If you didn’t make it to our last Rotary Club of Forest Grove meeting, here’s what you missed…

Online Meetings Continue: We will continue to meet virtually using the Zoom Meeting platform for the foreseeable future. Our meetings will begin at our normal meeting time, Noon on Wednesday. All Rotarians are welcome and participating will count towards meeting attendance. Here are the login details (will be the same for all of our online meetings moving forward)…

Direct Link: https://zoom.us/j/183084884
Meeting ID: 183 084 884

To join by phone, dial 669-900-6833 or 346-248-7799 and enter the meeting ID number when prompted.

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Happy Rotary New Year!: July 1 marked the beginning of the new Rotary year and, with all Rotary Clubs around the world, a change in leadership. Thank you to Tim Pearson for a great year of service as president in 2019-20 and we welcome Julia Kollar as she leads the club in 2020-21. We look forward to a great year as Rotary Opens Opportunities. View The Video To Meet The New Club Leadership

Road Cleanup A Success: Thank you to the small but mighty group of Rotarians who met for the semi-annual road cleanup of Gales Creek Road and Thatcher Road on June 27. In addition to project co-chairs Jerry Hoerber and Andrea Stewart, Rotarians who attended the project were Jim Cain, Melinda Fischer, Jim Crisp, Greg Nemchick, Blake Timm and Paul Waterstreet.

Congratulations Austin Walker!: The Rotary Club of Forest Grove, the charter organization of Scouts BSA Troop 213, is proud to congratulate Austin Walker on attaining the rank of Eagle Scout. Austin received his Eagle during the troop’s recent Court of Honor on June 30 (which was the troop’s first in-person meeting since March).

Austin is a recent graduate of Gaston High School. His Eagle project took place at Gaston Elementary where he oversaw the painting of a 20-foot by 40-foot area for a sensory station, which will be enjoyed by children for years to come.

“I have watched Austin overcome many obstacles in his scouting career,” said Troop 213 Scoutmaster Rocky Brown. “One of them was high adventure packpacking trips ranging from 30 to 90 miles. Despite the many foot blisters and heavy weight at the beginning, he overcame.”

Austin plans to attend Oregon State University in the fall to major in mechanical engineering.

The rank of Eagle Scout is attained on average by just two percent of the scouts who enter the scouting movement. To qualify for the rank, scouts must be at the rank of Life Scout for at least six months, earn at least 21 merit badges, serve in a leadership position within the troop and plan and carry out a service project to benefit a school, church or community.

Thirsty Thursday/Satellite Club Meeting: The next Rotary Satellite Club/Thirsty Thursday meeting is scheduled for Thursday, July 16, at 6:30 p.m. The meeting is tentatively scheduled to take place at David Hill Winery, 46350 NW David Hill Road, Forest Grove, for a socially-distanced gathering. Final confirmation and meeting details will be forthcoming.

First Responder Meals: The last of our First Responder Meals went out on Tuesday to the folks at OHSU Hillsboro Medical Center (formerly Tuality Community Hospital). This month’s meals were provided by Bella Donna restaurant in Forest Grove. Thank you to everyone who donated to make this effort possible and a special thank you to Howard Sullivan for bringing the idea to the club and making it happen!

Steak Fundraiser: Thank you to all of our members from making both rounds of our Steak Sale Fundraiser such a success! The second round resulted in the sale of over 400 packages of steaks.

With the two fundraisers combined, we sold over 2,000 total steaks and made over $7,000 to go towards the Youth Exchange Program. To put in in perspective, last year’s Steak Feed netted $5,300 for the club.

Once again, a big thank you to Jeff Duyck for coordinating this effort with Columbia Empire Meats! Stayed tuned as we will try to put together another steak fundraiser close to Labor Day.

McDougall Garden: The McDougall Garden, near the big flagpole, is looking good. But just like any garden, weeds will pop up. Rotarians are welcomed and encourage to stop by and pull a weed or two, even if it is just for a few minutes. Many hands make for light work. Once again, thank you to our garden committee and especially Rob Foster, Geoff Faris and Lucas Welliver for their work in this visible community project.

Golf Tournament Update: Even with social distancing guidelines, we will be able to have our annual golf tournament. The tournament will take place on Wednesday, August 26, at 1 p.m., at Sunset Grove Golf Course. It is possible that it will be a golf only event as we will likely not be able to have the usual lunch portion together. Tim Schauermann is in the planning stages and more details with be forthcoming.

Rotary Phone Tree: Thank you to everyone who has made our Rotary Phone Tree such a success in caring for our members. Paul Waterstreet shuffled the list and was sent out as part of last week’s Rotary Rewind.

The goal of the phone tree is to reach out and check on every member of the club to make sure they are doing all right and to provide updates on club announcements and activities (Hint: You have a great list to draw from here). The plan is for the tree to be activated every Tuesday. The idea is that for each person to call the next one on the list. The last person on the list should call the team captain to make sure the list is complete. For more information or questions, or if your information on the Phone Tree is not correct, contact Paul Waterstreet.

FGHS Community Food Pantry: Even with schools closed, the need for resources at the Forest Grove High School Community Food Pantry continues. The pantry continues to need the following items to serve the community that is depending on it…

Food: Pasta, Canned Sauces, Tortillas, Rice, Beans, Canned Fruit, Jelly, Peanut Butter, Boxed Milk, Canned Vegetables, Bread, Applesauce, Granola Bars, Fruit Snacks, Macaroni & Cheese, Tuna, Crackers, Maseca and Vegetable Oil.

Hygiene Items: Shampoo, Conditioner, Body Wash, Tampons/Pads, Toothbrushes, Toothpaste, Deodorant, Hair Brushes, Toilet Paper.

