Three longtime Rotary members were honored for 50-plus years of service to our club. From left, Jerry Frye, Tim Schauermann and Carl Heisler. Photo by Blake Timm.

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

This Week – No Meeting: The Rotary Club of Forest Grove will not have its weekly meeting on Wednesday, July 1. Instead, we encourage members to participate in either promoting Concours d’Elegance in the Hillsboro Rotary 4th of July Parade (see below) or working as a marshal for the parade (see the Volunteer Opportunities section).

We will have our next regularly scheduled Wednesday meeting on July 8 in the Boxer Pause Room at Pacific University. As with all of our meetings this summer, this meeting will have a catered lunch. To RSVP for a lunch, please email Parri Van Dyke as soon as possible.

Upcoming Meetings: Our summer weekly Wednesday meetings are scheduled to be in the Boxer Pause in the University Center at Pacific University. The location is subject to change, so please watch the Rototeller newsletter for any changes to meeting location.

Promote Concours At The Hillsboro Rotary 4th of July Parade: As is our tradition every year, our club will march in the Hillsboro Rotary 4th of July Parade to promote the upcoming Concours d’Elegance. If you want to participate, please join our group at the staging area, on NE Jackson St. between 6th and 9th Avenues, between 9 and 9:30 a.m. The parade begins at 10 a.m. The parade begins and ends near 3rd and Grant, so it is recommended that you park on that side of town.

For more information, or to confirm your attendance, contact Janet Peters.

If you are not interested in marching in the parade, the Hillsboro Rotary Club is looking for volunteer marshals to line the parade. Please see the Service Opportunities section of this newsletter for more details.

Modified Rototeller Schedule In July: With the Rototeller editor going on vacation and working two major track and field meets in July and August, the schedule for the member newsletter will be modified. The Rototeller will not be published on the weekends of July 4/5 and July 25/26. Additionally, any requests for items to include must be emailed to Blake Timm by no later than noon on the Friday before the next scheduled publication date.

Hops Baseball Night With Western Region Rotary Clubs: Come join our friends from Western Region’s other clubs for a night of baseball as the Hillsboro Hops take on the Eugene Emeralds Eugene Emeralds on Tuesday, Aug. 11, at 6:35 p.m. Thanks to Jill Woodworth with the Beaverton club, we have the party deck area of the stadium reserved for an evening of fun. The cost of the event is $71.50 per person and includes game admission, food (including hot dogs, pulled pork, mac and cheese and other ballpark favorites), and non-alcoholic beverages.

We need to try and have a head count by Wednesday, July 1 to confirm the party deck. If you plan on attending, please email Tom Raabe with your name, club, and the number of people from your party that plan to attend.

This promises to be a great opportunity to enjoy an evening of baseball, fellowship, and connection with fellow Rotarians from across the area. We hope you will plan to attend!

Honoring Our Legacy Members: At Wednesday’s meeting, President Andrea Stewart presented a trio of longtime members with Legacy Awards, honoring 50 or more years of service to the club. Congratulations to Carl Heisler for 53 years of service, Jerry Frye for 52 years of service and Tim Schauermann for 52 years of service. We are honored to have all three of you as part of our club and our long legacy of service.

Thank You Andrea!: With the 2025-26 Rotary year coming to a close, we want to give a special thank you to Andrea Stewart for her service to the club during her presidential year. Andrea has worked hard to innovate and bring new people into club leadership during her year, setting the table for a strong club for years to come. Thank you, Andrea!

Plates For Passports Steak Sales: The club still has leftover packs of steaks from our Plates to Passports event available for purchase. Each pack of two steaks is $30 each. If you are interested in purchasing a pack or a few, please contact Janet Peters at 503-679-6479 (call or text) or rjlc4peters@msn.com.

Rotary Youth Exchange Host Families Needed: Our club is looking for host families for our incoming 2026-27 exchange student, who will arrive in mid-August. This year, we are expecting to welcome a girl from South Korea.

Students stay with three families over the course of the year: from mid-August to early December, from early December to mid-March, and from mid-March to late June. Hosts must be able to provide a bed, a place to study, and a seat at your table. Hosting is a volunteer commitment, and your exchange student is a member of your family. Many host families develop close relationships with their students, and often stay in contact for life.

