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: Our meeting on Wednesday, June 12, will take place in the Boxer Pause room in the University Center at Pacific University. We will be recognizing our 2024 Rotary Scholarship winners and we will be wrapping silverware in preparation for the Steak Feed on Friday.

If you plan to attend the June 12 meeting, please know that RSVPs for lunch orders were due by Friday, June 7, if you plan to attend. If you do not RSVP, you are still welcome to attend the meeting but you will need to bring your own lunch.

Steak Feed – Friday, June 14: The week is here! Our 66th annual Rotary Steak Feed is this Friday, at the University Center on the campus of Pacific University. One of the club’s biggest fundraisers of the year, proceeds from the event benefit our involvement in the Rotary Youth Exchange Program.

We need every club member’s participation in this event, both in selling tickets and in volunteering on the night of the event.

If you have not contacted your committee chair about your assignment and shift, please do so as soon as possible! The intent is to have two shifts working so that club members are able to enjoy a meal during the evening as well. Click Here To View Your Assignment.

If you have not sold all of your Steak Feed tickets, please endeavor to do so. Please turn in any ticket money and unused tickets to Jim Crisp either at Wednesday’s meeting or on the night of the Steak Feed.

For any questions, please contact Steak Feed Committee co-chairs Geoff Faris at 503-481-0736 or Jeff Duyck at 503-341-4289.

And check out the story that appeared on the Forest Grove News-Times website on Friday promoting the Steak Feed!

President’s Dinner – June 19: Make plans to join us on Wednesday, June 19 at 6 p.m. for the end of the year President’s Dinner, which will take place at Prime Time Sports Bar & Restaurant. Come to enjoy some good food, fellowship, to celebrate President Amy Tracewell’s year and to welcome President-Elect Lucas Welliver to his year leading the club.

Cost for the dinner is $40 per person. Partners and guests are welcomed and encouraged to attend. A RSVP sheet will be passed around at Wednesday’s meeting or contact Claire Agner to RSVP by no later than Friday, June 14. There will be no noon meeting on Wednesday, June 19.

Youth Citizens of the Month: At Wednesday’s meeting, it was our pleasure to honor our final Youth Citizens of the Month for the 2023-24 academic year: Orion Spencer and Enrique Russell of Gaston Jr./Sr. High School! A story on these two youth’s accomplishments will be posted soon to the club website, FGRotary.org. Congratulations to Orion and Enrique!

Hillsboro Rotary Fourth of July Parade: It is an annual tradition! Members are invited to help promote the Concours d’Elegance at the Hillsboro Rotary Fourth of July Parade. Participants should plan on being at the staging areas by no later than 8 a.m. The parade begins at 10 a.m., beginning ending at 3rd Avenue and NE Grant St. If you are interested in marching with our club, put your name on the sign-up sheet at next week’s meeting.

Rotary Club of Forest Grove 100th Anniversary Celebration: Mark your calendars for Saturday, Sept. 7, as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of our club! Join us at the Carpenter Creek Winery, 47266 SW Carpenter Creek Road, Forest Grove, for an evening of fellowship and celebration. The event will include a social hour and barbeque dinner. More details will be coming soon.

Friends of Historic Forest Grove Displays: As part of celebrating the 50th Concours d’Elegance and the 100th anniversary of our club, Friends of Historic Forest Grove is looking for items to use for a lobby display to celebrate both milestones. The display will be located in the Old Train Station Museum at the corner of Main Street and 19th Avenue. The display in June and July will highlight the Concours while the display in September will highlight our club.

If you have items that you would be willing to loan to FHFG to promote the history of Concours and/or the club, you can also bring items to the museum during its open hours, Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Saturday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Mentorship Program With Rotary: Since joining our club, Rotarians Cole Thursam and Javin Frelin have been exploring how to connect younger professionals to our club and to Rotary as a whole. The two are in the preliminary stages of developing a mentorship program for young professional in the local community that would be tied to Rotary. If you would like to learn more or are interested in taking part in this effort, please contact Cole or Javin.

