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 Izzy Rodriguez tells us about her Rotary Youth Exchange experience in Argentina.

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.

Satellite Club Meeting – This Thursday: This month’s Satellite Club meeting will take place this Thursday, June 19, 6:30 p.m., at Zesti Food Carts, 2131 Yew St., Forest Grove. All Rotarians are welcome to attend and enjoy an evening of fellowship.

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 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.

Save The Date – End Of Year Celebration: Be sure to save the evening of Wednesday, July 2 for our annual End of the Year Celebration at the home of Sharon Olmstead. Details to come soon. Join us as we celebrate our accomplishments in Lucas Welliver’s year as president and welcome Andrea Stewart for her presidential year.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. A sign-up sheet for parade volunteers is being circulated at weekly meetings. The parade is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. More details will be coming closer to the event.

Greeters Are Back: President Lucas is bringing back the role of having greeters at our weekly meetings. This role will not be pre-assigned. Instead, the ninth and 10th Rotarians showing up a meeting each week will serve as greeters. Please be prepared to take on that responsibility and let President Lucas know if you have any questions.

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. 

Around Rotary International
Francesco Arezzo Of Italy Selected To Be 2025-26 Rotary International President: Francesco Arezzo, a member of the Rotary Club of Ragusa, Italy, has been selected by the Board of Directors to become Rotary International’s president for 2025-26. Arezzo will become president on 1 July.

The Board conducted a special session following the unexpected resignation of RI President-elect Mário César Martins de Camargo on 8 June. Guided by the RI code and policies, the Board selected the new president-elect from a pool of candidates who were considered by the Nominating Committee for President of Rotary International in August 2023.

The 2025-26 presidential message, announced at the 2025 Rotary International Assembly in February, will remain Unite for Good, which calls on Rotary members to be a force for unity in a world increasingly divided by politics, geography, and ideology. Through service projects, Rotary brings together people of every background — across races, religions, and professions — in a shared mission to do good in their communities.

Arezzo is an orthodontist in private practice. He is active internationally as a member of the Italian, European, and American orthodontics associations. He is vice president of the National Association of Italian Dentists for the province of Ragusa and was the founder and head for seven years of the delegation for Ragusa of the National Trust for Italy. He is a Knight of Honor and Devotion in Obedience within the Sovereign Order of Malta.

A Rotary member for more than 30 years, Arezzo has served as vice chair of the Joint Strategic Planning Committee and as RI director, learning facilitator, and as district conference presidential representative.

Arezzo is a Major Donor and Benefactor of The Rotary Foundation. He is married to Anna Maria Criscione, an entrepreneur in the tourism field. They have two children.

Last Week’s Program: Rotary Scholarship Recipients
Last week, we had the opportunity to meet and greet the eight students selected to receive Rotary Club of Forest Grove scholarships.

This year, the club awarded $22,000 in scholarships to local graduating high school seniors. Scholarship awards from $1,000 to $5,000 were presented to five seniors from Forest Grove High School and three seniors from Banks High School.

In addition to these scholarship awards, the club also maintains an endowed scholarship at the university to benefit students from Forest Grove, Banks and Gaston, and contributed $15,200 to continue the growth of that fund.

Scholarship applications were judged on academic success, community service and financial need. In a change from previous years, the club’s Scholarship Committee decided to offer larger scholarship awards to a more select group of recipients.

“We have been fortunate to have the community’s support over the years in helping provide these scholarships to deserving students,” said Sharon Olmstead, chair of the Rotary Club of Forest Grove’s Scholarship Committee. “We are proud of the achievements of these eight students and we are proud to support their educational journeys.”

Applicants to the Rotary Club of Forest Grove Scholarship program must be graduating seniors residing in the Forest Grove, Banks and Gaston school district attendance areas. The funds are available to use for first-year tuition at any four-year college or vocational school in the United States.

The Scholarship Program is funded through proceeds from the Rotary Club of Forest Grove’s annual Concours d’Elegance. The 51st edition of the high-caliber classic car show takes place on Sunday, July 20, on Pacific University’s Forest Grove Campus. Over the last 50 years, proceeds from the Concours d’Elegance have been used by the Rotary Club of Forest Grove to award over $1 million in scholarships to local students.

2025 ROTARY CLUB OF FOREST GROVE SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS
Forest Grove High School: Avery Lundin, Justin Martinez Rosales, Moira Olmstead, Natalie Stewart, Eden Warner
Banks High School: Violet Allori, Robert Harris, McKenna King

Club Calendar
Wed., June 18: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Izzy Rodriguez, Youth Exchange Experience In Argentina

Thurs., June 19: Board Meeting, 7 a.m.
via Zoom

Thurs., June 19: Satellite Club Meeting/Thirsty Thursday, 6:30 p.m.
Zesti Food Carts, 2131 Yew Ave.

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

Wed., July 2: Year End Celebration, TBD
Home of Sharon Olmstead
There will be no noon meeting on July 2

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