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

Meeting At Prime Time This Week: Due to our usual meeting space at Pacific University being utilized in preparation for commencement, this week’s Rotary meeting will be held at Prime Time, 4450 Pacific Avenue, Forest Grove.

No Satellite Club Meeting/Thirsty Thursday: Due to multiple conflicts, including the District 5100 One Rotary Conference, there will be no Satellite Club/Thirsty Thursday meeting this month.

Garden Planting Party: Thank you to our Rotarians who got out between the raindrops on Saturday to work on our McDougall Garden! The work included replanting, cleaning up the garden and the start of spreading some mulch. Coming out to assist were Bryce Baker, Geoff Faris, Melinda Fischer, Greg Nemchick, Jim Cain, Jim Crisp, Carl Heisler and Janet Peters.

Steak Feed: Tickets are now available for our annual Steak Feed, which returns after a three-year COVID absence on Friday, June 10 from 5-8 p.m. Ticket packages were handed out to members who attended our meeting on Wednesday. The rest will be mailed out.

Tickets are $25 each and includes a choice New York steak, salad, baked potato, rolls, beverages and dessert. Proceeds from the event go to our club’s involvement in the Rotary Youth Exchange program (which will also restart this year). It is the expectation that all Rotarians try to sell at least 10 tickets to the event. If you sell more, that is great!

The Steak Feed is an “all-hands-on-deck” event, with all members expected to participate and help on the day of the event. A list of committee assignments is included with the ticket mailing and is Linked Here.

For more information or questions, please contact Geoff Faris at 503-481-0736 or gafaris@aol.com.

Concours Update: Planning for the 2022 Concours d’Elegance is well under way. Our annual car show, which raises funds for our club’s Scholarship Program, will take place on Sunday, July 17, on the campus of Pacific University. This year’s theme is a celebration of Jaguar. In addition, the show will showcase a salute to British Excellence with feature classes for MG, Triumph and Lotus.

Here are a few updates from the Concours committee:

Registration: Registration for this year’s Concours is now open. Let’s get as many cars out on the show field to help celebrate our return! There is a suggested entry donation of $25 per car. More details on entry classes and the registration link can be found at https://forestgroveconcours.org/enter.

Sponsorships: Tim Pearson has a goal of 100 sponsors for the show. “That’s going to be a stretch but I think it is doable,” Tim said, but he needs the help of club members to make it happen. A copy of the sponsorship flyer is Linked Here. If you have sponsorship questions or a lead, please contact Tim at 503-998-8616 or TimPearsonPC@gmail.com.

Concours Events: The Concours Committee is moving forward with a Friday night concert event to start the weekend. The concert will take place on July 15 at Elk Cove Vineyards near Gaston. Capacity will be limited to 200 people. More details will be coming soon.

The Evening of Excellence dinner will take place at the Pumpkin Ridge Golf Course on the evening of Sat., July 16.

For more information on the show, visit forestgroveconcours.org, or contact show chairman Ryan Garcia at rypgarcia@gmail.com.

As our club’s primary fundraiser for the year, the Concours is an “all hands on deck” event with all club members expected to volunteer.

Donations For Ukrainian Relief: As part of Rotary International’s efforts to provide relief the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, the Rotary Club of Forest Grove is collecting donations for the effort. Rotary International has created a specific channel for donors through Rotary’s Disaster Response Fund.

Our club is offering a $1,500 match for contributions made by club members towards the humanitarian response (President Bryce has said that the match could be more if our club raises more). To date, our club has raised over $1,250 for humanitarian relief.

Contributions can be made at any club meeting. If you have questions about the effort or the match, please contact President Bryce Baker.

To date, District 5100 has raised an impressive $140,000 for Ukrainian relief efforts, which will be channeled to Rotary’s Disaster Response Fund’s channel for Ukrainian relief. Learn More About Rotary’s Efforts

Online Dues Payments: Our club is now equipped to process dues payments online! We can now process credit card or debit card payments for quarterly dues. Information on how to pay online will be included with quarterly billings that will be coming to your mailbox or email inbox.

With the transition to billing with Quickbooks, some members may not have received their quarterly invoice. If you did not, please contact treasurer Lucas Welliver.

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 4-5:30 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.

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 are archived on our club’s YouTube page. Visit https://bit.ly/fgrotaryprograms.

