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 Rotarian John Schrag presents about his nonprofit, UpliftLocal News.

Upcoming Meetings: All of our meetings in June and July will take place in the Boxer Pause Room in the University Center at Pacific University.

Notice Of Dues Increase: To meet increases in both Rotary International and District 5100 dues, and to keep pace with increasing costs in club operations, the Rotary Club’s Board of Directors approved an increase in dues to $100 per quarter for the 2025-26 Rotary year. This increase will be effective on July 1.

The $100 per quarter includes $56.30 in club dues, $28.20 for Rotary International dues and $15.50 for District 5100 dues.

Club dues cover the expenses related to the operation of the club, including insurance and taxes, our DacDB subscription, post office box, paying the club’s bookkeeper, bank card feeds, guest lunches, membership support and more.

For the 2025-26 Rotary year, Rotary International dues are $113.27 per year per member, and District 5100 dues are $62 per year. A full breakdown of what those amounts pay for is available in this dues breakdown PDF.

For any questions about the dues increase, please contact President Lucas Welliver, Treasurer Sharon Olmstead or any member of the board.

Save The Date – End Of Year Celebration: Be sure to save the evening of Wednesday, July 2, 5:30 p.m., for our annual End of the Year Celebration at the home of Sharon & Adrian Olmstead. Join us as we celebrate our accomplishments in Lucas Welliver’s year as president and welcome Andrea Stewart for her presidential year. The dinner will be catered through Black Dog Bar & Grill and beverages will be provided. No need to bring anything except your Rotary Spirit. Spouses and other plus-ones are welcome. No RSVP is required.There will be no noon meeting on Wednesday, July 2.

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. The parade is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. If you would like to take part, sign up at our weekly meetings or contact Tom Raabe.

The Concours Committee is still looking for someone who would like to offer their classic car to drive with us in the parade to promote the show. If you have such a car, or know someone who might be willing and available on July 4, please let Tom know.

Survey Coming Soon: What do you want our club to focus on over the next year? What activities and service projects would like us to do? How can you feel more connected to our club? President-elect Andrea Stewart will be sending out a survey to all club members in the next couple of weeks. She would like to have everyone’s participation to help guide the club in her year as president.

The link to the survey will be emailed to club members and will also be made in the version of the Rototeller emailed to members. Thank you in advance for taking time to help guide our club’s leadership into the next year.

Rotary International Convention: A number of our club members are currently in Calgary, Alberta, enjoying the 2025 Rotary International Convention. To follow along with all of the excitement, check out the Club’s Instagram Page or District Governor Jeannine Murrell’s Facebook Page.

Steak Feed – Thank You!: It was a little warm, but otherwise our 67th Annual Steak Feed was another great success. Thank you to all of our Rotarians and friends who made it a wonderful community event and a special thank you to our Steak Feed Committee chairs, Geoff Faris and Jeff Duyck, for his year-round work on this event. We hope to have fundraising totals to share soon.

If you have not already done so, please bring money for purchased Steak Feed tickets or any unsold tickets to Tom Raabe at next week’s meet so that the committee can tally total tickets sold and attendance.

Youth Exchange Featured In News-Times: Just in time for our Steak Feed, our club, our exchange students and the Rotary Youth Exchange program was featured by the Forest Grove News-Times. The feature, published online on June 6, the News-Times talked to both our inbound exchange student, Laurin von Orelli, and our two outbound students, Irene Barbour-Weiss and Danny Cervantes. It also detailed our commitment to the program for 50-plus years. Click Here To Read The Article.

A special thank you to our incoming Youth Exchange Officer, Sarah Barbour, for coordinating the interviews with our exchange students.

As Seen In Rotary Magazine: Have you seen the June 2025 edition of Rotary Magazine yet? If not, you probably haven’t seen our club’s Concours d’Elegance featured in the magazine’s events calendar on page 57. The mention puts our annual fundraising event in front of thousands of Rotarians across the country and around the globe! The Rotary Club of Lake Oswego also received a mention, giving District 5100 two mentions in the same magazine.

Concours d’Elegance News
Volunteers Needed – Sign Up Now!: The 2025 Concours is just around the corner on July 20. As you know, we require “all hands on deck” to make this event a success. We need club members and community members for roles that include campus set-up and takedown, parking lot attendance, ticket-takers at gates, merchandise sales and so much more. It is an expectation that all club members sign up for at least one volunteer shift.

Please visit the Concours Volunteer Signup Page on Sign-Up Genius today to secure your volunteer spot. If you have questions, contact the area director that you worked with last year or email volunteer coordinator Steve Mann at stevemann503@gmail.com.

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.

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 Monday, July 28. 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. 

Last Week’s Program: Izzy Rodriguez, Rotary Youth Exchange
Last week, we had a presentation from Izzy Rodriguez, one of our Rotary Youth Exchange outbound students, on her year in Argentina. Izzy is entering her senior year at St. Mary’s Academy and was born and raised in Forest Grove.

For her year, Izzy lived in Esquel, a city of 28,000 people in the Patagonia region of Argentine surrounded by mountains. Despite it being a small town, Esquel had a pretty active downtown core.

Normally RYE students stay with three host families, but Izzy’s year included just two host families. Her first host mom did a great job of introducing Argentina to her, which included large pasta dinners. The host mom worked two different jobs, in the morning and evening, which meant that Izzy spent a lot of time on her own in the town. Her second host family consisted of two parents and a 9-year-old sister.

The school day is quite different than it is in the U.S. School started at 7:40 a.m. and seemed to end at a different time each day, anywhere between 12 and 1:15 p.m. Izzy’s school had a block schedule with 3-5 classes per day. The school had an active Interact club, which held Saturday service project meetings and a monthly Tuesday feast. Some of her favorite activities with friends and other Youth Exchange students included watching sports, drinking mate, hiking, hanging out in the town plazas or other people’s houses, going to the gym and then going to ice cream.

Argentina has a lot of culturally-rooted foods, including empenadas, bundeen, churipan, torta fritas and lots of meat. Izzy enjoyed being introduced to the different foods and culture.

Overall, she had an incredible experience and made connections with people who will be friends for a lifetime.

Club Calendar
Wed., June 25: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: John Schrag, UpliftLocal News

Wed., July 2: Year End Celebration, 5:30 p.m.
Home of Sharon & Adrian Olmstead
There will be no noon meeting on July 2

Wed., July 9: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Larry Strober, Oregon Peace Trail

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

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

Thurs., Aug. 21: Joint Meeting with Daybreak for District Governor Susanne Holmberg’s Official Visit, 6:30 p.m.
Zesti Food Carts, 2131 Yew St.
There will be no noon meeting on Wed., Aug. 20