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 that you will be able to join us on Wednesday at noon in the Boxer Pause Room in the University Center at Pacific University. This week, we will hear from Past District Governor Larry Hatch, who will talk about Rotary’s efforts to eradicate polio. We will also hear from Bassum Tarazi from Edward Jones about the foundation’s new endowment fund.

Upcoming Meetings: Our Wednesday meetings in November will be held at Pacific University. Our meetings on Dec. 3 and Dec. 10 will be held at the Forest Grove United Church of Christ. There will not be Wednesday meetings on Nov. 26, Dec. 24 and Dec. 31.

Lunch Procedures Our For Meetings At Pacific: Pacific University’s food service provider, Bon Appetit, has updated the way lunches are purchased for our meetings this Rotary year. All members and guests will need to present a voucher, purchased from our treasurer, to enter the dining commons.

• If you are billed for lunch, you will still need to check in to receive your voucher.
• All guests will also need a voucher to enter the commons.
• The cost for lunch remains at $10.

Additionally, we are encouraging members to purchase a month’s worth of lunch vouchers at a time for our weekly meetings. This small change will make check-in smoother and help lighten the load on our treasurer. If you would like to prepay for your lunches, please see treasurer Sharon Olmstead at our next meeting.

Earlier Meeting Start Time: Because we are packing so much information and discussion into our weekly meetings, please note that the formal meeting will now be starting at 12:05 p.m., instead of the 12:15 p.m. that we are used to. So please show up earlier to enjoy fellowship with other club members prior to the meeting.

Announcements At Meetings: If you have an announcement that you would like to give at a meeting, please let President Andrea know in advance. This will assist her in planning out our full meetings better. Thank you!

Wreath Sales – Benefitting Family Resource Center: Thank you to everyone who purchased wreaths this year to help benefit the Forest Grove School District’s Family Resource Center at Cornelius Elementary School. With a combination of wreath sales, a District 5100 matching grant and funds from our club, we have been able to raise nearly $7,000 for the center. Orders will be delivered by our club members on Saturday, Nov. 29.

Family Resource Center Volunteers Needed: The Family Resource Center is in constant need of volunteers to assist with sorting donations and preparing food boxes to go out to families in need in our community. The center is generally open and available for volunteers Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. You do not need to go through the school district’s background check process to volunteer in the Family Resource Center.

If you want to volunteer or have questions about volunteering, please contact Melissa Timm at 503-310-1084 (phone or text).

If you do volunteer (or have already volunteered) at the Family Resource Center, please report your hours to club secretary Claire Agner. We are working on tracking hours for reporting to Rotary International.

Fareeha Needs A New Home: Our 2023-24 Rotary Youth Exchange student, Fareeha Nayebare, continues to work towards her education at Portland Community College. Fareeha is in need of a new host family so that she can continue to work toward her education. The new family would need to commit to providing room and board for at least three months, beginning in mid-December.

Fareeha is taking classes at both PCC’s Rock Creek and Sylvania campuses. Because of this, hosting could involve families that live outside of Forest Grove.

If you are interested in helping Fareeha, or know of someone who might be able to be her next host, please contact Sarah Barbour.

Road Cleanup: We had a small but powerful group of Rotarians participate in our semi-annual road cleanup on Saturday along Gales Creek Road and Thatcher Road. Thanks to the follow Rotarians for their work: Greg Nemchick, Cole Thursam, Pamelajean Myers, John Schrag, Stephanie Maroulas, Janet Peter and Rus Peters. A special thank you again to Rus Peters and Melinda Fischer for taking on coordinating this long-standing project for the club.

Foundation Board Creates Endowment Fund: At its last meeting, the board of the Foundation of the Rotary Club of Forest Grove voted to use a portion of the foundation’s assets to create an endowment fund. The creation of the foundation endowment is part of a three-year process to create and enact a financial reserve policy for the foundation.

Over the last three years, the board identified that the foundation held cash above and beyond the annual distributions (including the Rainy Day Fund used to self-insure the Concours d’Elegance against cancellation). Placing these funds in an endowment will allow that surplus to grow, creating more financial stability for both the club and the foundation.

