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

Mobility Assistance: If you have mobility issues and would like assistance on the Pacific University campus to get to and from parking areas to our meeting location, please contact Amy Tracewell at 541-844-9467 or amy.tracewell@pacificu.edu at least one day before our scheduled meeting. She will work to make sure you can make it to the University Center. Please give one day’s notice for assistance.

Satellite Club/Thirsty Thursday Meeting: This month’s Satellite Club/Thirsty Thursday meeting is scheduled for this Thursday, Nov. 17, 6:30 p.m., at Diversity Café, 2104 Main St., Forest Grove. If you plan on attending, please contact Melinda Fischer so she can provide an accurate head count.

Last Meeting Before Thanksgiving: Make a note that this will be our last meeting before Thanksgiving. Our club will not meet on Wednesday, Nov. 23. We will resume our regular weekly meetings on Wednesday, Nov. 30. Our club will also not meet on Wed, Dec. 21 and Wed., Dec. 28, the two meetings surrounding Christmas.

Hope For The Holidays: We are looking forward to continuing our Hope for the Holidays service project this December with a new format. Instead of offering shopping sprees to needy families, we will be partnering with the Forest Grove High School Food Pantry to provide food boxes for a holiday meal. Our distribution event is scheduled for Monday, Dec. 12, 4-5:30 p.m., at the Food Pantry building on the Forest Grove High School campus.

There is a need for committee members to help with the execution of the event. There be work to be prior to the event packing the boxes and preparing them for distribution. Details on when that will take place is coming soon. For more information and to get involved, please contact President Janet or Parri Van Dyke.

Holiday Pledge Cards: Happy Holidays! November is here and along with that comes our annual pledge drive.  President Janet has chosen Hope for the Holidays, Gardens of Hope (our international project), The Rotary Foundation and our Scholarship Fund as the focus for this year.  As you plan your end of the year giving, we hope that you will consider one of these options. A pledge card is available by Clicking Here.

Hope for the Holidays will be a bit different this year. We have partnered with the Forest Grove High School Food Pantry and will be providing 80-90 holiday food boxes for the families that they serve weekly. We have received a $2,500 grant from the district and have matching funds earmarked from our very successful Concours for this project, but your donation would be greatly appreciated.

Gardens of Hope: Our International project in Aguascalientes, Mexico is in its third year. Mike and Claudia Yakos provided an overview of the project on Sept. 28. It is available to view on our YouTube channel. This project has helped impoverished families learn to prepare the soil, provided kits for irrigation and seed and grow their own organic food. There are technical experts who help them get started and see success in this project. The kits and technical support cost about $290 per family for startup.

The produce that they are growing helps provide a more balanced diet for these families.  They started with 40 families in 2021, added a Home for Girls with 8 gardens (this provided fresh produce for the girls and additional produce that was sold to restaurants with the proceeds going to educational and vocational programs for the girls) and an additional 20 more families and 40 new gardens during 2022.   The goal for 2023 is 100 new families and a global grant. Please consider this project in your giving.

Dollars for Scholars (Scholarship Committee): Our club has been providing scholarships to local high school seniors for many years,  having awarded over $225,000 since recordkeeping began in 2013. The funds for scholarships primarily come from the Concours d’Elegance, but if education is important to you, then this is a great cause to donate to!

Thank you for considering donating to Rotary and our projects!

New Member Orientations: Our club’s next New Member Oritentation meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 1, 6:30 p.m., at Wauna Credt Union, 3532 Pacific Ave. New members to the club who have not taken part in an orientation should plan on attending this meeting. If you know of someone who might be interested in our club, this is a perfect opportunity to introduce them!

Additional New Member Orientations are scheduled for March 1 and June 1. Watch the Rototeller for times and locations. All Rotarians are welcome to take part. If you know of someone who you believe might be interested in joining us, this is a perfect opportunity to introduce them to our club.

Wreath Sales – Thank You!: Thank you to everyone who either purchased wreaths or sold wreaths to friends during our annual wreath fundraiser. The wreath sale netted around $1,000, which will go to aid our community service projects. Orders are now closed. Wreaths will be delivered on Friday, Nov. 25. Contact President Janet with any questions.

New Treasurer: Lucas Welliver will be stepping aside as club treasurer at the end of December as he transitions to program chair as part of the officer’s rotation. We are happy that Sharon Olmstead has agreed to step into that role beginning in January. Thank you, Sharon, for your continued service to the club!

Rotary Citation: Once again, the Rotary Club of Forest Grove was recognized with the Rotary Citation and also received a certificate recognizing the club for meeting its fundraising goals for the 2021-22 Rotary year. Assistant governor Tom Raabe presented past president Bryce Baker with certificates honoring both accomplishments. Congratulations to Bryce and our club for reaching both milestones.

Concours Update: Last July was our first Concours d’Elegance in three years and it could not have been better. The final net proceeds from the 2022 show was a record of $75,608! This includes gate receipts, advertising receipts and proceeds from the Friday night concert event. The funds will go a long way towards funding our Scholarship Program and our club’s other community outreach projects.