Around District 5100
District 5100 End Human Trafficking Now Cell Phone Drive: Phones are often taken as evidence when sex trafficked victims are rescued, which leaves them vulnerable and without communication between law enforcement and service providers. Donated smartphones help bridge this gap! The District 5100 End Sex Trafficking Committee is collecting phones that can be used to be given to victims through Bridging The Gap – Oregon.

Bridging The Gap – Oregon exists to help meet the needs of the sexually exploited through a collaborative effort among community partners.

Phones bust be Verizon unlocked iPhone 6s or compatible Android-type phones compatible with a 5G network. Verizon gift cards are also welcomed to cover the cost of phone service. All donations are tax deductible.

Phones will be collected at this weekend’s District 5100 One Rotary Conference. If you want to schedule drop off or pick up of phones and/or cards at a different time, please contact Dana Clark at rotaryendsextrafficking@gmail.com.

Around Rotary International
Rotary Voices – Hungarian Club Overcomes Challenges To Help Ukraine (By Beatrix Turner, Rotary Club of Budapest-Margitsziget, Hungary): My Rotary club wanted to do our part to help the people of Ukraine after hearing about the terrible war in their country. We were honored to be able to join three other clubs, Berlin-Gendarmenmarkt, Germany, Paris-Quai d’Orsay, France, and Milano Sud-Ovest, Italy, to coordinate an €18,000 project to collect and deliver donations to help Ukrainian refugees.

Robert Rojak, the president of the Intercountry Committee for Ukraine-Hungary and a member of the Rotary Club of Uzhgorod, Ukraine, helped us compile a list of needed supplies. He has been instrumental in coordinating incoming donations and distributing them to places where they are needed inside Ukraine. We received our list of essentials for daily life and spent a busy two weeks collecting items.

The Bethesda Children’s Hospital in Budapest helped us prepare medicines, bandages, and blood infusion supplies. We collected a huge amount and were happy with the results.

Our next challenge would be transportation. We connected with the Hungarian Reformed Church Charity Service, a lovely team of people who were a pleasure to work with. They provided us with an experienced driver who had a diplomatic passport, and the entire border crossing went smoothly.

During the entire operation, we were amazed by the cooperation, love, and spirit of selflessness demonstrated by all the people we worked with.

To be honest, I was very tense when we reached the Ukraine border. We were transporting a valuable cargo of relief supplies and wanted the operation to go well. We made it across the border quickly and met with Robert, who helped us unload everything. I was so relieved and happy that it had worked out successfully.

Robert’s wife asked if we had been afraid and I answered that we were not because of the skilled people we worked with. It was an exciting project and a wonderful example of Rotary in action.

Last Week’s Program: Eileen Kravetz, Tualatin Hills Park Foundation

Click Here To Watch The Full Program

Eileen Kravetz, Executive Director of the Tualatin Hills Park Foundation (“THPF”), joined our noon meeting to present on ways that THPF partners with the Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District (THPRD) to expand access to THPRD programs and facilities. Highlights of Ms. Kravetz’s presentation include:

– Since its inception in 1958, THPF emphasizes funding for programs that allow people, regardless of age, abilities, or income, to utilize THPRD’s parks, facilities, and programs.

In 2017, THPF completed a $1.5 million capital campaign to construct the 21.5 acre Mt. View Champions Park, which includes facilities and programming that serve people with physical or developmental disabilities.

– More recently, THPF secured and provided grant funding for “Talking Walls,” a series of three large mural projects at Center Street Park, Greenway Park, and the HMT Complex and Sunset Park Sports Complex, which include murals celebrating cultural diversity, incorporating ideas from the Sunset High School Black Student Union, Native American artists and heritage, and Latinx artists.

– As a 501(c)(3) Charitable Organization, THPF often partners with “Friends of Tualatin Hills Nature Park” to serve as a fiscal sponsor for various parks and projects administered at THPRD facilities.

More information is available at: http://www.thpf.org/projects.cfm

The editor wishes to thank Lucas Welliver for providing the program recap in his absence.

Club Calendar
Wed., May 18: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Prime Time, 4450 Pacific Ave., Forest Grove
Program: Mary Jo Morelli, Friends of Historic Forest Grove

Thurs., May 19: Board Meeting, 7 a.m.
Via Zoom

Wed., May 25: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Brenna Fulks, Forest Grove Festival Street Plan

Fri., June 10: Steak Feed, 5 p.m.
Pacific University Campus

Sun., July 17: Concours d’Elegance
Pacific University Campus