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

This Week’s Meeting: After a week off, we welcome all of our Rotarians back this Wednesday, April 2, in the Boxer Pause Room on the campus of Pacific University, when our program will be Rotarian and Pacific University President Jenny Coyle. In addition to President Coyle’s presentation, we will also present Pacific our annual scholarship check to the university.

Upcoming Meetings: Please note the meeting locations for the following dates in April:

• Wed., April 9: Forest Grove United Church of Christ, 2032 College Way
• Wed., April 16 and Wed., April 30: Boxer Pause, Pacific University
• Wed., Apt. 23: Forest Grove School District Offices, 1728 Main St.

Change In Leadership For Youth Exchange: The club would like to thank Melinda Fischer for her years of service as our club’s Rotary Youth Exchange officer. She has decided to step aside from the role at the end of this Rotary year. This is an important role for our involvement in the Youth Exchange program and we are incredibly grateful for Melinda’s leadership.

We are excited to announce that Sarah Barbour has agreed to become the club’s new Youth Exchange Committee chair effective July 1 and will work with Melinda to ensure a smooth transition. Sarah and her husband, Al Weiss, have been involved with the Youth Exchange program through their daughters. Thank you, Sarah, for stepping into this role!

March Madness Updates: As of Monday night, the men’s and women’s Final Fours are set. For those who entered our Rotary March Madness contest, most of you still have your national championship team in play. Here are our standings entering the Final Fours:

Men’s Tournament: 1, Michael (not sure which one, but he picked Auburn as his national champ); 2, Pete Van Dyke (who picked Tennessee to win it all, sorry…); 3, Blake Timm (who said that Even Paul Harris Picked Duke).

Women’s Tournament: 1, Blake Timm (who correctly named his bracket Anyone But Kim Mulkey and has Texas as his national champ); 2, Paul Watersteet (who picked UConn to win it all); 3, Pete Van Dyke (who also has Texas to win).

Crab Feed: Thank you to all of our Rotarians and friends who came out for our annual Crab Feed! A great time was had as we enjoyed some great pre-dinner entertainment from a jazz ensemble of students from Forest Grove High School, a celebration of our latest Paul Harris Fellows and those earning their next PHF level and, of course, the crab dinner itself.

Thank you to the Crab Feed Committee, chaired by Julia Kollar, for their great work on putting together a special evening. Thank you to those who donated desserts for our dessert dash fundraiser and to members of Forest Grove High School FFA who conducted the table service for the evening.

Garden Cleanup & The Satellite Club: Beginning this spring, members of our Satellite Club are planning on taking a larger role in the maintenance of our McDougall Garden, located between Pacific and 19th avenues near the big flagpole. A planning and work session took place on Saturday, Mar. 22. Thanks to Satellite Club director Hector Mendez-Colberg and Garden Committee chair Geoff Faris for bringing the group together. We also thank the following Rotarians and friends for their work and service: Michael Yakos, Janet Peters and Rus Peters, and future Rotarians Carla and TJ Kimzey.

Rotary Foundation Giving Update: Our club continues to be ardent supporters of The Rotary Foundation! As of March 15, we have exceeded our goal for TRF annual fund contributions, raising so far $10,114 out of our goal of $7,500. We have also surpassed our annual goal for PolioPlus of $3,000 with $3,674 raised! To date, 31 of our 73 members have made TRF contributions this Rotary year.

It is never too late to think about making a contribution to The Rotary Foundation and the good TRF dollars make within our community and around the world. To make a one-time donation, or to set up a recurring donation through Rotary Direct, visit the Rotary International website or contact club Foundation Chair Michael Yakos.

What Is A Paul Harris Fellow?: A Paul Harris Fellow recognizes individuals who have given a lifetime total of $1,000 or more to The Rotary Foundation. This includes contributions to the foundation’s Annual Fund, PolioPlus or an approved grant. Only contributions to The Rotary Foundation count towards Paul Harris Fellow recognition. Donations to our club’s foundation do not count towards that recognition. Donors are also recognized as multiple Paul Harris Fellows for each additional $1,000 of lifetime giving to the foundation.