Thank you to all of our club members for helping make the Concours last not only in 2022 but every year! A special thank you to last year’s Concours Committee, which was chaired by Ryan Garcia, for their exceptional work, and to Tim Pearson for his work in securing $38,000 of advertising proceeds and along with $5,000 for a VIP Tent which was secured for the event.

The planning for the 2023 Concours is well underway. To find out more about how you can be involved, please contact one of our four co-chairs for the show: Tom Raabe, Geoff Johnston, Alisa Johnston and Allen Stephens.

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.

Steak Feed: In addition to our proceeds from the Concours, our annual Steak Feed brought in a net profit of $7,457! Thank you again to all of our club members for their work in making this a great community event and to Geoff Faris for his longtime service as the chair.

Caterers For Future Meetings: President Janet is looking for one to two more members to serve with herself, Howard Sullivan and Court Carrier in identifying local caterers that could serve the club at future meetings. We will have a number of meetings coming up where we will meet at the Forest Grove School District offices and will need catering for those meetings. If you would like to assist, please let President Janet know.

December 14 Joint Meeting: We will hold our annual joint meeting with the Forest Grove Daybreak on Wednesday, Dec. 14 at the Forest Grove School District offices. This meeting will include our annual concert with musical groups from Forest Grove High School. We will require a head count in advance for this meeting. More details coming soon.

ShelterBox HERO Club: We have once again been recognized as a bronze ShelterBox HERO Club, recognized for a continual gift to the organization of $1,000 per year. The Rotary Club of Forest Grove has been ShelterBox HERO Club since 2018.

ShelterBox is an international relief organization that began as a Rotary centennial project in England. The organization utilizes the resources and connections of Rotary to help bring shelter and disaster relief supplies to those who are suffering from the effects of natural and man-made disasters. To learn more about ShelterBox, Click Here or speak with our club’s ShelterBox ambassadors, Jeannine Murrell and Pamelajean Myers.

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.

Service Opportunities For Club Members
Holiday In The Grove: The City Club of Forest Grove has approached our club asking if we might be willing to conduct an activity as part of the annual Holiday in the Grove celebration on Saturday, Dec. 3. If you are interested in leading this for the club, please let President Janet know.

There are also volunteer opportunities that will be available both during the daytime event and the Holiday Light Parade that evening. You can up for a volunteer shift by Clicking Here.

Additionally, President Janet is gauging if there is interest in the club putting a float in this year’s Holiday Light Parade. If you are interested in spearheading this for the club, please let her know.

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
Susanne Holmberg Selected As 2025-26 District Governor: The District 5100 Nomination Committee has selected Susanne Holmberg of the Rotary Club of Three Creeks Vancouver to be the District Governor Nominee Designate and to serve as District Governor for the 2025-26 Rotary Year.

“Being selected as district governor to serve during the 2025-26 Rotary year is an honor and I am excited to follow incredible community leaders who all have the same passion and love for Rotary,” Susanne said. “This is an opportunity to make a difference locally and regionally, to share my vision and to make Rotary more accessible and attractive.

“Our Rotary clubs have an extraordinary impact in our communities, and I am proud to bring experience and vision from our Three Creeks club to inspire others,” she added. “Rotary welcomes creativity, diversity and collaboration; it is a way to change lives. We are changemakers.”

Susanne’s appointment was announced on Saturday, Oct. 15 by current District Governor Steve Williams, and she has already begun work with current leaders. Effective immediately, she is the district governor nominee designee, and she will begin working with her three predecessors in an intense succession program that gets her involved in district leadership right away. She’ll also shortly begin formal training from the district and from Rotary International, leading up to her year as governor.

“After reviewing applications, checking with references, and completing an interview with each of the candidates, the nominating committee discussed the strengths of each of the candidates,” Williams said. “After deliberating for some time, the committee has made the unanimous decision to nominate Susanne Holmberg of the Rotary Club of Three Creeks Vancouver to be District 5100’s District Governor for the Rotary Year 2025-26.”

Susanne has been active in District 5100 since 2006 and was instrumental in the formation of Vancouver’s Rotary Club of Three Creeks in 2016. She has served as an assistant governor for the Clark County region and currently serves on the district’s Learning and Development committee. She has also served on the district’s Grow Rotary committee.

“The members of the Rotary Club of Three Creeks are so proud and excited to support Susanne in her role as district governor,” said Rotary Club of Three Creeks President Andi Costello. “Her commitment to Rotary and to ‘Service above Self’ is evident in everything she does. We look forward to her continued innovative approaches and leadership to carry Rotary forward and be more approachable.”

District 5100 Newsletter: Click Here To View The Monthly District 5100 Newsletter

Around Rotary International
Rotary Projects From Around The Globe (from Rotary magazine)
Dominican Republic: Like other places in the Dominican Republic, Los Cocos de Jacagua faces shortages of suitable housing and sanitation infrastructure. For 15 years, the Rotary Club of Santiago Monumental has addressed community needs there in tandem with a Rotary Community Corps, creating a library, a community center, playgrounds, and a financial cooperative. They installed hundreds of latrines and provided medical care, among other contributions, many accomplished with the help of international partners in District 7710 (North Carolina). The Santiago Monumental club has begun building homes for families, completing nine as of February at a cost of about $10,000 each, says club member David Crow. “Our international partners spend a week at a time with us, providing labor for the construction effort,” Crow says. “This alliance is a powerful way to promote peace and offer Rotarians the opportunity to live and work together with local Rotarians and the communities served.”