Habitat For Humanity Service Project: We had a great day of service with West Tuality Habitat for Humanity as we assisted with one of their home repair projects on Wednesday, May 22. Club members spent three hours at the Smoketree Trailer Court in Cornelius where we applied a primer coat to a trailer that is in need of a paint job.

Thank you to Steve Mann and Virginia Ohler of West Tuality Habitat for Humanity for helping to set up this service opportunity. We hope to work together again. Thank you to the club members who assisted with the project: Amy Tracewell, Janet Peters, Claire Agner, Tom Raabe, Melinda Fischer, Michael Cook, Rus Peters, Tim Orr, Fareeha Nayebare and Tim Schauermann.

Past Programs: Did you miss a meeting or want to go back and check out a program again? Many of our programs since May 2020 (over 140 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 Website | Enter A Car | 2024 Concours Weekend Schedule

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 committee will be meeting weekly on Tuesdays, 7 p.m., via Zoom.

Volunteer Assignments: Like the Steak Feed, the Concours D’Elegance is an “all hands on deck” event, requiring all members to volunteer and make this event as successful as possible. If you are unsure of your volunteer assignment, please contact Tom Raabe or the Concours volunteer coordinator, Janet Peters.

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.

Concours 50th Anniversary Kickoff Concert: For the last two years, Concours weekend has kicked off with a dinner and concert event. This year, this kickoff event will be bigger and better than ever as McMenamins presents the Concours d’Elegance 50th Anniversary Kickoff Concert at McMenamins Grand Lodge.

This year’s event takes place on Friday, July 19. Doors open at 4 p.m. and an evening of music begins at 5 p.m., featuring music by Scott Pemberton O Theory, Hillstomp, the Forest Grove Outlaws and Trask River Redemption. McMenamins will be serving food and its line of locally-produced beers, wines and spirits. This will be a tremendous opportunity to promote Sunday’s show and to celebrate 50 years of a hallmark community events.

Once expenses have been met, the Rotary Club of Forest Grove will receive proceeds from ticket sales.

Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door on the day of the event. Click Here to purchase tickets…and send the link to your friends!

Future Collectors – Youth Judging Program: As part of the 50th Concours d’Elegance, the committee is offering a program for high school students to learn the ins and outs of judging classic cars. The Future Collectors program is sponsored by Sports Car Market, allowing students to learn the craft of judging and to select a car to receive the Future Collectors Trophy at this year’s show.

In addition to admission to the show and the opportunity to judge their Future Collector class, participants will also receive two tickets to the Concours, a polo shirt and a hat.

Interested youth can learn more and fill out a registration form on the Future Collectors Program page on the Concours Website.

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.

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.

Bloodworks NW Blood Drives: In an effort to build blood supplies in the Pacific Northwest, Bloodworks NW is sponsoring a number of blood drives in 2024 at the Forest Grove City Library. Upcoming blood rives will be held on Friday, July 26, Friday, Sept. 27 and Friday, Dec. 6. To sign up to give and set an appointment, please visit the Bloodworks NW website.

Around District 5100
Shoot For The Moon – This October: This October, Rotary District 5100 will be holding a Major Donor event to recognize and thank you who have been generous supporters of The Rotary Foundation and to challenge our district to reach even further to support the cause.

The Shoot for the Moon dinner event will take place on Saturday, October 19, at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville. Inspired by the Artemis mission, which will cover nearly a million miles traveling to the moon and back, we are launching a campaign to raise $1 million in new TRF contributions.

As part of Shoot for the Moon, 2024-25 Rotary International President Stephanie Urchick will be our keynote speaker. This marks the first time a sitting RI president will have visited District 5100 since the late Ray Klinginsmith in 2010-11. Shoot for the Moon will be an inspirational evening and a testament to the great work Rotary and Rotarians do in the world through The Rotary Foundation.

