Many hands made light work during our semiannual road cleanup on April 25. Photo by Janet Peters.

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

This Week: We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday at noon as we return to the Boxer Pause Room in the University Center at Pacific University. Our program this week will be Pacific senior Elle Griego, who will present on the historical research that she has done on the former Forest Grove Gay 90s Festival and the All-Northwest Barbershop Ballad Contest.

Upcoming Meetings: We will return to the Boxer Pause at Pacific for meetings on May 6 and May 13.

Garden Party Scheduled For May 2: It is time to get the McDougall Garden ready for spring! We will have a work party on Saturday, May 3, 8 a.m., at the garden located between Pacific and 19th avenues adjacent to the big flagpole. We will be refreshing the beds by weeding and removing debris, aerating for summer planting, pruning back bushes, and collecting some of the garden’s flowers for a future fundraiser. Please bring work gloves and gardening tools.

This project is open to all Rotarians are friends. For more information, contact Hector Mendez-Colberg.

Habitat Build Scheduled For May 16 “Rotary Epic Day Of Service”: Rotary clubs across District 5100 and the world are joining together for the Rotary Epic Day of Service on Saturday, May 16. For our project, we will be joining forces with West Tuality Habitat for Humanity to work at their Countryman Estates build site, located at 1514 23rd Avenue. No experience with construction is necessary, only a desire to help work alongside others to help provide affordable housing in our area. All tools will be provided.

This event is open to Rotarians and friends. All volunteers must fill out Habitat for Humanity’s Online Volunteer Application before the event. NOTE: The application does require watching a couple of short videos to complete the application process.

A sign-up sheet for the build day will be distributed at our weekly meetings. For more information, or to sign up without attending a club meeting, contact Amanda Hartmann.

Hygiene Drive For FGSD Family Resource Center: As part of the Rotary Epic Day of Service, our club is planning a drive to collect hygiene items for the Forest Grove School District’s Family Resource Center. These type of items are important for people and families, but are often not often available at local food banks.

We will be looking to collect donations of shampoo and conditioner, body wash, hand and bar soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, floss, dishwashing liquid, hand lotion, shaving cream, razors, baby wipes, laundry detergent, toilet paper, paper towels, new hairbrushes, pads and tampons, deodorants, diapers, and baby rash cream.

Please bring items to our club meetings on April 29, May 6 and May 13. We will culminate the drive with a presentation by Family Resource Coordinator Erika Diaz Tofaeono at our meeting on Wednesday, May 13. For questions, please contact Janet Peters.

Road Cleanup: It was a great day to be out on the streets of Forest Grove last Saturday, conducting our semiannual road cleanup along Gales Creek and Thatcher Roads. Thank you to Melinda Fischer, Jim Crisp, Greg Nemchick and Rus and Janet Peters for their work. A big thank you to Rus Peters for coordinating this continuing project for our club.

Vision To Action Workshop – May 9: Help us shape the future of the Rotary Club of Forest Grove. Club members are invited to a Vision To Action Workshop, facilitated by District 5100, on Saturday, May 9, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., in the Boxer Learning Center in Pacific University’s Stoller Center (athletic complex).

The workshop is open to all Rotarians and is an opportunity to come together and shape the future of our club, Everyone’s voice matters, and this process is designed to make sure it is heard.

Through this session, we will:

• Ensure that every member has a voice in the direction of the club
• Define our shared commitment as members
• Build a long-range plan and three-year master plan
• Create a clear framework for setting goals
• Make the most of our club’s time, energy and resources
• Celebrate what makes our club unique
• Develop a meaningful roadmap for the future

If you planning on attending, please fill out the Google Form so that our executive board and the district’s Vision to Action Team can plan for attendance.

Additionally, a link to a form was sent to all club members via email to a questionnaire with questions about the health of our club. Whether you plan to attend or not, please take time to fill out the questionnaire and provide feedback that will help the direction of the visioning day.

Plates For Passports Coming Up On May 29: It’s the same event, but with a new name and more options. Our annual Steak Feed is now known as “Plates For Passports,” reflecting the event’s goal of raising funds for our involvement in the Rotary Youth Exchange Program.

The 68th annual Plates For Passports will take place on Friday, May 29, 5 to 8 p.m., at the University Center at Pacific University. It is a great way to inform the community of the great things that Rotary does in our community, as well as the impact that our Youth Exchange program has not only on the participants, but also our community.

In addition to the traditional New York steak and trimmings, we will also offer a veggie burger option for the first time.

Tickets for the 2026 Plates For Passports dinner are $30 each and are now available online. Click Here To Purchase Tickets. Physical tickets to sell to community members have been provided to club members either at meetings or by mail. Each member received eight steak tickets (white) and two veggie burger tickets (green). If members want more physical tickets to sell, please contact Janet Peters.

And be sure to share our social media posts on the event on both Facebook and Instagram to advertise Plates for Passports to your friends.

Club members are invited to participate in the planning for the event. Please contact Geoff Faris or Jeff Duyck for details.

Click Here To View Committee Work Assignments. If you have questions about your shifts on the day of the event, please contact the committee chair.