Single parents, child-free households, couples with kids of any ages, and LGBTQ+ families are all eligible and welcome. The only requirements are a bed and bedroom (a shared room with a child of the same gender is fine) and a study space.

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.

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, July 14. 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. The Google Meets link to the online meeting is available for club members in our email newsletter, the Rototeller.

Concours Volunteer Sign-Ups: It is time to start lining up our volunteer teams for the 2026 Concours d’Elegance! This event takes many hands to make work light, and we count on the support of all Rotarians to make the Concours a success. And, of course, we welcome friends and community volunteers to help make this a great event and raise funds for our scholarship program.

If you volunteered last year, there is a good chance that you will already see your name listed for the same role this year. It is okay to remove yourself if you want to take on another role. If you remove yourself, SignUpGenius will notify the volunteer coordinator.

Club members were provided a link for Rotarian Concours duty signups in the club’s weekly newsletter, the Rototeller. Members of the community and Rotarians who wish to volunteer can sign up at the 2026 Concours d’Elegance Public Group.

For specialized volunteer positions selected by Mackenzie Carey or Tom Raabe, please email them directly to confirm. This includes car spotters and judges/assistant judges.

If you have questions, or do not see a volunteer role that you are interested in, please contact our volunteer coordinator, Stephanie Magoulas, at smagoulas@pacificu.edu.

General Concours Updates: Concours Co-Chair Bruce Cummings provided the following updates as we quickly get ready for the 52nd Concours d’Elegance:

• Vehicle registration will stay open past the posted June 22 deadline. If the vehicle is requesting to be judged, the Judging Committee will review the entry to see if it can be accommodated.

• There will be a Concours T-shirt this year. Erika Appel, a local graphic designer, was given our poster as a guide and has submitted several designs to the Concours committee. A sample will be printed and brought to a club meeting prior to the show.

• By popular demand, Bon Appetit will provide two food booths this year: at the University Center and in front of the Taylor-Meade Performing Arts Center. Bon Appetit will also have a coffee cart near Marsh Hall that will be open from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m.

• With the new judging program, each vehicle participating in the show will be able to be located on a digital map of the show field. This mapping software will work similar to the types of maps you use on a smartphone, and will give judges the precise location to find the cars that they are judging. Guests to the Concours will also be able to scan a QR code showing where each entered vehicle is located.

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.

Hillsboro Rotary 4th of July – Marshals Needed: The Hillsboro Rotary Club is looking for marshals to work during the annual parade on Saturday, July 4.

Marshals assist with keeping both parade participants and viewers safe and serving as a friendly face for questions. Duties include watching children and keeping them safe (and helping them get their fair share of candy), directing parade-goers to restroom facilities, and being an ambassador of Rotary spirit and goodwill.

If you are interested in helping with this longtime community event, please contact Beth Hardy.

North Plains Food Bank Kickstart2School Event: The North Plains Food Bank is in need of volunteers on Saturday, July 18, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., for their huge back-to-school event, Kickstart2School. The community-driven event provides 700 eligible students with new shoes, school supplies, and essential services to help start the school year confidently. Participants can also receive free vision and health screenings. To learn more about the event, visit the Kickstart2School website.

Volunteers are needed for morning and afternoon shifts to help with set-up and takedown, and to support students as they receive their supplies. To register to volunteer, sign up online or email volunteer@npfoodbank.org.

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.

Around District 5100
Rotary Foundation – Let’s Finish The Year Strong!: We are nearing the end of our Rotary year, and there is truly much to celebrate!

Because of our members’ incredible generosity to the Annual Fund SHARE three years ago, we have invested nearly $175,000 in District Dedicated Funds toward a record 117 District Grants this year. Our clubs stepped up in powerful ways, implementing projects ranging from scholarships, feeding the hungry in our communities, books, gardens, sports safety, medical supplies…and so much more.

We have 8 new Global Grants approved with two more we are hoping to get approved yet this year. These include water and sanitation, empowering girls, cancer treatment, economic development, and peace projects in Central and South America, and East Africa. We have also allocated funds for two Global Grant Scholars. One will pursue his Master of Science in Environmental Economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science. The other is pursuing a Master of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

These projects are changing lives, saving lives, filling the gaps, and helping communities thrive. We are always looking for new opportunities to serve – Doing Good in the World!

