Club members Jeannine Murrell (left), Pamelajean Myers and Blake Timm were part of the District 5100 leadership at the Rotary Pacific Northwest Presidents-Elect Training Seminar in Seatac, Washington.

If you did not make it to our last Rotary Club of Forest Grove meeting, here is what you missed…

This Week – At Pacific University: The Rotary Club of Forest Grove is back to meeting in the Boxer Pause in the University Center at Pacific University. The room is located on the main level of the UC, through the dining commons. As we have in past meetings at Pacific, we will take our meals through the main dining commons.

This week will be our annual Farmer’s Day program where a number of local leaders from the agricultural community will join us for lunch and a program from Dan Lewis of Northwest Seed Company.

Youth Citizens of the Month: At last week’s meeting, we recognized our latest Youth Citizen of the Month honorees, Jack Vandehey from Banks High School and Brooklyn Lamb from Banks Middle School. Congratulations to both of them! Click Here To Learn More About Jack & Brooklyn.

Pacific Northwest PETS: Our club was well represented over the weekend at Rotary Pacific Northwest PETS (President-Elect Training Seminar) in Seatac, Washington. President-elect Lucas Welliver was in attendance in preparation for leading our club in the 2024-25 Rotary year. Also in attendance was Jeannine Murrell in her role as district governor-elect, Pamelajean Myers as Jeannine’s trust spouse and support, and Blake Timm in his role as area governor-elect.

Bundt Cake Fundraiser: Thank you to everyone who participated in our bundtlet fundraiser with Nothing Bundt Cakes. We sold nearly 100 cakes. Our share of the proceeds will go towards funding meals to visitors and prospective members.

Forest Grove HS Interact Club: Our inbound Youth Exchange student, Fareeha Nayebare, has restarted the Interact Club at Forest Grove High School! Meetings take place on Wednesdays at 3:30 p.m. All Rotarians are welcome. The club is currently preparing for a service project with the high school’s Food Pantry. For questions, please talk with Fareeha at our meetings.

Crab Feed: Mark your calendars! Our annual Crab Feed social event will take place on Wednesday, Apr. 3 at the Forest Grove Senior & Community Center. Join us for an evening of fellowship and recognition of our Paul Harris Fellows. This will be an evening event and there will be no noon meeting that day.

Our Crab Feed Committee, chaired by Julia Kollar, is well on their way for planning the event. If you are interested in being involved in the planning and execution of this year event, please contact Julia.

Silent Auction At The Crab Feed: At this year’s Crab Feed, we will once again be conducting a silent auction with all proceeds benefitting The Rotary Foundation. The committee is looking again for items such as themed baskets, weekend getaways, gift cards or experiences. In past years, the silent auction has been very successful in helping us meet our club’s annual Rotary Foundation giving goals.

If you would like to make a donation, please contact Parri Van Dyke. Thank you to Parri and Evelyn Orr, who are coordinating the silent auction.

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 (over 100 videos to date) are archived on our club’s YouTube page. Visit https://bit.ly/fgrotaryprograms.

Concours News
2024 Forest Grove Concours d’Elegance, presented by the Rotary Club of Forest Grove
Sunday, July 21 on Pacific University’s Forest Grove Campus

Concours Committee Meetings: The Concours d’Elegance Committee is starting the planning for our 50th show on July 21, 2024. If interested in getting further involved with the Concours, the steering committee is always looking for volunteers to prepare for the show throughout the year. For more information, contact Tom Raabe at 503-704-1200 or rotarytomr@gmail.com or Geoff Johnston at 503-939-7868 or gamsma@comcast.net.

The next meeting of the Concours Committee will be sometime in March via Zoom.

Sponsorships: Sponsorships go a long way to increasing the profit of the Concours, which goes to fund our scholarship program and our club’s other outreach activities. To learn more about available sponsorships, Click Here to contact Tim Pearson at 503-998-8616 or timpearsonpc@gmail.com.

Entries Now Open: Entries are now open for the 2024 Concours d’Elegance. Click Here for details or if you (or a friend) want to enter this year’s show.

Polo Shirts: We still have a number of our club Concours polo shirts available for new members or club members who did not get one last year. The blue shirts have the Concours logo on the front and the club logo on the sleeve and are the work shirts we wear during the event. Shirts are $30 each. If you would like a shirt, please contact Tim Pearson.

Portland Swap Meet – Volunteers Needed: We will once again be promoting the Concours at the Portland Swap Meet, Apr. 5-7 at the Portland Expo Center. We will be looking for Rotarians to fill two-hour shifts to promote the show, hand out flyers and man our booth. If you are interested in volunteering, or have questions, please contact Tom Raabe or Jim Crisp.

