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

This Week: We hope you join us this week for our weekly meeting on Wednesday in the Boxer Pause Room in the University Center at Pacific University. This week’s program will be our own Jeannine Murrell as she makes her official visit as district governor to the club.

Upcoming Meetings: All of our weekly meetings through February will take place at Pacific University.

Pickleball Evenings – Presented By Rotary: The Rotary Club of Forest Grove is helping to sponsor indoor pickleball Monday through Thursday evenings at the Forest Grove National Guard Armory, 2950 Taylor Way. Coordinated by Rotarian Steven Barnard, the evenings run from 5:30 to 8 p.m. There is a $5 fee to help cover facility rental. Players of all ages and ability levels are welcome with reserved courts for beginners and intermediate-level players.

Proceeds from the pickleball evenings go to cover facility rental for the armory, but also to help fund the Forest Grove School District Community Alternative Learning Center’s (CALC) Career & Technical Education (CTE) Fridays. Last Wednesday, our club presented a $5,000 check to Tim Graham, principal of CALC, to benefit the program.

For more information on the pickleball evenings, please contact Steven at 443-454-5177 or sbarnard@fgsd.k12.or.us.

Rotary Pickleball Tournament: Thank you to all of our Rotarians and friends who participated in the club’s first pickleball tournament on Saturday, Jan. 25, at the Forest Grove National Guard Armory. We had an impressive 16 people participate, ranging from experienced players to those who had never picked up a pickleball racquet before. It was proven that the event met the fifth part of The Four-Way Test: Is it fun?

Congratulations to the winners, our president, Lucas Welliver, and his wife, Megan, who took home trophies provided by Sharon Olmstead and Edward Jones. A special thank you to the committee who helped put this event together: Steven Barnard (a.k.a. the Pickleball Whisperer of Forest Grove), Mallory Hiefield and Cole Thursam.

Crab Feed – Save The Date: This year’s Crab Feed is scheduled for Wednesday, Mar. 19, 5:30 p.m. The evening event serves as our club’s chance to honor our new Paul Harris Fellows and those who have given generously to The Rotary Foundation.

Tickets will be $45 for crab dinner or $25 for a dinner without crab. Crab meat to go will be available for $45 per pound and steaks to will be available for $20 for a pack of two steaks. An online portal for buying your tickets, crab meat and steaks will be available soon. We hope to see everyone there for a fun evening of fellowship and food!

For more information, or if you want to help out with the planning committee, please contact Crab Feed Committee chair Julia Kollar.

Rototeller – Help Wanted: Blake Timm, the editor of the Rototeller, is looking for a club member who would be interested in helping fill in to take notes at meetings on an occasional basis. With his increased duties as area governor and work, he is having to miss more Wednesdays than he did in the past. The job would entail taking notes about any club announcements and a five to six-paragraph recap of that week’s program. Please contact Blake for more information.

Have A Program Idea? Let Hector Know!: Do you have an idea for a program presentation that you would like to see at our meetings? Let our incoming program director, Hector Mendez-Colberg know as he is setting up the schedule for 2025.

Greeters Are Back: President Lucas is bringing back the role of having greeters at our weekly meetings. This role will not be pre-assigned. Instead, the ninth and 10th Rotarians showing up a meeting each week will serve as greeters. Please be prepared to take on that responsibility and let President Lucas know if you have any questions.

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.

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
Rotary Expo – May 3: Clubs are asked to think about participation in District 5100’s Rotary Expo, which takes place on Saturday, May 3, at the Wingspan Conference & Event Center at the Washington County Fairgrounds. This one-day event will take the place of the annual District Conference & Celebration.

At Rotary Expo 2025, we invite you to explore the theme “Rotary Service: The Next Generation.” This event is designed to inspire, educate, and empower Rotarians and the general public to learn about Rotary’s mission of service and how you can get involved in transforming your community.

What to Expect:
Networking Opportunities: Connect with fellow Rotarians and community leaders to forge impactful collaborations.

Showcase of Innovations: Discover groundbreaking projects that exemplify the spirit of service in the modern world.

What You’ll Experience:

• Family-Friendly Activities: Enjoy fun activities for all ages, including games, crafts, and more!
• Community Showcase: Discover local organizations and initiatives that you can support or join.
• Inspiration: Gain fresh ideas and insights to enhance your service initiatives.
• Education: Learn best practices and new strategies for impactful community engagement.
• Empowerment: Equip yourself with the tools to lead the next generation of Rotary service.

We look forward to seeing you there to share with the community The Magic of Rotary!