Invitations for Shoot for the Moon will be sent to Arch Klumph Society members, Bequest Society members, Major Donors and Paul Harris Society members. If you are not part of one of these giving groups yet, you can earn an invitation by “leveling up” your giving to TRF:

• Move from Paul Harris Fellow to Paul Harris Society
• Close the gap to become a Major Donor
• Move from Benefactor to Bequest Society

In addition, those who give a new gift of $10,000 or more to The Rotary Foundation between now and August 15, either as an outright gift, a two to three-year pledge or in a gift to the Bequest Society, will earn an invitation to an exclusive reception with Stephanie Urchick. Gifts can be made to any TRF giving area: Annual Fund/SHARE, PolioPlus, the Endowment, Peace, an Area of Focus, or to a Global Grant.

To learn more, visit the Shoot for the Moon website. For further questions, please contact Jeannine Murrell or Blake Timm. We hope to see you on October 19!

Click Here To Learn More About Giving To The Rotary Foundation | Click Here To Donate

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

Last Week’s Program: Fareeha Nayebare, Her Youth Exchange Year
For the last year, we have had the privilege of hosting Fareeha Nayebare as our inbound Rotary Youth Exchange student. Fareeha’s exchange from Uganda was made possible through the Rotary Youth Exchange program and the Power of One – African Exchanges program. Last week, Fareeha gave a presentation on her year with us in Oregon.

Fareeha arrived in Portland on August 14, 2023. The trip was the first time she had ever flown on a plane and was met at Portland International Airport by a contingent of Rotarians and her first host family.

During her stay, Fareeha was hosted by what she called the “beautiful host families”: the Doerfler family, the Pistor family and the Rodriguez/Guenther family. All three played a key role in making her exchange happen. The exchange gave Fareeha the chance to experience a love of a sister for the first time (she only has brothers in Uganda). It has been a special experience, she said, has made some special relationships that she will always honor and treasure.

Fareeha said that she has had a great academic experience at Forest Grove High School. She was able to learn French, which has always been a dream of hers. She participated on the cross country team and helped revitalize the Interact Club.

She is very grateful to the high school in helping to embrace and help educate others about her Muslim religion. The school was accommodating in helping her practice her religion daily, including providing space to pray.

Fareeha discussed some of her own personal growth over the last year. She had worked to improve her punctuality and time management, two things that are of more value in the U.S. than they are in Uganda. Learning time management skills has helped her become a more organized person. She has learned to make the decisions for herself instead of relying on others. She has improved in her leadership skills, her self-confidence, independence and open-mindedness.

Among the highlights of the year included celebrating holidays with her host families (especially Christmas), the fall Youth Exchange trip to California, which included learning to surf, riding a bike across the Golden Gate Bridge and a trip to Disneyland; learning to ride a bike and to play tennis (thank you Greg Nemchick), going skiing, learning to swim and going target shooting.

Instead of going home after her exchange has ended, Fareeha will remain in the United States and will be attending Portland Community College to study towards an associate’s degree in accounting. Her visa has been changed to allow her to stay and study. She will be living with Rus & Janet Peters. We are excited that Fareeha will continue to be part of our community!

Club Calendar
Wed., June 12: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Rotary Scholarship Winners & Steak Feed Preparation

Thurs., June 13: Executive Board Meeting, 7 p.m.
via Zoom

Fri., June 14: Steak Feed, 5-8 p.m.
University Center, Pacific University

Wed., June 19: President’s End Of Year Dinner, 6 p.m.
Prime Time Sports Bar & Restaurant, 4450 Pacific Ave., Forest Grove
There will be no noon meeting on June 19

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

Wed., June 26: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Forest Grove Community Alternative Learning Center, 2701 Taylor Way
Program: CALC

Sun., July 21: Concours d’Elegance
Pacific University Campus