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

This Week – At Forest Grove School District Offices: Our weekly meeting this Wednesday, July 5, and on July 12 will take place in the Grove Room at the Forest Grove School District offices, 1728 Main Street. Please make sure to join us this week as Rotarian Seth Berdahl presents about the Forest Grove Running Club.

Upcoming Meetings: Our meetings on July 5 and July 12 will be held at the Grove Room at the Forest Grove School District offices. Our July 19 and 26 meetings will be back at Pacific University.

After July 26, our weekly meetings will take place at the Cornelius Public Library for the foreseeable future. Due to renovations to Pacific Hall (the former library), our usual meeting space in the University Center will be used as classroom space for much of the 2023-24 academic year. More details on the meetings and how meals will work will be available as we get closer to that transition.

Name Badges – The Rules Have Changed: With the fact that we will be moving from place to place for the next few months, members were asked to take their badges home with them at last week’s meeting. Normally, we would fine members for taking their badges home…but it is now the opposite. Please bring your own badge to the meeting to avoid a $1 fine. All fine money collected goes towards the club’s contribution to the PolioPlus fund.

No word was available on how members who did not make last week’s meeting (like the newsletter editor, who is producing this week’s Rototeller in London) can acquire their badge and avoid a fine.

Thank You Scouts BSA Troop 213: For decades, the Rotary Club of Forest Grove has been the charter organization for Scout BSA Troop 213. As part of being chartered by our club, the troop is a regular presence at some of our bigger functions, including the Crab Feed, Steak Feed and the Concours d’Elegance.

At our June 21 meeting, we were honored to present a check to the troop for $1,000 to help further their mission to working with the youth in our community. Thank you Troop 213!

Community Event – Emilio Inc. Poker Ride: Draggin Pipe, operated in part by Rotarian Cari Atzen and Brookwood Auto Group, operated by Rotarian Michael Cook, are sponsoring a motorcycle poker ride in support of Emilio Inc. on Saturday, July 15. The end of the ride and subsequent Ride Bike Show will take place at Brookwood/Draggin’ Pipe.

Emilio Inc. is an organization built in the honor of Emilio Hoffman who was the victim in the Reynolds High School shooting on June 10, 2014. Emilio Inc. believes that awareness and education are essential to helping with mental health challenges and preventing youth violence. They engage with community organizations, government agencies and businesses in an effort to make communities safe and maintain a high quality of life for children.

The post-ride event includes an auction and raffle, a presentation be Emilio’s parents, food provided by Jerrick’s BBQ (at Zesti Carts) and a beer garden sponsored by 10 Barrel Brewing.

For more information on the event, please contact Cari or Michael.

Past Programs: Did you miss a meeting or want to go back and check out a program again? Most of our programs since May 2020 (over 100 videos to date) are archived on our club’s YouTube page. Visit https://bit.ly/fgrotaryprograms.

Concours d’Elegance News
Concours – Volunteer Assignments: The annual Concours d’Elegance is coming up on Sunday, July 16. As you may know, this is an “all hands on deck” event for the club. We need every club member involved on show day to make sure that we put on the most successful event possible.

Club volunteer assignments have been posted Here On Sign Up Genius. Please take some time to look at the page to see where you are assigned. If you have any questions on assignments, please contact President Janet.

New Concours Shirts Are In: If you ordered a new Concours d’Elegance polo shirt, it is now available for pick up. Shirts are $29.50 each. See Tim Pearson at a club meeting or contact him to make arrangements for pick up. Please make sure to have money available at the time of pick up.

Concours Sponsorship Opportunities: It is not too late to secure sponsorships for the Concours d’Elegance. There is plenty of sponsorship opportunities for both businesses and individuals for starting as low as $250. How important is sponsorships? Most of the profit that comes from Concours, which helps pay for our service outreach and funds our Scholarship Program, comes from sponsorships.

