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

This Week’s Meeting: We hope you will join us on Wednesday at noon for our weekly meeting in the Boxer Pause room in the University Center at Pacific University. Join us as Claudia & Michael Yakos will provide an update on the Gardens of Hope international project that our club has supported the past few years.

In Memoriam – John Minor: It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of longtime club member John Minor, who passed on Sept. 11 after a long battle with cancer. John was a member of our club for 53 years and served as club president during the 1985-85 Rotary year. He was also a past president of the Forest Grove Chamber of Commerce and a former Forest Grove city councilor. A full obituary can be read here.

A celebration of life will take place on Saturday, Sept. 28, 3 p.m., at Forest Hills Golf Course. Rotarians are encouraged to attend to remember and share stories about John. Our thoughts and prayers go out to John’s wife, Jenny, and his children, Steve, Scott and Alan.

Road Cleanup – Oct. 5: Our club’s next semi-annual road cleanup has been scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 5. We will meet at 8:30 a.m. at the Oregon Department of Forestry offices at 801 Gales Creek Road, where will do cleanup of Gales Creek Road between Thatcher Road and Forest Gale Drive, and Thatcher Road between Gales Creek Road and David Hill Road. A sign-up will be distributed soon at our weekly meetings.

For more information on this long-standing service project, please contact Andrea Stewart or Paul Waterstreet.

Habitat For Humanity Service Project – Oct. 12: Our Community Service Committee is working with West Tuality Habitat for Humanity on a service opportunity for the club on Saturday, Oct. 12. Details will be available soon and a sign-up sheet will be distributed during this week’s club meeting. The project will likely assist Habitat’s home repair program. We would like to have around 12 club members or more to be able to take part in this project.

Corn Roast Booth – Thank You!: Thank you to our club members who manned our booth at Saturday’s 60th annual Corn Roast. We had the spinning wheel available for prizes and shared about how club impacts the community.

Our club’s participation at the Oktoberfest on Saturday., Sept. 28 has been canceled. There are plenty of opportunities, however, to volunteer for this community event. To volunteer, please email Donna Gustafson at oktoberfestfg@gmail.com.

Hope For The Holidays: Our Hope For The Holidays committee is putting the wheels in motion for this year’s service project in December. We have once again been approved for a District 5100 Matching Grant to aid the project. Information on wreath sales, which will also support the project, will be coming soon.

Our longstanding holiday project to aid those who struggle with food security was among the projects featured in September on the District 5100 Facebook Page in advance of the district’s Shoot For The Moon event on Oct. 19.

100th Anniversary – Pledge Card & Time Capsule: If you were not able to attend our 100th anniversary celebration in early September, there are still two ways that you can participate. The first is by writing down your thoughts to go into a time capsule that we will leave to be opened on the club’s 200th anniversary. Your thoughts could be about our club, the state of the world, your profession, what you think life will be like in Forest Grove in 2124, or much more. Papers for writing your thoughts will be available at our weekly meetings.

We are also inviting club members to pledge $100 towards Rotary and our club’s projects as we look ahead to the next 100 years. Pledges are encouraged for one of these six areas: Scholarships, Hope for the Holidays, Polio Plus, Youth Exchange, Gardens of Hope or The Rotary Foundation’s Annual Fund. Pledge cards are available at weekly meetings.

Rotary Citation – Congrats To Our Club!: On Aug. 28, current club president Lucas Welliver presented past president Amy Tracewell with the club’s 2023-24 Rotary Citation. The club earned the citation by achieving goals set in at least of 26 goal areas outlined by Rotary International. Our club set goals for 16 areas and achieved 15 in 2023-24. Our club has achieved the Rotary Citation (known moving forward as the Club Excellence Award) for most years in recent history. Forest Grove was one of just two clubs in District 5100’s Western Region to receive the Rotary Citation.

Greeters Returning: 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.

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 professionals 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.

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

Around District 5100
Vibrant Club Workshop – This Saturday: This year’s Vibrant Club Workshop will take place this Saturday, Sept. 28. The pod for the West Region clubs (Forest Grove, Forest Grove Daybreak, Beaverton and Hillsboro) will take place at the Forest Grove United of Christ, 2032 College Way, and will run from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

The workshop will cover topics around membership, The Rotary Foundation and public image and will provide clubs time and topics to discuss to help strengthen their clubs. Club leadership and anyone interested in strengthening their clubs are encouraged to attend. If you are unable to attend in person, a virtual option will be available.

There is no feed to attend and snacks and beverages will be provided. After the workshop, everyone is invited to partake in the Forest Grove Oktoberfest, which will be taking place just outside the church.

Registration is now open on DacDB. We hope to see you there!

Shoot For The Moon Event – Open Invitation!: Our deadline for the guest count to our venue is fast approaching. We still have some seats available and are extending the invitation to ALL District 5100 Rotarians to hear our Rotary International President Stephanie Urchick, live and in person at Shoot for the Moon!
The event is Saturday, October 19, at 6 p.m., at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville. We need to have our meal count in to the caterers by September 27. I know that is early, three weeks prior to the event, and only a week away, but seating cannot be guaranteed after that time. The remaining seats are going quickly. We want to be sure we have a full house for President Stephanie and make room for as many as we can who want to hear her. If you want to attend, now is the time to get your registration in.

A registration link was sent to all District 5100 Rotarians last week. For more details or to receive the link again, please contact either Blake Timm or Jeannine Murrell.

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

Club Calendar
Wed., Sept. 25: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Michael & Claudia Yakos, Gardens of Hope

Wed., Oct. 2: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Club Assembly – Concours d’Elegance

Sat., Oct. 5: Road Cleanup Service Project, 8:30 a.m.
Oregon Department of Forestry, 801 Gales Creek Road

Wed., Oct. 9: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Forest Grove United Church of Christ, 2032 College Way
Program: Youth Citizen of the Month

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