Over the summer, the Food Pantry will be open on Mondays and Thursday from 2-4 p.m.

If you can donate any of the above items, please contact Brian Burke, bburke@fgsd.k12.or.us. If you wish to make a cash donation to the pantry, Click Here.

Concours d’Elegance Canceled: With the uncertainly on the COVID-19 situation, the Rotary Board of Directors, at the unanimous recommendation of the Concours Steering Committee, has canceled the 2020 Concours d’Elegance, scheduled for Sunday, July 19. The committee will refocus its efforts on the 2021 show. The club board will be talking in the coming weeks to find avenues that we can fundraise for our scholarship fund with the absence of our top fundraising event of the year. Click Here For The Complete Announcement From The Concours Committee

Quarterly Dues: You should have received by now your quarterly dues statement from the club. Please note that this statement will not include any prepaid meals expenses. This reflects the decision of the board in March to put all members on a “pay as you go” status for this quarter since we are currently unable to meet in person.

We understand that this is a challenging time for all of us and that some of our members are affected more significantly than others. If you are able, please pay your dues invoice as soon as possible so that we can continue to meet our RI and District obligations. If you believe that your situation will make it hard or impossible to make a payment, please contact President Julia Kollar. The club will consider and work with those hardships on a case-by-case basis.

Take Out Locally!: There are many local restaurants and coffee shops that are continuing to operate for take-out during the stay-at-home order. Those local businesses are seeing a significant drop in business and could use our support. Could you commit to patronizing one of these eateries at least once per week to help stimulate the local economy? Click Here For A List Of Places That Are Opened For Takeout (updated on May 18), courtesy of Court Carrier and Jeff King at the City of Forest Grove.

Around The Rotary international World
Virtual Rotary Convention 2020: The 2020 Rotary International Virtual Convention week has come and gone but your chance to experience it has not. All of the general sessions and featured breakouts from the previous week have been archived and are on available on-demand. Click Here For On-Demand Viewing.

There is still more content that will be made available well into July. The online House Of Friendship allows Rotarians to connect with Rotary Fellowships, Rotary Action Groups, Partners, Projects and Rotary International resources to learn more, ask questions and interact virtually with fellow members. The online House of Friendship runs through July 31.

The Virtual Convention is also making available 40 breakout sessions throughout the month of July on a variety of subjects. The list includes such topics as “Achieving A Polio-Free World,” “Did You Know That Rotarians Have An Amazing Special Power,” “Lifting Team Performance,” “Transforming Leadership Through Mental Health” and many more. The breakout sessions are free but advance registration is required. Click Here To See The List & Register

Nigeria Now Polio Free: The quest to free the world of polio is one step closer. The World Health Organization announced in June that polio is no longer endemic in Nigeria, leaving the devastating disease endemic in only two countries in the world.

“The outstanding commitment and efforts that got Nigeria off the endemic list must continue, to keep Africa polio-free,” said WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan. “We must now support the efforts in Pakistan and Afghanistan so they soon join the polio-free world.”

Nigeria has not reported a case of wild poliovirus since 24 July 2014, and all laboratory data has confirmed that a full 12 months have passed without any new cases. Read More

Supporting The Environment – New Rotary Focus: The Rotary Foundation Trustees and Rotary International Board of Directors have both unanimously approved adding a new area of focus: supporting the environment.

More than $18 million in Foundation global grant funding has been allocated to environment-related projects over the past five years. Creating a distinct area of focus to support the environment will give Rotary members even more ways to bring about positive change in the world and increase our impact.

Supporting the environment becomes Rotary’s seventh area of focus, which are categories of service activities supported by global grants. It joins peacebuilding and conflict prevention; disease prevention and treatment; water, sanitation, and hygiene; maternal and child health; basic education and literacy; and community economic development.

Grant applications for projects will be accepted beginning on July 1, 2021. Gifts and commitments from Rotarians and others will be sought to provide global grant support for the new area of focus.

More information about this new cause will be announced soon.

Last Week’s Program: Andy Cartmill, Washington County Department of Health & Human Services

Click Here To Watch The Full Program

We opened the 2020-21 Rotary year with a hard-hitting program by Andy Cartmill, a senior program and education specialist with the Washington County Department of Health & Human Services. He talked to the club about suicide prevention and the rise in suicide during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Most of the people within Rotary are likely to counsel someone through a mental health situation and suicide more than most professionals. If you see or hear something that raises concern, don’t be afraid to ask your instincts. Remember that we don’t know the paths that others have been on. Don’t be afraid to ask and be there to listen.

There are usually three components to suicide: I don’t belong, I am a burden to other people and the capability to self-harm. The highest demographics for suicide rates in the U.S. belong to white males over the ages of 65 and 85. Make sure you and the person you are talking with are on the same page. Be direct but don’t belittle the person.

COVID-19 has presented some unusual stress to society. Stress is normal but COVID-19 stress is not. During this time, we need to remember that we are not working from home but rather we are at home in a crisis trying to work.

Suicide is less about death than it is about pain. What COVID-19 has created an atmosphere of more stress, more anxiety and, for some, more fear. There is a lot of guilt and stigma related to the stresses of the pandemic.

Club Calendar
All Club Activities Are On Zoom Unless Otherwise Noted
Wed., July 8: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Program: Dr. Divan Chandler, COVID-19 Knowledge Update
Thurs., July 9: Executive Board Meeting, 7 a.m.
Wed., July 15: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Program: Cheryl Mulick, Paws Helping Veterans
Thurs., July 16: Board Meeting, 7 a.m.
Thurs., July 16: Satellite Club Meeting/Thirsty Thursday, 6:30 p.m.
David Hill Winery, 46350 NW David Hill Rd.