Click Here To Download The Sponsorship Flyer, which describes a number of the show’s sponsor opportunities. For more information or to help secure a sponsorship, please contact Tim Pearson at 503-998-8616 or timpearsonpc@gmail.com or Andrea Stewart at 503-357-1427 or astewart@pacificu.edu.

Concours Concert – “Celebrating Our Senses”: The Concours d’Elegance will once again feature a Friday night vineyard concert. The second “Celebrating Our Senses” will take place on Friday, July 14 at the Eagles Next Reserve Winery & Vineyard, 12995 NW Bishop Rd., Hillsboro. Gates open at 4:30 p.m. for the dinner event with music by Oregon Music Hall of Fame inductee King Louie Pain and the Renato Caranto Trio beginning at 6:15 p.m. Dinner includes a three-course meal, featuring appetizers of charcuterie and fruits and vegetables from Wedge and Cured, a Texas-style barbeque entrée from Ferrtie’s BBQ and gourmet cookies for dessert provided some of the dedicated bakers of the Rotary Club of Forest Grove. A selection of wines from Eagles Nest Reserve Winery will also be available along with assorted ciders from Bull Run Cider Company of Forest Grove.

Tickets are $75 per person. For more information, please visit the Concert Page on the Concours d’Elegance website or contact Court Carrier at 971-404-7864 or ccarrieriv@gmail.com.

For More Information: Still curious as to what the Concours d’Elegance is all about, what it is and why we do it? We encourage you to visit the show website, forestgroveconcours.org.

Service Opportunities For Club Members
Elks Backpack Program: The Elks Backpack Program, which provides food for youth in the Forest Grove School District experiencing food insecurity, is looking for 50 new or gently used backpacks for the program. If you have backpacks to donate, please bring those to a future meeting and we will get them to the appropriate people.

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.

During the summer, the Food Pantry is open Mondays from 2-3:30 p.m. The pantry will be closed on July 24 and Sept. 4. 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.

Additionally, Rotarian Gwen Hullinger has put together an Amazon wish list of items that can be purchased and donated. Click Here To View That List.

Around District 5100
Rotary Friendship Exchange: District 5100 has an opportunity for Rotarians to participate in a Rotary Friendship Exchange. District 5100 and District 3261 in NE India have combined forces to create a Friendship Exchange in India in January/February 2024 timeframe. The return exchange will be in May/June 2024 timeframe here in our district.

Independent travel can be arranged before or after the exchange on your own. Indian Rotarians may be willing to help with arrangements for travel to places of interest, such as the Taj Mahal, which is located in Uttar Pradesh a state just north of District 3621. District 3621 includes all or parts of the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Orissa.

If you are interested in participating in this exchange, please contact District RFE Chair Dennis Wickham, wickhamdj@comcast.net, for an application. 

Rotary Friendship Exchanges are funded by Rotarians participating on the exchange. Some clubs may help by providing funding for meals when inbound RFE Team members visit their club. Rotarians participating from this district and their club are expected to host Rotarians from our partner district and plan the various activities of the inbound RFE team. The culture of India is such that guests are not expected to pay for any of the expenses associated with being a guest! Participants in this exchange are expected to not only host inbound Rotarians but financially support activities that are planned for the inbound guests. 

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

Around Rotary International
Called By A Cause – Rotary Club Of Mental Health & Wellness (By Dinah Eng): Over the years, whenever Maribel Khoury-Shaar’s Rotarian husband suggested she join Rotary, the busy doctor declined. But when she learned that a Rotary club dedicated to mental health and wellness was forming, she jumped on board.

It came at just the right time for the primary care physician. After the pandemic started, most of her patients were anxious and depressed, and she was getting burnt out as a health care provider. “This club reinvigorated my life because I was around like-minded people who wanted to do the right thing,” says Khoury-Shaar, president of the Rotary Club of Mental Health & Wellness in District 5280, which covers parts of Los Angeles County in California. The club meets online and welcomes members to join from anywhere in the world. Its current members include professionals in the mental health field and others who hold the issue close to their hearts.

