetch water.

The process to see these projects in Haiti through has been challenging. Communication is difficult because of not only the language barrier but because of the laid-back culture. It may take weeks to get answers to questions. There is corruption in the country, which include Rotarians in Haiti, making it difficult to get money right to the projects instead of into people’s pockets. In some cases, money promised from local Rotary clubs was pulled back because it took so long to get projects approved.

The Salem Rotary Club is in the process of writing grants and fundraising for its fifth project, which will drill six more wells and two more latrines. The wells will also have solar panels, making the project more sustainable. The total of cost of the project is $100,000. Local clubs will provide $35,000 with the rest being matched by District 5100 grants and Rotary global grants. The club hopes to have the project fully funded and submitted to RI for approval in July.

Club Calendar
Thurs., Apr. 1: Executive Board Meeting, 7 a.m.

Wed., Apr. 7: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Program: Brian Monihan, Pamplin Media, The Future Of Local Newspapers

Thurs., Apr. 8: Board Meeting, 7 a.m.

Wed., Apr. 14: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Program: Virginia Ohler, West Tuality Habitat for Humanity

Thurs., April 15: Thirsty Thursday/Satellite Club Meeting, 6:30 p.m.
Location TBA