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 everyone on Wednesday at noon in the Boxer Pause Room in the University Center at Pacific University. This week, our program is Forest Grove Police Chief David Marzili, who will present on the upcoming bond measure for a new police station in Forest Grove.

New Pacific Lunch Process – Read Carefully!: With the return of our weekly meetings to Pacific University, the club is changing the process of how members will pay for their lunch in the university’s dining commons.

Club members will pay directly for their lunches as they enter the commons. The cost for the all-you-care-to-eat meals is $9.75 per person, the same as what Bon Appetit charged the club under the previous system. Corporate members and guests will still receive vouchers for lunch.

The goal for this change is to streamline the relationship between the club and Bon Appetit, and to ease the burden of our treasurer, who managed this process simply as a pass-through from the club.

Please contact President Hector Mendez-Colberg and/or treasurer Sharon Olmstead with any questions.

Upcoming Meetings: All of our weekly meetings this fall will take place at Pacific University with the exception of the following dates, when we will meet at the Forest Grove United Church of Christ: Oct. 14, Nov. 11, Dec. 2 and Dec. 9. Remember that on the third week of the month, we do not meet on Wednesdays. That week, we encourage everyone to attend our monthly social on Thursday, 6:30 p.m., at Zesti Food Carts, 2131 Yew St.

Garden Cleanup & Road Pickup – Oct. 3: Think of it as Rotary’s version of fall cleaning! We hope everyone will join us on Saturday, Oct. 3, as we conduct our semi-annual road cleanup service project and do a work party on our McDougall Garden on the east side of Forest Grove. Both projects begin at 8:30 a.m., and many hands will make for quick work.

Our road pick-up project includes our club’s longtime Washington County Adopt-A-Road segments: Gales Creek Road between Thatcher Road and Forest Gale Drive, and Thatcher Road between Gales Creek Road and David Hill Road. Grabbers and garbage bags are provided. Please bring your own gloves. We will meet at the Oregon Department of Forestry offices, 801 Gales Creek Rd.

The garden party includes weeding and pruning to get the garden ready for winter. Participants are encouraged to bring your own gloves, rakes, and gardening tools. The McDougall Garden is located between Pacific and 19th Avenues across from the big flag pole.

To sign up for either project, please fill out the Online Google Form. For questions about the road cleanup, please contact Rus Peters.

Rides Needed For Junhee For Fall Youth Exchange Trip: We are coming up on the District 5100 Rotary Youth Exchange fall trip up the West Coast, and we are in need of volunteers that can give Junhee rides to the airport and home from the end of the trip.

To meet District 5100 Youth Exchange safety requirements, a female driver is needed and/or a couple (we try not to have students alone with adults of the opposite sex). Volunteers assisting with Youth Exchange must have completed the District 5100 Youth Volunteer Application and been approved by the district.

If you are able to assist, please contact our club’s Youth Exchange Officer, Sarah Barbour.

Meal Coordinator For Off-Campus Meetings Needed: We thank Parri Van Dyke for generously coordinating lunches for our off-campus meetings over the summer. As Parri is no longer able to serve in this role, we are looking for a volunteer to coordinate meals for meetings held away from the Boxer Pause and for occasions when the Boxer Pause Café is unavailable. Responsibilities include arranging meal orders, coordinating with the club treasurer on payments, and getting head counts for lunches. Training will be provided.

If you are willing and able to take on this role, please contact President Hector Mendez-Colberg.

Outbound Youth Exchange Applications Still Open: Our club is still looking for its 2027-28 Rotary Youth Exchange outbound student. Opportunities are available for both long-term and short-term exchanges for the upcoming Rotary year.

For more information, and to fill out an application, please visit the Rotary Youth Exchange page on the Rotary Club of Forest Grove website.

Looking For Our Next Treasurer And Bookkeeper: After years of service as treasurer for our club, Sharon Olmstead is looking to find her replacement so that she can move forward in her Rotary journey. The treasurer manages the finances of the club and ensures that the club is in compliance with state, federal and Rotary International financial responsibilities. The finances of the Foundation of the Rotary Club of Forest Grove are handled by our fundraising treasurer.

Additionally, the club is looking to identify a new bookkeeper. Julie Schmidlkofer, who has served the club in that role for many years, is reducing her client load as she moves towards retirement.

The treasurer is a club officer and must be a member of the Rotary Club of Forest Grove. The bookkeeper is a hired position and that person does not need to be a member of the club. If you have interest in either position, or know someone who might be, please contact Sharon.

Community Forum On Pacific/Willamette Merger: Rotarians and members of the community are invited to join fellow Rotarian and Pacific University President Jenny Coyle on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 4 p.m., for a virtual forum on the upcoming merger between Pacific and Willamette University.

This forum is tailored for local civic, government, and business stakeholders, and will share key insights into the vision driving this merger, provide an update on the transition process, and discuss how Pacific aims to deepen its partnership with local leadership to serve Washington County and the greater region.

The forum will take place via Zoom and is free, but registration is required. For more information and to register, please visit the Pacific University Alumni Association website.

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, Sept. 22. For more information, or to get involved, please contact Evelyn Orr or 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.

Help Pack 169 With Assisted Living Carnival: Cub Scout Pack 169, of which one of our newest members, Derrick Strugill, is the cubmaster, has been asked to assist with a carnival at one of Forest Grove’s assisted living centers on Sunday, Sept. 27, from noon to 3 p.m. The pack is looking for 10 to 15 volunteers to assist with running the event, which is for the staff and residents of the community.