In Memoriam – Pat Truax: We extend our deepest sympathies to our friends in the Forest Grove Daybreak Rotary Club upon the passing of Pat Truax, who died on Saturday, Apr. 11. A Rotarian since 2005, Pat was the president of the Daybreak club in 2013-14. She was active in many other community organizations, including PEO and West Tuality Habitat for Humanity. A celebration of life for Pat will be held on Sunday, May 3, 2 p.m., at the Forest Grove United Church of Christ.

Rotary Youth Exchange Nominations Open: The Youth Exchange Committee is currently accepting applications for the long-term and short-term exchange programs. Applications are due May 1. Application information is available on the club’s Youth Exchange webpage.

We are also looking for host families for the 2026-27 school year. Families host an international exchange student for about 3.5 months, during which they learn first-hand about another culture and often form life-long bonds.

Please contact Sarah Barbour, Youth Exchange Committee chair, at 503-597-9355 or ForestGroveRYE@gmail.com for an application form or to inquire about hosting.

RYLA Applications Open: Do you know a young leader age 19 to 32 who could benefit from a weeklong inspiring leadership experience? Applications are now open for the 2026 District 5100 Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA), which takes place July 11-17 at the Menchua Retreat & Conference Center in Corbett. For seven powerful days, participants dive into immersive leadership training, relationship-building, and personal growth that has sparked countless Rotary journeys. It’s not just a program—it’s a launch pad.

To learn more about the impact of RYLA, read the recap of our Mar. 11 program presented by Mallory Hiefield, who attended RYLA last year. If someone is interested in applying, please contact Andrea Stewart, astewart@pacificu.edu.

Membership Committee: The club’s Membership Committee meets the second and fourth Tuesday, 4 p.m., in the conference room at the Forest Grove/Cornelius Chamber of Commerce. Its next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 27. For more information, or to get involved, please contact Evelyn Orr or Bruce Cummings.

Concours d’Elegance News
Concours Committee Meetings: Club members are invited to take part in the weekly online meeting of the Concours Committee, which takes place each Friday at 9 a.m. (note the change in time and frequency of meetings). The Google Meets link to the online meeting is available for club members in our email newsletter, the Rototeller.

Concours Sponsorships: Sponsorship procurement for the Concours is well underway. If you have leads on potential sponsors, please direct those leads to Amy Tracewell, Janet Peters or Stephanie Magoulas. Learn more about sponsorships, including partnership levels and benefits, On The Concours Website.

Merchandise At Willow & Ash: Are you interested in some Concours merchandise, like a poster, a coffee tumbler or a hat? Willow & Ash is offering some Concours merchandise available year-round! Current selections include Concours posters, hats, coffee tumblers and keychains. Items can be purchased online on the Concours website or purchased at Willow & Ash at 2036A Main Street, Forest Grove. Sorry, no shipping is currently available. Items purchased online will need to be picked up at Willow & Ash.

For More Information: If you have Concours-related questions or are interested in opportunities, please contact Concours Chair Bruce Cummings.

Service Opportunities
Share Your Volunteer Opportunity With The Club: 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.

West Tuality Habitat For Humanity: West Tuality Habitat for Humanity is looking for volunteers to assist both with construction projects at its Countryman Estates build site on 23rd Avenue and at Habitat’s ReStore. The construction site is open most Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The ReStore is looking for both single volunteers and pairs of volunteers Monday through Saturday.

If you are interested in volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, please visit their online Volunteer Application. You can also visit Habitat’s Website for more details on the opportunities available. If you are already registered as a volunteer with West Tuality Habitat for Humanity, visit their Volunteer Calendar to see what shifts are currently available.

Questions? Please email volunteer@westualityhabitat.org or call 503-359-8459.

Centro Cultural Volunteer Opportunities: Centro Cultural, located in Cornelius, is in need of volunteers for some ongoing projects.

Centro Mercado Volunteer: Centro Cultural’s Mercado is a free food pantry set up like a grocery store, providing the community a welcoming and dignified space to get free, fresh and local food. Volunteers are needed during the Mercado’s open hours, Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to noon and 2 to 4 p.m., and Fridays from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., to help staff and maintain the pantry. The Mercado is located at 1216 E. Baseline St., Cornelius. Visit SignUp Genius To Register & See Available Shifts.

Volunteers for Centro Cultural must sign-up for opportunities through SignUp Genius and must be pre-approved before the event. Walk-up volunteers are no longer allowed by the organization. Information on how to register can be found on those pages or by contacting Evelyn Orr, eorr@centrocultural.org.

Volunteer Opportunities With TrackTown USA: Do you like track and field? Do you like being a part of a world-class sporting event? TrackTown USA is looking for volunteers to assist with several large-scale track and field meets to be held this year at Hayward Field in Eugene. Volunteer roles are open in several areas, including event operations, athlete services, partnerships, logistics, media operations and more. You can volunteer for one meet or all of them.