The club, chartered last May during Mental Health Awareness Month in the U.S., is one of the first cause-based Rotary clubs to focus on mental health and wellness and was the idea of Guity Javid, the 2021-22 governor of District 5280. It’s one of a growing number of cause-based clubs around the world.

The year before Javid’s term, the district had already chartered one cause-based club, District 5280 Rotarians Fighting Human Trafficking. Javid identified three other causes that were personal priorities and helped launch these clubs: Mental Health & Wellness, Rotarians for Environmental Action, and Rotarians in Service for Equality (R.I.S.E.), which focuses on LGBTQ+ concerns.

“I was pleasantly surprised at the number of Rotary spouses who might never have joined Rotary, but for these causes,” Javid says. “We also attracted younger members. Mental health has been a huge crisis during the pandemic. People were isolated, and many turned to alcohol and drugs to cope.” Eliminating the stigma associated with mental health is a priority, she adds.

Mental health and especially the issues of depression, anxiety, and suicide have caught the attention of Rotarians worldwide. In addition to the new club, there is a Rotary Action Group on Mental Health Initiatives as well as a partnership between Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland and the nonprofit Bipolar UK.

While the Mental Health & Wellness club is relatively new, members have launched notable initiatives, including an effort to award $5,000 in scholarships annually to students pursuing graduate-level work on mental health. Members assembled and distributed coping kits containing stuffed animals, supportive cards, and other items to children with burn injuries. And they promoted mental health and wellness among school-age children through the Inspiring Kindness initiative, a collaboration with other clubs, schools, and the Alex Montoya Foundation.

Another priority is serving military veterans, including by helping refurbish an American Legion post in Glendale, California.

Club member Marisol Chianello, an attorney in Glendale, became the point person for that project. She joined the club because she’s dealt with mental health issues herself and wanted to create resources for others, she says. Her husband is a Gulf War veteran, and when one of his friends told her about the American Legion post’s challenges, she immediately wanted to help.

“Half of the space had to be rented out for income to survive,” Chianello says. “The other half was used for storage and was filled with uniforms, medals, and military memorabilia. With support from other district clubs, we cleaned it up and reopened the space.” The location now has a space where veterans can seek calm and, eventually, referrals to resources to improve their mental health. Chianello says the American Legion is working with the club to determine how Rotary can help maintain the site.

Club President-elect Judith Verduzco, a therapist in Glendale, was also drawn to join because of the club’s focus. Like Khoury-Shaar, Verduzco has a Rotarian husband who encouraged her to become a member.

In addition to building on projects underway, Verduzco says her focus will be on suicide prevention and partnering with organizations that provide mental health services and promote awareness of the issue. “As a clinician, I encourage my clients to call 988 in the event of a crisis,” she says, referring to the national Suicide and Crisis Lifeline modeled on the 911 system and launched last year.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of suicides in the United States increased 4 percent from 2020 to 2021, after declines in 2019 and 2020. “My vision is to call attention to the magnitude of the problem,” Verduzco says.

She is interested in research on community gardening’s mental health benefits. She plans to collaborate with other cause-based clubs and cities in Los Angeles County to create what are known as tranquility gardens, to try to provide peace and hope to underserved communities.

“We’ve done a lot in a short period of time,” Verduzco says. “We meet virtually twice a month, but outside of that, I want to create opportunities for fellowship and service. Mental health affects everyone, and this club is a great way to get friends involved so that we can stay connected while doing good.”

This story was originally published on the Rotary.org website.

Club Calendar
Wed., July 5: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Grove Room, Forest Grove School District, 1728 Main St.
Program: Seth Berdahl, Forest Grove Running Club

Wed., July 12: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Grove Room, Forest Grove School District, 1728 Main St.
Program: Concours Prep

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

Sun., July 16: Concours d’Elegance
Pacific University Campus

Wed., July 19: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Dining Commons, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Eva Aguilar, Washington County Recycling

Thurs., July 20: Board Meeting, 7 a.m.
Via Zoom