The long-term goal is to make annual contributions to the endowment fund. Continual funding will also help the foundation tap a source of perpetual funds to ensure the club’s ability to support the many causes of the foundation, including scholarships, youth programs, and international projects.

The endowment will also allow for greater ability for people to contribute to the foundation, including making stock contributions and bequests.

Bassum Tarazi of Edward Jones, who helped the club set up the endowment, will make a short presentation and be available to answer questions at our meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 12. In the meantime, please contact President Andrea Stewart or Treasurer Sharon Olmstead with any questions.

The Foundation of the Rotary Club of Forest Grove is the 501(c)3 charitable giving arm of the Rotary Club of Forest Grove.

Blood Drive Scheduled For Dec. 11: The Rotary Club of Forest Grove will be hosting an American Red Cross blood drive on Thursday, Dec. 11, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Oregon National Guard Armory, 2950 Taylor Way. Blood is always in demand and this is a good way to be able to give back to our community. If you are an eligible O, B – or A – donor, consider making a Power Red donation to help meet that increasing demand.

To sign up for a donation appointment, visit RedCrossBlood.org and enter FGRotary to schedule an appointment.

Janet Peters Assumes Fundraising Treasurer Role: Continuing her longtime leadership in our club, Janet Peters has assumed duties as the club’s fundraising treasurer. She succeeds Tom Raabe, who held the position for the last year and a half. The fundraising treasurer oversees the finances for the Foundation of the Rotary Club of Forest Grove and the budget for the Concours d’Elegance. Thank you, Janet, for your continued service to the club and thank you, Tom, for the service you provided in the role.

Congratulations Mallory Hiefield: Rotarian Mallory Hiefield recently completed her Master of Business Administration degree at Pacific University. Congratulations, Mallory, on your accomplishment and your continued dedication to education!

Membership Committee: The club’s Membership Committee will meet the second and fourth Tuesday at noon in the conference room at the Forest Grove/Cornelius Chamber of Commerce. Its next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 11. For more information, or to get involved, please contact Evelyn Orr or Bruce Cummings.

Community Service Update: Amanda Hartmann, our club’s new community service chair, made a short presentation about her review of the club’s community service activities. She is working on an inventory of the different projects that the club puts on, where they fit in, and how they benefit the club. She has identified seven different categories that fit the club’s service outreaches: youth & education, senior outreach, environment & beautification, health & wellness, emergency & disaster, arts & culture, and military, veterans and first responders. Conversations about our community service outreaches will continue at future meetings. For questions or comments, contact Amanda.

Youth Exchange Drivers For Weekly Meetings Needed: One of the requirements of the Youth Exchange program is that both inbound and outbound students attend our Rotary meetings. The Youth Exchange Committee is still in need of someone who can pick up Lara and our outbound student, Sophie, from Forest Grove High School weekly at 11:30 a.m., and return them to the school after. While a consistent driver for the semester would be ideal, the committee is open to having people sign up for one-month shifts at a time.

If you are interested in helping out, please contact our Youth Exchange Officer, Sarah Barbour, at 503-597-9355. NOTE: To assist with the transport of Youth Exchange students, you must complete the District 5100 Youth Protection Training and undergone a background check with the district.

Have A Program Idea? Let Javin Know!: Our 2025 program calendar has been filled up, but our 2026 program chair, Javin Frelin, is looking for ideas for engaging programs for January and beyond. If you have an idea for a program, contact Javin.

Thank you to our president-elect and outgoing program chair, Hector Mendez-Colberg, for his work on scheduling our programs in 2025!

Concours d’Elegance News
Concours Committee Meetings: Club members are invited to take part in the monthly online meeting of the Concours meeting, which takes place on the second Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. The next scheduled meeting will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 11. The link to the online meeting is available in the Rototeller newsletter sent to club members.

Concours Budget Presentation: New fundraising treasurer Janet Peters presented the long-awaited report on the proceeds from the 2025 Concours d’Elegance. The total profit for the show was $77,050, which is a nearly $18,000 increase in profit from the year before! The club and the Concours Committee should be proud of the work it has done to make for another banner year!