Rotarians can also recognize a family member, friend or community member with a Paul Harris Fellow with a donation in that person’s name or through the use of recognition points earned through your giving (Rotarians receive one point for each dollar donated).

Individuals who donate $1,000 per year to The Rotary Foundation are recognized as members of the Paul Harris Society.

To date, our club has 39 current Rotarians who are Paul Harris Fellows and 23 who are multiple Paul Harris Fellows. All time, our club has recognized 200 Paul Harris Fellows and 47 multiple Paul Harris Fellows.

Save The Date – Steak Feed: Make sure to mark Friday, June 6 on your calendar for our annual Steak Feed at Pacific University. This is one of our two big fundraisers of the year with proceeds from the evening benefitting our involvement in the Rotary Youth Exchange program. This is an all-hands-on-deck event and we need all of our members to be there and make the event a great success.

As in past years, we will have tickets for club members to sell coming up in a few weeks. Tickets will be $25 and will include a choice New York steak, salad, rolls, beans, drinks and dessert. For more information, contact Steak Feed chair Geoff Faris.

Concours Sponsorships: The Concours Committee is actively procuring sponsors for the 2025 show, which takes place on Sunday, July 20. If you know of a business or individual that might be interested in sponsoring our signature event, please contact Janet Peters at 503-679-6479 or rjlc4peters@msn.com, or Amy Tracewell at 541-844-9467 or amy.tracewell@pacificu.edu.

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. At our Jan. 29 meeting, 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.

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.

CALC Volunteer Opportunities: Forest Grove School District’s Community Alternative Learning Center (CALC) has two volunteer opportunities for Rotarians and friends. The school is looking for volunteers to assist with interviewing students for mock job interviews. There will be another opportunity forthcoming on a victory garden that is being planted at school. Both opportunities will take place at a date to be determined.

If you are interested in either opportunity or if you have questions, please contact principal Tim Graham at 503-730-4490 or tgraham@fgsd.k12.or.us, or Steven Barnard at 443-454-5177 or sbarnard@fgsd.k12.or.us.

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
District 5100 Spring Training – April 12: Registration is now open on DacDB for Rotary District 5100’s Spring Training on Saturday, Apr. 12. All sessions this year will be virtual through Zoom.

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.

Classes are open to any Rotarian and include sessions on international service, The Rotary Foundation and grants, membership & culture, public image & communication, and operations & club leadership. There will also be a keynote session at 12:15 p.m. by executive coach Val Markos. Click Here To View Complete Schedule.

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!

Rotary Expo – Saturday, May 3: Our club is among the many in District 5100 that will participate in the Rotary Expo. This exhibition of everything great about Rotary takes place on Saturday, May 3, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Wingspan Event & Conference Center in Hillsboro.

The Rotary Expo will feature 43 booths, showcasing projects from District 5100 Rotary clubs and partner organizations. The event will also have the Jubitz Family Foundation’s indoor Global Peace Village, which will be showcased at the 2025 Rotary International Convention in Calgary in June. A peace pole will also be planted during the day.

The expo will also include entertainment from a number of local groups as well as the annual District 5100 Rotary Youth Exchange Talent Show.

Our club will be signing up volunteers to man our booth soon. We also plan to have a classic car on site to promote our annual Concours d’Elegance. Please download the event flyer to share with friends and on your social media platforms.

In addition to our booth, the district is in need of volunteers to help make the entire event flow well. If you can commit time, please visit the Volunteer Online Signup to see how you can help make the Rotary Expo a success.

Club Calendar
Wed., Apr. 2: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Jenny Coyle, Pacific University

Wed., Apr. 9: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Forest Grove United Church of Christ, 2032 College Way
Program: Youth Citizen of the Month/Club Assembly, Board Elections

Thurs., Apr. 10: Executive Board Meeting, 7 a.m.
via Zoom

Wed., Apr. 16: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Andie Shepard, Alzheimer’s Association

Thurs., Apr. 17: Board Meeting, 7 a.m.
via Zoom

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

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