District 5100 Spring Training – April 12: Mark your calendars for Saturday, Apr. 12, because its time for players to report to Rotary District 5100’s Spring Training — and it’s not just for the pros!

Whether you are a rookie or a seasoned player, this virtual event has required position-specific training and elective courses to help you knock your Rotary skills out of the park.

Swing by from anywhere and get ready to hit the ground running for a winning Rotary season. Don’t let this pitch pass you by — let’s make 2025 the championship year for your club! Stay tuned for registration info soon.

Changes To District 5100 Rotaract: The Rotary International Board recently made important changes to Rotaract membership. There is a change in how RI sees the position of a Rotarator working at the District level. These changes need to still be evaluated and discussed at our governor level. 

Other changes reflect Rotaractors standing in District leadership and how they will function within that dynamic. The last change from RI is encouraging Rotaractors to become Rotarians in clubs and, if the Rotaractor is under the age of 35 years old, that their club dues would be waived along with admission fees.

CALL TO ACTION FROM D5100 ROTARACT
Help is needed!

District 5100 Rotaract has been growing this year! We’ve doubled our members and are now looking for your help. We’re sending some of our amazing members to the Rotary International Convention this year, and we’d love for your club to sponsor one of them.

One of our main goals is to promote our leaders, and we believe that this trip will be a great way to do that. We’re asking to cover the cost of a Rotaract ticket ($175) for the sponsored member. The member would love to come back to your club after the convention as a way to thank you for your support and share what they gained from the experience.

This would mean the world to our members to strengthen their understanding of Rotary and get involved in Rotaract and Rotary. We’re so grateful for your support in youth leadership and growth promotion in our district!

For more information, please contact District Rotaract Representative for 2024-25 Shany Yizhaki at 503-927-5435 or shany.yizhaki98@gmail.com.

Last Week’s (And The Week Before’s) Program
Last Week – Forest Grove High School Interact Club: At last week’s meeting, we received a presentation for Laurin von Orelli and Danny Cervantes about the Forest Grove High School Interact Club, which is sponsored by our club. Laurin is our current inbound Rotary Youth Exchange student. Danny is next year’s outbound student and is next year’s outbound student.

Interact is a youth service organization sponsored by Rotary. It is focused on leadership development, community service and networking. The local club’s mission is to empower young people to take action, build international standing and make a difference in the community through service while developing leadership skills and demonstrating the Rotary motto of Service Above Self.

The Interact Club assisted our club with Hope For The Holidays as its first major project this year. They have also sponsored a movie night at FGHS, showing Minions on the big screen in the cafeteria as a fundraising event. The club’s planned future projects include presenting the Rotary Youth Exchange program and Interact at Neil Armstrong Middle School in February to promote both organizations.

For the FGHS Food Pantry, the Interact Club has put together Best Day Boxes. These boxes are designed to help families celebrate birthdays or special occasions, including boxes of cake mix.

There are currently 5-6 students who attend regular meetings with 10 total members of Interact. Danny & Laurin are actively trying to promote the club through posts on social media.

Jan. 22 Program – Mallory Hiefield: At our Jan. 22 meeting, Rotarian Mallory Hiefield presented on her trek hiking the entire length of the Pacific Crest Trail over six months in 2019. The Pacific Crest Trails runs 2,650 miles from the U.S./Canada border to the U.S./Mexico border.

Mallory went over her preparations for the trip, which included a 45-pound back and how she got all of her food ready for the teak.

Mallory started the hike in April 2019 at the U.S./Mexico border and headed north, traversing through the deserts of southern California and the Sierra Nevadas, which included hiking across snowfields. Oregon included hiking along the Cascade Range, Crater Lake and Mount Hood, while her time in Washington included vistas along Mount Rainier and Mount Baker. The hike ended on September 30 when she arrived at the U.S./Canada border.

Club Calendar
Wed., Feb. 5: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: District Governor Jeannine Murrell

Wed., Feb. 12: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: To Be Announced

Wed., Feb. 12: New Member Orientation, 4:30 p.m.
Location TBD

Thurs., Feb. 13: Executive Board Meeting, 7 a.m.
via Zoom

Wed., Feb. 19: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Jim Geering, Forest Grove Fire & Rescue

Thurs., Feb. 20: Board Meeting, 7 a.m.
via Zoom

Wed., Mar. 19: Crab Feed, 5:30 p.m.

Fri., June 6: Steak Feed, 5 p.m.
University Center, Pacific University

Fri., Jan. 18-Sun., July 20
Concours d’Elegance Weekend