Concours Committee Update: In his short update, Concours Chair Bruce Cummings thanked Janet Peters for her work in taking a deep dive into the Concours budget. He also clarified comments made at the previous week’s meeting about social media. The club’s social media accounts and the Concours social media accounts are run by different people and that the performance of the Concours accounts are not a reflection of the performance of the club’s accounts.

If you have questions about the Concours or want more information on how you can be better involved, please attend the next Concours Committee meeting or contact any of the Rotarians on the committee, including Bruce Cummings, Janet Peters, Geoff Johnston, Jordan Miller, Amy Tracewell, Mackenzie Carey and Tom Raabe.

Around District 5100
Join The District 5100 Learning & Development Committee: Do you enjoy creating experiences that help people grow? Are you full of ideas for how Rotary members can connect, learn, and lead together?

The District 5100 Learning & Development Committee, co-chaired by our own Amy Tracewell, is looking for new members. This team shapes the way Rotarians in our district engage with learning. You’ll help design content, guide strategy, and bring fresh creativity into our spring training and other district learning opportunities.

It is a chance to collaborate with Rotarians across the district, strengthen your own leadership skills, and make a lasting impact on how we can learn together.

If you’d like to be part of this work, reach out; the committee would love to have your voice at the table. Contact Liz Butson, office@district5100.org, for more information or to join the committee.

Susanne’s Storybook: Click Here to read the latest edition of Susanne’s Storybook, the Rotary District 5100 newsletter.

Last Week’s Program: David Noyes, ShelterBox
At last week’s meeting, we were joined by David Noyes of the Hillsboro Rotary Club and a ShelterBox ambassador, who provided us an introduction to the organization and an update on current deployments.

The Rotary Club of Forest Grove is no stranger to the work of ShelterBox. Our own Jeannine Murrell and Pamelajean Myers are longtime ShelterBox ambassadors. Our club is also a ShelterBox Bronze HERO club, having donated at least $1,000 in the last year to the organization.

ShelterBox began as a millennium project by the Rotary Club of Helston-Lizard in England, which provided emergency relief to disaster victims. Its first response was in 2001 to an earthquake in India. In 2012, ShelterBox became an official partner organization with Rotary International, a partnership that was officially renewed in 2022. ShelterBox celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2025.

ShelterBox’s goal is to provide shelter and basic essentials following disasters, both natural and manmade, around the world. Shelter is basic human right, David said, and ShelterBox’s vision is that no one goes without shelter after a disaster. Statistics show that there are 123 million people in the world who are forcibly displaced and another 43.7 million people who are refugees.

Over its 25 years, ShelterBox has learned that there is not one solution to each disaster. There is a suite of things that can be done. Most people envision the big green tub with the large tent, but other elements and tools help people in a disaster situation. ShelterBox has transitioned from the green tubs to using locally procured containers to deliver supplies. The shelters themselves have innovated from large-domed relief tents to iron-framed shelters, to supplies to help repair homes.

ShelterBox has pre-positioned aid stationed around the world, ready to activate at a moment’s notice. This includes supply warehouses in Belgium, Dubai, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Panama.

To learn more about ShelterBox and its current deployments, or to make a donation, visit the ShelterBox USA website.

Club Calendar

Tues., Nov. 11: Membership Committee Meeting, Noon
Forest Grove/Cornelius Chamber of Commerce, 2417 Pacific Ave., Forest Grove

Tues., Nov. 11: Concours Committee Meeting, 7 p.m.
via Zoom

Wed., Nov. 12: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: PDG Larry Hatch, PolioPlus

Thurs., Nov. 13: Executive Board Meeting, 7 a.m.
via Zoom

Thurs., Nov. 20: Board Meeting, 5:30 p.m.
Zesti Food Carts, 2131 Yew St., Forest Grove

Third Thursday Social Meeting/Satellite Club Meeting, 6:30 p.m.

Zesti Food Carts, 2131 Yew St., Forest Grove
There will be no Wednesday meeting on Nov. 19

Wed., Nov. 26: No meeting. Happy Thanksgiving!

Sat., Nov. 29: Rotary Wreath Sale Deliveries