This year’s meet schedule includes:
• OSAA State Championships, May 28-30
• NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships, June 10-13
• USA Track & Field U20 Outdoor Championships, June 18-19
• Nike Outdoor Nationals, June 18-22
• The Prefontaine Classic, July 3-4
• World Athletics U20 Championships, Aug. 5-9

To learn more about volunteer opportunities, and to register to become a volunteer, visit the TrackTown USA Website.

Around District 5100
Hosts Needed For Upcoming Short Term Exchange: For the past several years, District 5100 has hosted exchange students from multiple districts who provide their students with a three-and-half week railway tour starting in Los Angeles and ending in Washington D.C.

The students will arrive in Portland on Amtrak on Friday, June 19, and leave Sunday, June 21.    The students must get on the train on Sunday in Portland or Vancouver.

The district is looking for families who can take at least two students for two nights. The makeup of the exchange group is 25 students, 17 females and eight males.

This is an opportunity to meet and spend time with young people that quite often becomes a lifetime relationship with the students returning on their own to visit or the hosting family traveling to visit them in their home countries.

For more information, please contact Terry Mohr with District 5100 Rotary Youth Exchange at 503-319-0369, or tmohryeo@gmail.com.

End Of Year Celebration — June 3: In lieu of a district conference, District Governor Suzanne Holmberg plans to visit each region in the district for an evening to celebrate our clubs over this Rotary year. The End of Year Celebration for the Western Region (clubs in Beaverton, Forest Grove and Hillsboro) will take place the evening of Wednesday, June 3, 5:30 p.m., at Rood Bridge Park in Hillsboro.

The event is designed to be a family-friendly picnic-style event. Bring yourselves, your family, and maybe a friend who is interested in Rotary. We will have food, games, a short presentation by District Governor Suzanne Holmberg and some awards. It’s a great opportunity to get to know fellow Rotarians from clubs across our region, which includes Rotarians from Beaverton, Columbia County, Forest Grove and Hillsboro.

More details will be coming soon. In the meantime, if you have questions or are interested in helping plan and execute this celebration, please contact Area Governor Blake Timm at 503-320-3915 or blakertimm@gmail.com.

Last Week’s Programs
Kristy Kottkey, Forest Grove High School Culinary Program
Last week provided the club not one, but two programs. To begin, Forest Grove School District Board Chair Kristy Kottkey joined us on behalf of the Forest Grove High School culinary program to introduce us to the Viking Pasta Shop, a pilot program making and selling pasta to benefit the program.

The pasta items for purchase are made by the Culinary 4 class, which is the culminating class in the culinary CTE pathway at the high school.

Rotarians were provided with a QR code to make purchases, which were due by Thursday. Those who did purchase items will have those delivered by members of the school board on Tuesday, April 28.

Frank Roth, Boxer Marketing Group
Our second speaker was Frank Roth, adjunct professor of marketing at Pacific University, who gave a presentation of the newly-formed Boxer Marketing Group. Roth acts as advisor and mentor for the student-led group.

In coming to Pacific, Roth felt that the university had an unlimited resource in talent, and wanted to help create a program to help business students develop those skills in a real-world setting. The Boxer Marketing Group had its birth in a two-year grant-funded internship program that matched marketing students with local businesses to help develop and enhance their digital presence. The project ran 10 weeks at a time, pairing 55 students with 15 different companies.

Boxer Marketing Group is an outgrowth of the grant with 11 students currently working as part of the group. Roth said he is experiencing a good problem in that as soon as students are trained up in the initiative, they graduate and move on.

The Boxer Marketing Group provides services in brand foundation, social media management, content production (photo shoots), newsletters and DIY templates to help businesses move forward on their own. The program comprises a six-week model for training people, and includes nine modules on positioning messaging, content production, content strategy, technology for managing marketing, and more. The goal is to train students with more knowledge than anyone else to prepare them to succeed in the workforce.

Fees for services are required. Eighty-five percent of the proceeds go back to the involved students. The rest goes to overhead costs such as software and technology. The advisors for the program do not get paid.

For more information, visit their website.

Club Calendar
Tues., Apr. 27: Membership Committee Meeting, 4 p.m.
Forest Grove/Cornelius Chamber of Commerce, 2417 Pacific Ave.

Wed., Apr. 29: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Elle Griego, History of Forest Grove Gay 90s Festival

Friday, May 1: Concours Steering Committee Meeting, 9 a.m.
Online

Wed., May 6: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Pacific University President Jenny Coyle

Friday, May 8: Concours Steering Committee Meeting, 9 a.m.
Online

Sat., May 9: Club Vision To Action Planning, 9 a.m.
Boxer Learning Center, Stoller Center, Pacific University Forest Grove Campus

Tues., May 12: Membership Committee Meeting, 4 p.m.
Forest Grove/Cornelius Chamber of Commerce, 2417 Pacific Ave.

Wed., May 13: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Erika Diaz Tofaeono, Forest Grove School District Family Resource Center

Friday, May 29: Plates For Passports (Steak Feed), 5 p.m.
University Center, Pacific University Forest Grove Campus
Website | Order Tickets

Sunday, July 19: Concours d’Elegance
Pacific University Forest Grove Campus
Website | Order Tickets