YOUR past support of The Rotary Foundation helped create this meaningful impact in our communities and around the world, and we are deeply grateful. At the same time, we want to share an important concern: contributions this year are significantly lower than they were at this point last year. Because Foundation giving supports projects and grants three years into the future, today’s generosity directly shapes tomorrow’s impact.

We understand that life is busy and that many are navigating economic uncertainty. Yet Rotary’s work continues to bring hope where it is needed most.

If you have not yet made your Rotary Foundation gift this year, please do it now. If you have already contributed, THANK YOU – and please consider an additional gift if you are able. Every contribution — no matter the size — becomes the fuel for future service projects and helps us continue to Unite for Good!

You can donate electronically to The Rotary Foundation by visiting rotary.org/give.

Last Week’s Program: Renee Brouse & Amy Ouellette, La Plata Global Grant Project
At last week’s meeting, we had a chance to truly see the power of Rotary at work as PDG Renee Brouse of the Sherwood Rotary Club and Amy Ouellette of the Newberg Early Birds Rotary Club presented on the long-term Global Grant project that the clubs have built with the community of La Plata, Colombia.

The Rotary Club of Forest Grove is one of several clubs in District 5100 that has contributed to the project. At the end of the presentation, President Andrea Stewart presented a check for $2,500 to support the next phase of the project’s work, which will be the installation of a third water sanitation system.

The Rotary Clubs of Sherwood and Newberg Early Birds engaged in an international partnership with the Rotary Club of La Plata Huila, Colombia, starting with conversations in 2009.  Both clubs were looking for a project that could be long-term, sustainable, one that would build lasting relationships and impact, and provide opportunities for boots on the ground service.

The first trip was in October 2011 and resulted in sharing sand water filter stations with the community, building a park (the first in the community), and purchasing an ultrasound.  The two clubs signed a ‘Sister City Partnership’ with La Plata and are in year 15 of that relationship. 

Over the years, this international partnership has resulted in three parks being built, the purchase of two ultrasounds (for a community of 110,000 and the only two diagnostic tools at the time), 20 computers for a local school, a stove for a local school, tree planting, five peace poles (first international peace pole planting for our district), 2 water sanitation system projects (global grants), a van and a commercial washer/dryer for the local senior center, a potter’s wheel and kiln for a local center for children and adults with disabilities, and the most recent water sanitation system project.

As great as the projects have been, the relationships gained and developed over time with the Rotarians in La Plata have been undeniable.  We are family.  Several club members have visited the U.S. on three separate occasions. They were there for the beginning of the year that Brouse served as district governor and were there for the end of the year celebration.

The upcoming water sanitation project will help the villages of La Esperanza and Panorama, located at the highest part of La Plata. The project includes the design and construction of the system, and the training of community members on its operation and maintenance. In all, the project will impact over 400 families in the two communities.

The Sherwood and Newberg Early Birds clubs are putting together a trip to La Plata in November to evaluate progress on the project and to contribute volunteer hours. If you are interested in potentially joining the trip, contact Brouse.

Club Calendar
Wed., July 1: No Meeting

Fri., July 3: Concours Steering Committee Meeting, 9 a.m.
Online

Sat., July 4: Concours Promotion At Hillsboro Rotary 4th of July Parade
Meet by 9:30 a.m., Parade Begins at 10 a.m.
See Rotary Rewind Section For Details

Wed., July 8: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Kim Ezell, Forest Grove Assistant City Manager

Thurs., July 9: Executive Board Meeting, 7 a.m.
Online

Fri., July 10: Concours Steering Committee Meeting, 9 a.m.
Online

Tues., July 14: Membership Committee Meeting, 4 p.m.
Forest Grove/Cornelius Chamber of Commerce, 2417 Pacific Ave.

Thurs., July 16: Board Meeting, 5:30 p.m.
Zesti Food Carts, 2131 Yew St., Forest Grove

Thurs., July 16: Third Thursday Social, 6:30 p.m.
Zesti Food Carts, 2131 Yew St., Forest Grove

Sunday, July 19: Concours d’Elegance
Pacific University Forest Grove Campus
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