Rotarian John Schrag at a recent information session for UpliftLocal News + Info. Photo courtesy of UpliftLocal News + Info.

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

Happy New Rotary Year!: As we near July 1, we want to wish all Rotarians a Happy New Rotary Year and thank you for another great year of service in 2024-25. We also salute and thank Lucas Welliver for his year as club president and look ahead to a great year under our new president, Andrea Stewart. We will Unite For Good in 2025-26!

End Of Year Celebration – No Noon Meeting This Week: We hope you will join us on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. for our annual End of the Year Celebration at the home of Sharon & Adrian Olmstead. Join us as we celebrate our accomplishments in Lucas Welliver’s year as president and welcome Andrea Stewart for her presidential year. The dinner will be catered through Black Dog Bar & Grill and beverages will be provided. No need to bring anything except your Rotary Spirit. Spouses and other plus-ones are welcome. No RSVP is required.

There will be no noon meeting on Wednesday, July 2. We will return to our regular weekly meetings on Wednesday, July 9.

Upcoming Meetings: All of our meetings in July will take place in the Boxer Pause Room in the University Center at Pacific University.

Hillsboro Rotary Fourth of July Parade: Our club will be marching in the Hillsboro Rotary Fourth of July parade this Thursday to promote the Concours d’Elegance. The parade is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., but participats will need to arrive earlier for staging and to ensure parking. There is still time to sign up if you have not done so already! If you would like to take part, contact Tom Raabe.

Farewell Party For Laurin von Orelli: Our 2024-25 Rotary Youth Exchange inbound student, Laurin von Orelli, will be heading back home to Switzerland on July 10, the Fischer family is hosting a farewell barbeque and open house for Laurin on Sunday, July 6, 2-6 p.m., at the Fischer home. All Rotarians are welcome to help give Laurin a great sendoff. If you are able to attend, please RSVP to Melinda Fischer.

Notice Of Dues Increase: To meet increases in both Rotary International and District 5100 dues, and to keep pace with increasing costs in club operations, the Rotary Club’s Board of Directors approved an increase in dues to $100 per quarter for the 2025-26 Rotary year. This increase will be effective on July 1.

The $100 per quarter includes $56.30 in club dues, $28.20 for Rotary International dues and $15.50 for District 5100 dues.

Club dues cover the expenses related to the operation of the club, including insurance and taxes, our DacDB subscription, post office box, paying the club’s bookkeeper, bank card feeds, guest lunches, membership support and more.

For the 2025-26 Rotary year, Rotary International dues are $113.27 per year per member, and District 5100 dues are $62 per year. A full breakdown of what those amounts pay for is available in this dues breakdown PDF.

For any questions about the dues increase, please contact President Lucas Welliver, Treasurer Sharon Olmstead or any member of the board.

DacDB Updates: Last week, club members should have received an email asking for updates to your current information for DacDB (District & Club Database), which our club uses for club operations. Please take the time to review the email and confirm that we have the most up-to-date information for you.

If you did not receive an email, or need assistance in updating your information, please contact Secretary Claire Agner.

Survey Coming Soon: What do you want our club to focus on over the next year? What activities and service projects would like us to do? How can you feel more connected to our club? President-elect Andrea Stewart will be sending out a survey to all club members in the next couple of weeks. She would like to have everyone’s participation to help guide the club in her year as president.

The link to the survey will be emailed to club members and will also be made in the version of the Rototeller emailed to members. Thank you in advance for taking time to help guide our club’s leadership into the next year.

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.

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. As of Wednesday, we had 220 cars entered in this year’s show. Registration is open until Monday, June 30, at 11:59 p.m., so don’t delay!

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. 

Last Week’s Program: John Schrag, UpliftLocal News + Info

Last week, we had the opportunity to hear from fellow Rotarian John Schrag about his latest project, a journalism nonprofit called UpliftLocal News + Info.

John joined the Rotary Club of Forest Grove in 2008. A lifelong journalist, he was with Willamette Week and named publisher/editor of the Forest Grove News-Times in 2005 before becoming executive editor of the Pamplin Media Group, which owned the News-Times.

In his 13 years at the News-Times, John got to experience the power of local journalism and then had to work through the extreme change in the newspaper industry. When he started, three reporters from different media organizations would cover Forest Grove City Council meetings. When he left, the News-Times was the only media outlet left.

UpliftLocal News + Info is a nonprofit newsroom. It is a community model based on research that is trying to empower communities and groups underserved by local media. They put communities at the center at what they do. There are no paywalls. The organizations train people in the community to be the journalists while addressing the barriers of distribution.

John reported that in the last two years, 33% of newspapers in Oregon have closed. In the last 20 years, newspaper jobs have decreased by almost three quarters. When newspapers disappear, communities don’t have a common sense of what is going on. Civic engagement drops, voter turnout drops, fewer people join civic groups, fewer people contact public officials, polarization spikes and government becomes less efficient.

In studying the impacts of the decline, UpliftLocal surveyed 1,300 people from across the state, including focus groups in four languages (English, Spanish, Russian and Ukrainian). The survey included not only readers of news, but also journalists and newsroom leaders. Many said that don’t trust the national media, but there is an overwhelming trust of local news.

Through these studies, John learned that people who trust the news the most in Oregon are older, educated and white. There are significant numbers of rural, Hispanic, Black, Native and immigrant residents feel overlooked or stereotyped in local media.

Absent of local news, people turn to social media where information is often wrong or slanted. People widely understand the dangers of trusting social media, but do not have another place to turn.

UpliftLocal is starting its work in the Columbia River Gorge. It is rural and 20% Latino with a preference for information in Spanish. The area lost three newspapers during the pandemic with just seven journalists now covering the four counties in the Gorge. The area has increased in population by 17% while the number of journalists has gone down by 71%.

Their approach starts with documenters, training people to attend public meetings and take notes. This allows people to build skills in other areas and develop journalistic skills.

The goal of the program is to help local people cover local issues. People trust the people they know. Do they see those people in the community outside of work? That empowers people to act on circumstances that affect their lives. It develops a more representative talent pool for the community overall. Their approach in the Gorge is collaborative with local news partners, including existing newspapers and radio stations.

To learn more about UpliftLocal and their efforts, visit their website.

Club Calendar
Wed., July 2: Year End Celebration, 5:30 p.m.
Home of Sharon & Adrian Olmstead
There will be no noon meeting on July 2

Wed., July 9: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Larry Strober, Oregon Peace Trail

Thurs., July 10: Executive Board Meeting, 7 a.m.
via Zoom

Wed., July 16: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Prep for Concours d’Elegance

Thurs., July 17: Board Meeting, 7 a.m.
via Zoom

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

Thurs., Aug. 21: Joint Meeting with Daybreak for District Governor Susanne Holmberg’s Official Visit, 6:30 p.m.
Zesti Food Carts, 2131 Yew St.
There will be no noon meeting on Wed., Aug. 20