Our May 2025 Rotary Youth Citizens of Month. Clockwise from top left: Reid Van (Gaston Jr./Sr. High School), Molly Schoolmeester (Banks Middle School) and Mackenzie Donnelly (Banks High School).

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 this week for our meeting on Wednesday in the Boxer Pause room in the University Center at Pacific University. Join us as we hear from Dr. Scott Pike, who will introduce us to the Infoque Ixcan eyecare nonprofit.

We found out recently that Pacific’s dining commons will be open this Wednesday, so all are invited to partake in lunch without a prior RSVP.

Upcoming Meetings: The remainder of this month’s meetings will take place in the Boxer Pause Room in the University Center at Pacific University.

With the end of Pacific’s academic year, we will have catered lunches for our meetings through most of the summer, beginning with our May 28 meeting. An RSVP will be required to order a lunch for the meeting. Please sign up on the sign-up sheets distributed during our meeting meetings or email Secretary Claire Agner, bcnca39@frontier.com, by no later than the Friday prior to the next scheduled meeting.

Congratulations New Board Members: Our congratulations to Sarah Barbour, Cole Thursam, Mallory Heifield and Steve Mann, all of whom have won election to the Rotary Club of Forest Grove Board of Directors. The four will begin their terms on July 1. Thanks to all of you for your service to our club!

Congratulations Youth Citizens of the Month!: At our May 14 meeting, we honored our final Youth Citizens of the Month for the 2024-25 academic year. Congratulations to Reid Van of Gaston Jr./Sr. High School, Molly Schoolmeester of Banks Middle School and Mackenzie Donnelly of Banks High School! All three students received a certificate and a $50 gift card to Frye’s Action Athletics.

Thank you to Steven Barnard and Andrew Stewart for their leadership of this program throughout the year!

Road Cleanup: A small but mighty crew made it out on Saturday for our semi-annual road cleanup project along Gales Creek Road and Thatcher Road. Thank you to the following Rotarians for their service: Sarah Barbour, Melinda Fischer, Claire Agner, Amy Tracewell, Evelyn Orr and Blake Timm. Thank you as always to Paul Waterstreet and Andrea Stewart for their continued work to organize this project for our club.

The Rotary Club of Forest Grove has been involved with the Washington County Adopt-A-Road program since the 1990s. The club performs semi-annual cleanups along Gales Creek Road between Thatcher Road and Forest Gale Drive and along Thatcher Road between Gales Creek Road and David Hill Road.

Hillsboro Rotary Fourth of July Parade: Mark your calendars for Friday, July 4 as our club will once again be marching in the Hillsboro Rotary Fourth of July Parade to promote the annual Concours d’Elegance. A sign-up sheet for parade volunteers is being circulated at weekly meetings. The parade is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. More details will be coming closer to the event.

Steak Feed: We are less than three weeks away from our 67th Annual Steak Feed, which takes place on Friday, June 6, 5-8 p.m., at the University Center on Pacific University’s Forest Grove Campus. Tickets were handed out to members who were in attendance at our Apr. 2 meeting and mailed out to members who were not in attendance.

Each club member is being asked to support the cause by selling 10 tickets to the event. Each ticket is $25 and includes a barbequed New York Steak, salad, baked potato, roll, beans, beverage and dessert. To-go options will be available. Please sell tickets to your family, friends, enemies, acquaintances, anyone who would enjoy a good meal.

This fundraiser specifically benefits our involvement in the Rotary Youth Exchange program. This upcoming Rotary Year, we will be sending two students outbound to Mexico and Denmark. We will also have an inbound student this year from Turkey.

This is an all-hands-on-deck event for the club, with every member’s participation important to its success. If you will not be able to attend, or have questions about your assignment, please contact the designated committee chair you are assigned to. For more information, contact Steak Feed chair Geoff Faris.

In Memoriam – Herb Drew: Our thoughts and sympathies are with the family and friends of Herb Drew, who passed away on April 25. Herb was a member of our club from 1978 to 2016 and served as club president during the 1983-84 Rotary year. A 1960 graduate of Pacific University, Herb was a longtime insurance and owned Herb Drew & Associates Insurance in Forest Grove. In addition to Rotary, Herb was involved with Kiwanis and the Forest Grove Chamber of Commerce, and was a past member of the Forest Grove City Council and the Pacific University Alumni Association Board of Directors. Click Here To Read The Full Obituary.

A celebration of life service for Herb will be on Saturday, June 14, 11 a.m., at the Forest Grove United Methodist Church.

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.

Concours d’Elegance News
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.

Concours Entries Now Open: If you or someone you know is interested in entering their classic car into the Concours d’Elegance, entries are now open. Visit The Concours Website for entry details and a list of this year’s judged and exhibition classes. There is a suggested donation of $100 per entry with proceeds benefitting the Foundation of the Rotary Club of Forest Grove.

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.

Troop 213 Flag Planting – Memorial Day Weekend: Our chartered Scouting America Troop 213 is inviting club members to assist with flag planting on graves for Memorial Day weekend. On Friday, May 23, the troop will meet in the parking lot at Tom McCall Upper Elementary West at 5:30 p.m., for a barbeque, followed by the placing of large flags on the roads and small flag on graves at Forest View Cemetery. The entire project should take two to three hours.

On Saturday, May 24, the troop will meet at 9 a.m. at Mountain View Cemetery, 499 Watercrest Road, for the placement of small flags on graves. The project should take 60 to 90 minutes.

For more information, or to indicate your interest in helping, please contact Scoutmaster Pete Bower via email, bower.pete@gmail.com.

CALC Mock Interview: Forest Grove School District’s Community Alternative Learning Center (CALC) 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 Leadership Opportunities: Running a successful organization requires that we plan for succession, and then continue to invest in future leaders. District 5100 is always looking for those Rotarians who would like to advance in Rotary leadership. Some positions require some past leadership experience. For more information, please contact the District Office.

Vision to Action Committee: Calling those who have an interest in helping clubs envision and plan their club’s future! District 5100, with the assistance of the Vision to Action Chair, Renee Brouse, is forming a Vision to Action Committee! This committee will be trained to facilitate the new Vision to Action curriculum as well as aid in the new three-year rolling plan from RI, and help create a pathway for annual reviews and other resources as needed. Want to join the committee and be a part of the future? Contact Renee Brouse.

District Diversity, Equality, & Inclusion Committee: This committee is working on facilitating with clubs the RI DEI policies and real-life applications for Rotarians and clubs. They meet once a month. For more information, visit www.rotarydistrict5100.org/committees/

Club Calendar
Wed., May 21: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Scott Pike, Infoque Ixcan

Wed., May 28: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: David Tauber, Concours d’Elegance

Wed., June 4: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Lora Dexheimer, North Plains Food Bank

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

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