United States: Four Rotary clubs in Florida flexed their muscles with a fire truck pull to raise more than $15,000 to refurbish the entrance of an assisted living facility. Sixteen teams competed to be the fastest to tug the 17-ton truck 50 feet across the parking lot of a sponsoring brewpub. Led by the Rotary Club of Mid-Bay Bridge (Choctawhatchee Bay), the April event drew about 400 people. Joining the effort were the Rotary clubs of Destin, Fort Walton Beach, and Niceville-Valparaiso, which sponsored the winning team of Niceville High School football players. Members of two Knights of Columbus chapters and the Boggy Sisters, a senior support group, assisted the Rotarians. Community partnerships “lightened the load and made the event possible,” says Steve Wolfrom, immediate past president of the Mid-Bay Bridge club.

Romania: To put the brakes on dangerous driving, the Rotaract Club of Bistrița Omnia recently partnered with the police and a driving school to set up a car crash simulator at locations in the northern Transylvanian city. “It consists of a driver’s seat equipped with a seat belt, fitted on a moving platform that reaches a speed of about 18 mph,” says Christian Nistor, immediate past president of the club. “The platform crashes into a stopping bar, simulating the accident.” The device was built by the Rotaract Club of Târgu Mureș Téka. Interact and Rotary clubs have also helped with the project. During one simulation event in May, about 200 people were put to the test during the Drive Safely, Choose Life initiative, Nistor says. “Drivers are reminded of the importance of seat belts and the effect of speed in a car crash,” he says.

Germany: The Rotary Club of Göttingen-Sternwarte teamed up with the Production School Göttingen, a trades-oriented institution for teens, to harvest about 2 tons of apples and turn them into nearly 400 gallons of juice. The Apfelfest project culminated in October 2021 with the juice being donated to elementary schools or sold, raising more than $3,300 for End Polio Now. “The juice is amazing — a sweet-sour note, pure apple flavors,” reports club member Sönke Jaek. “And the dry apple mash was used to feed game such as deer and boar. They loved it.” Club members also serve as tutors and assist the students in writing resumes, finding internships, and applying for jobs.

Australia: Reveling in a uniquely Australian art form, the Rotary Club of Gloucester stages readings of bush poetry, which celebrates life in the less populated hinterlands. “Bush poetry is principally stories from the bush,” the tales suitable for “shearing sheds, cattle yards, pubs, etc.,” says club member Grahame Stelzer. “Normally very funny, sometimes rude, and occasionally serious.” In February, three poets and a country band headlined the Bush Poetry at the Saleyard event, held, fittingly, in a livestock arena. “The idea was born at a private dinner when one of the guests just happened to be a current Australian bush poet champion,” says Stelzer. “My club was looking for a fundraiser for a nursing home, so it all came together that night.” The festivities raised about $3,900 for local projects.

Last Week’s Program: Juan David Gabela, Our Rotary Youth Exchange Inbound Student

Click Here To Watch The Complete Program

We are overjoyed that the Rotary Youth Exchange program is up and running after a two-year COVID-19 absence. Our inbound exchange student this year is Juan David Gabela, and he introduced himself to our club with a presentation last week.

Juan David is 17 years old and is from Machala, El Oro, Ecuador. He is a senior at Forest Grove High School. He is a member of the Interact Club of Machala in District 4400. His hobbies include playing basketball and watching movies and he plans to try out for the Forest Grove High School boys’ basketball team. He would like to get a scholarship to attend school in the U.S. to study international business.

Juan David provided some facts about his home country. Ecuador is one of the smallest countries in South America but has one of the largest populations with over 17 million people. Ecuador is named for the equator, which passes through the countries. The highest point in the country is Chimborazo, which is over 6,000 meters (20,548 feet) above sea level.

Juan David is from the city of Machala, which is on the southern coast of Ecuador with a population of 261,000. It is referred to as the “Banana Capitol of the World,” as the city exports more plantain bananas than anywhere else in the world. There is also a lot of shrimp farms.

This year is very important to him because of the new experience, new adventures and the new environment. He is very grateful for Forest Grove as it has been a very nice and welcoming place. He is grateful for the people in the club who have helped make this a good experience so far.

Club Calendar
Wed., Nov. 16: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Raziah Roushan, Tualatin Valley Creates

Thurs, Nov. 17: Board Meeting, 7 a.m.
Via Zoom

Thurs., Nov. 17: Thirsty Thursday/Satellite Club Meeting, 6:30 p.m.
Diversity Café, 2104 Main St., Forest Grove

Wed., Nov. 23: No Meeting – Happy Thanksgiving!

Fri., Nov. 25: Wreath Sale Deliveries By President Janet

Wed., Nov. 30: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Michael Yakos, Rotary Foundation

Thurs., Dec. 1: New Member Orientation, 6:30 p.m.
Wauna Credit Union, 3532 Pacific Ave.