Volunteers are needed to help run games, coordinate a bounce house, assist with making and serving snow cones, cotton candy and popcorn, running a photo booth, and more. If you are able to help out, please contact Derrick.

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.

Rotary Basics
With so many new members joining the club in the last couple of years, the Rototeller is bring back its Rotary Basics section. This section is designed to educate all of us on some of the basics functions of Rotary, and to demystify some of the things that make Rotary (sometimes) confusing. Have something that you want to know about Rotary? Drop a line to Rototeller editor Blake Timm and he will try to track it down.

The Rotary Foundation
The Rotary Foundation was the brainchild of Rorary International President Arch Klumph, who in 1917 proposed to the convention of the National Association of Rotary Clubs the establishment of an endowment “for the purpose of doing good in the world.” The Rotary Club of Kansas City made the first donation of $26.50. In 1928, when the foundation had grown to $5,000, was formally named and a Board of Trustees was created.

In 1930, The Rotary Foundation made its first grant of $500 to the International Society for Crippled Children, founded by Rotarian Edgar F. Allen, now known as Easter Seals. In its over 100 years, The Rotary Foundation has funded over $4 billion in service projects worldwide.

During the 2024-25 Rotary year, The Rotary Foundation provided $88.2 million in grant funding to 1,423 grant programs worldwide in Rotary’s seven Areas of Focus: Basic education & literacy, community economic development, disease prevention & treatment, maternal & child health, peacebuilding & conflict resolution; water, sanitation & hygiene; and protecting the environment. The foundation also distributed 468 district grants with $29 million in funding, and 74 disaster response grants with $2 million in total funding.

Learn more about The Rotary Foundation and how your dollars work worldwide on the Rotary Website.

Rotary Glossary
DDF: District Designated Fund. These are monies that districts use to fund projects. The fund is comprised of 50% of a district’s contributions to The Rotary Foundation’s Annual Fund-SHARE from three years prior, plus 50% of any spendable earnings available from its contributions to the Endowment Fund-SHARE.

Around District 5100
Vibrant Club Workshop: The 2026 District 5100 Vibrant Club Workshop is this Saturday, Sept. 26, at the conference room at the Hillsboro Airport, 3355 NE Cornell Road. Don’t miss out on this great learning opportunity and the chance to be on the ground floor of planning a collaborative service project for our region’s clubs!

This year’s workshop is being reimagined to provide a more hands-on approach for attendees. Important Rotary education on membership development, Rotary Foundation and public image will be offered, but attendees will put that knowledge to use to plan a service project for the region.

If you are interested in learning more about the inner-workings of Rotary and using your knowledge to put together a service project, then the 2026 District 5100 Vibrant Club Workshop is for you.

While strongly encouraged for club leadership and board members, the Vibrant Club Workshop is open to all Rotarians who want to learn more, be more involved and create lasting impact.

Registration is now open on DacDB. There is a nominal $15 per person charge to cover room rental fees and refreshments.

If you have questions, please contact Area Governor Blake Timm or district Learning & Development Chair Amy Tracewell.

District Leadership Update (from District 5100 Newsbyte): District 5100 is pleased to share several transitions within our district leadership team.

Shelly Egli, Rotary Club of Keizer, has been serving as area governor (AG) for the greater Salem area. Beginning September 15, Shelly will step into the role of administrative assistant governor (AAG).

Tiffany Salzman, our district governor nominee, has been serving as Renee Fontenot’s AAG and recently completed district governor nominee training at the Big West Zone Conference. She will now turn more of her attention toward preparing to serve our district in Rotary year 2028-29. Shelly will help bridge this transition through the remainder of this Rotary year, serving both Tiffany and me. Shelly joined Rotary in 2007 and became an area governor in 2024.

Terry Page, Rotary Club of Salem-Creekside, will step into the area governor role for the Salem area, shadowing Shelly for the remainder of this Rotary year before beginning his 2027-30 term. Terry joined Rotary in 2021, has served as club president, and has distinguished himself as a leader within his club. His wife, Ginger, is also a Rotarian in the Salem-Creekside club.

Please join us in congratulating Shelly, Tiffany, and Terry—and thanking them for their willingness to accept greater responsibility in service to our clubs and district.

Future District Leadership Opportunities
If you are looking for your next opportunity to serve, consider joining a district committee. District service is a wonderful way to expand your Rotary fellowship while sharing the skills you already have and developing new ones. Contact information for district committee chairs can be found in DACdb.

Could you be District Governor in Rotary year 2029-30?
Applications are due September 30. If you are interested, contact Immediate Past District Governor Susanne Holmberg for information and an application. Service as a club president is a prerequisite.

Club Calendar
Tues., Sept. 22: Membership Committee Meeting, 4 p.m.
Forest Grove/Cornelius Chamber of Commerce, 2417 Pacific Ave.

Wed., Sept. 23: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Forest Grove Police Chief David Marzili

Wed., Sept. 30: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Rotarian of the Month

Sat., Oct. 3: McDougall Garden Work Party and Road Cleanup Project, 8:30 a.m.
Garden Work Party: Between Pacific and 19th Avenues at Big Flag
Road Cleanup: Oregon Department of Forestry, 801 Gales Creek Rd.

Wed., Oct. 7: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, University Center, Pacific University
Program: Green Grove Cohousing Community

Tues., Oct. 13: Membership Committee Meeting, 4 p.m.
Forest Grove/Cornelius Chamber of Commerce, 2417 Pacific Ave.

Wed., Oct. 14: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Forest Grove United Church of Christ, 2032 College Way
Program: Clark Mather, Northwest RiverPartners