Service Opportunities For Club Members
Do You Know Of Service Opportunities?: Are you aware of service opportunities in our area that our members might be interested in? We can advertise those here! This space is not limited to club-sponsored activities but to any service opportunity in the community. To promote the service activity, please send a detailed description of the project, the date and time, contact information and a link to register to Rototeller editor Blake Timm, blakertimm@gmail.com.

Upcoming Habitat For Humanity Service Project: The club is working with West Tuality Habitat for Humanity for a joint service project in May. We will have more details on this service opportunity soon.

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 Mondays from 4-5:30 p.m. The pantry is located along Nichols Lane between the football field and the Basinski Center. Click Here for more information on the FGHS Food Pantry and on other resources for those experiencing food insecurity.

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.

Around District 5100
Registration Now Open For Rotary One Conference: Make your plans now to attend the One Rotary Conference, District 5100’s combined training assembly and annual conference. This year’s conference runs from Friday, April 26 to Sunday, April 28 at the Best Western Hood River Inn in Hood River. This is a wonderful opportunity to not only learn more about Rotary, but to connect with Rotarians from all across the District.

The annual conference includes district training sessions on both Friday and Saturday. Friday evening features a barbeque dinner buffet and the annual Youth Exchange Talent Show (which will feature our Youth Exchange inbound student, Fareeha Nayeabre), a dinner event on Saturday and the annual awards ceremony and passing of the district governor banner on Sunday.

As our own Jeannine Murrell will be receiving the banner in advance of her district governor year, we would like to see as many members of our club as possible attend the conference to support her!

A link to register for the conference, along with the schedule of events and a link for hotel reservations at the Rotary rate, can be found at This DacDB Link (you must log in to DacDB to access). Registration closes on Apr. 9.

Rotary Friendship Exchange Hosts Needed: Eight Rotarians from District 3261 in northeast India will be visiting District 5100 for a Rotary Friendship Exchange this June. The District is looking for Rotarians who can provide accommodations for our guests, which include four couples. They are looking for housing and possibly drivers who can help them travel between areas. It would be a bonus if meals and sightseeing is involved.

Our Friendship Exchange guests will be based in the Portland Metro Area from June 4-6, in Eastern Oregon (Pendleton) for four days and finally in Greater Clark County for four days.

If you would like more information or are interested in hosting, please contact District Friendship Exchange Chair Dennis Wickham or Rotarian Shantu Shah (email addresses provided in the Rototeller emailed out to club members).

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

Last Week’s Program: Santiago Morelli & Aiden Rydman, Rotary Short-Term Youth Exchange

Click Here To View The Complete Program

Last week, we had the opportunity to hear about the experiences that two youth are having as part of the Rotary’s Short-Term Youth Exchange Program. Sanitago Morelli is currently in Forest Grove from Argentina on a short-term exchange. Aiden Rydman, a junior at Forest Grove High School, recently participated in a short-term exchange in Argentina.

Santiago is visiting from the Santa Fe province of Argentina. His district does not usually offer short-term exchanges, but was offered the opportunity last year and jumped on it while his school in Argentina is enjoying summer holiday.

Santiago talked about his experience and the differences he has noticed between the U.S. and Argentina. Where he lives at home is in the middle of the city with everything he needs within walking distance. Here in the U.S., he is living in the country. Santiago is enjoying the school experience and the opportunity to have choices in classes. In Argentina schools, there is not much in the way of electives. He also noticed the differences in security between the two countries and the wide variety of food available in the U.S.

Santiago thanks the Rotary Club of Venado Tuetro Cincuentenario and our club for the exchange opportunity. He noted that it took him a long time to decide to go on the exchange because he was afraid to travel abroad alone. When he arrived, however, he immediately felt safe and felt like he was part of the family.

Aiden spent his short-term exchange in the town of Alcorta in Santa Fe province, which has a population of approximately 8,000 people.

One of the places Aiden got to see was Iguazu Falls. It was the first time he had ever seen a jungle and was a highlight of the exchange. He enjoyed being able to walk around and take in all of the beauty. He also enjoyed the cultural camp he attended and playing board games until too late into the night.

Aiden’s favorite memory was his last day at the technical school he attended before returning to the U.S. There was an assembly that day and the teachers allowed the school to play games on his final day. He was both happy and sad memory because he knew he was leaving. He wanted to stay longer.

Aiden said that the short-term exchange made me feel like a kid again as opposed to a young adult. He made a lot of great friends. He learned about a culture that he never knew much about. He also realized the importance of friendships. Hanging out with friends is the most important thing. They make you better as a person.

Club Calendar
Wed., Feb. 21: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Farmer’s Day/Dan Lewis, Northwest Seed Co.

Wed., Feb. 28: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause, University Center, Pacific University
Program: To Be Announced

Wed., Mar. 6: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Grove Room, Forest Grove School District Office, 1728 Main St.
Program: District Governor Renee Brouse

Wed., Mar. 13: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Club Assembly