David Marzilli has been the police chief for the City of Forest Grove since April 2026. 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: We look forward to seeing everyone on Wednesday at noon in the Boxer Pause Room in the University Center at Pacific University. This week is our September Rotarian of the Month program. Come and get to know Sarah Barbour!

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 – This Saturday: Think of it as Rotary’s version of fall cleaning! We hope everyone will join us this 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.

More On The McDougall Garden: The club is committing more money to the maintenance of the garden, which is due for replanting after many years. This week’s work party will include spreading fresh bark dust in the garden and planting some new plants. There are big plans to refurbish the garden over the next year. Stay tuned for details!

Meal Coordinator: A big thank you to one of our newest Rotarians, Beth Hardy, who has agreed to handle meal coordination duties for the club. This ensures that we will continue to have meals available when we meet off-site or when Pacific is not in session. Thank you, Beth!

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.

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, Oct. 13. For more information, or to get involved, please contact Evelyn Orr or Bruce Cummings.

Have An Idea For A Speaker? Let Mallory Know: While our program calendar for 2026 is full, our president-elect nominee and program chair, Mallory Hiefield, is starting to book programs for 2027. If you know of a speaker that you think would be of interest to the club, please contact Mallory.

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.

Rotary Basics
Rotary’s Two Official Mottoes – And A Portland Connection
Service Above Self and One Profits Most Who Serves Best, Rotary’s official mottoes, can be traced back to the early days of the organization.

In 1911, the second Rotary convention, in Portland, Oregon, approved “He Profits Most Who Serves Best” as the Rotary motto. The wording was adapted from a speech that Rotarian Arthur Frederick Sheldon delivered to the first convention, held in Chicago the previous year. Sheldon declared that “only the science of right conduct toward others pays. Business is the science of human services. He profits most who serves his fellows best.”

The Portland gathering also inspired the motto Service Above Self. During an outing on the Columbia River, Ben Collins, president of the Rotary Club of Minneapolis, Minnesota, talked with Seattle Rotarian J.E. Pinkham about the proper way to organize a Rotary club, offering the principle his club had adopted: Service, Not Self. Pinkham invited Rotary founder Paul Harris, who also was on the trip, to join their conversation. Harris asked Collins to address the convention, and the phrase Service, Not Self was met with great enthusiasm.

At the 1950 Rotary International Convention in Detroit, Michigan, two slogans were formally approved as the official mottoes of Rotary: He Profits Most Who Serves Best and Service Above Self. The 1989 Council on Legislation established Service Above Self as the principal motto of Rotary because it best conveys the philosophy of unselfish volunteer service. He Profits Most Who Serves Best was modified to They Profit Most Who Serve Best in 2004 and to its current wording, One Profits Most Who Serves Best, in 2010.

More information available at Rotary.org.

Rotary Glossary
DG: District Governor. A district governor is a an officer of Rotary International who works with a district team to run and lead the district, motivating and training clubs and connecting them with resources. The 2026-27 district governor for District 5100 is Renee Fontenot (Tualatin). She will be followed by Pat Wolfram (Wilsonville) in 2027-28 and Tiffany Salzman (Portland Pearl) in 2028-29.

Around District 5100
Introducing Our Region’s Upcoming Collaborative Project: The Rotary Club of Forest Grove is excited to join fellow Rotary clubs from across Western Washington County and Columbia County in a new collaborative service initiative focused on community hygiene needs.

The West Region of Rotary District 5100 includes five clubs in Beaverton, Columbia County, Forest Grove and Hillsboro.

Under the leadership of Area Governor Blake Timm, the clubs are coming together to explore ways to provide hygiene products and support to individuals and families throughout our communities. Collaborative projects between multiple clubs, like this one, are a specific focus of District Governor Renee Fontenot during the 2026-27 Rotary year.

As part of District 5100’s larger service efforts, each region of the district is focusing on projects that address specific local needs. In the West Region, club leaders identified access to hygiene products as an opportunity to make a meaningful and lasting difference.

Each club will work with local partners, both existing and new, to better understand community needs and develop solutions that fit their area. While local approaches may differ, the clubs will collaborate by sharing successful ideas, coordinating efforts where appropriate, and pursuing joint fundraising opportunities.

A steering committee, with representatives from each club, will meet in October to establish a timeline and overall framework for the project. The goal is to establish those by Nov. 1. This initial planning phase will allow clubs to connect with community organizations, identify needs, and build partnerships before launching project activities.

The district needs at least one Rotarian from each West Region club to serve on this steering committee. Tasks will include identifying and evaluating the needs of potential partner organizations, outreach to potential financial or in-kind partners, preparing community grant and district grant applications, and hands-on support in delivering items to the selected partner organizations.

The steering committee includes Blake Timm and Stephanie Magoulas from Forest Grove and Sherrie Ford from Columbia County.

This regional partnership demonstrates the power of Rotary collaboration and our shared commitment to Service Above Self. We look forward to sharing updates as the project develops and opportunities emerge for members and community partners to get involved.

Together, we can help ensure that essential hygiene products are available to those who need them most.

Last Week’s Program — Forest Grove Police Chief David Marzilli
At last week’s meeting, we were pleased to be joined by Forest Grove Police Chief David Marzilli, who presented on the police station bond measure that is before voters on the November 2026 ballot.

Marzilli started as Forest Grove’s police chief on April 8, 2026. Before becoming chief, he had a 28-year career with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, rising through the ranks to commander.

Voters will be asked in November to vote on a $29.5 million bond measure to build a new police station, which would be constructed on city-owned land on the corner of 19th Avenue and Birch Street. The proposed station would replace the current police station at the corner of Pacific Avenue and Ash Street.

The current police station was built in 1977. When it was constructed, Forest Grove’s population was 11,000 people and the police department had 12 officers. Today, Forest Grove has a population of 27,000 and the police department employs 42 people (36 certified staff and six support staff).

Marzilli said that the current building is too small for the department’s current size and needs. Many spaces have been split to help meet the needs of the department, and others are used for multiple purposes. For example, the department’s multi-purpose space is used for briefings, report writing, a conference room, and as a storage area for equipment.

Because of space limitations, most in-person reports are taken in the lobby, which has room for four people. There is no space in the secure perimeter of the police station where private conversations can take place. Additionally, the building does not meet Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements.

Marzilli said that while best practice is to have two interview rooms, the current department only has one interview room. The second interview room was integrated into an expanded locker room. The evidence room has been expanded into space that used to be two holding cells and the evidence handling room. For vehicles that are held as evidence, the department rents storage space off-site. Overflow records are kept in an upper floor mechanical room.

Marzilli also noted that Oregon law requires that adults and juveniles be separated by sight and sound when held. Because of the space limitations, one of those individuals would have to be held in the holding cell, while the other might have to be held in the interview room.

In 2016, the city did a feasibility study on the future of the current police station. The study determined that it was more cost-effective to build a new facility rather than renovate the current facility.

Marzilli acknowledged the bond measure that was proposed in May 2025 and voted down. This time, the amount of the bond measure remains the same, but some changes have been made to the plan to account for added construction and materials costs.

If approved, the bond would cost property owners 69 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, which equates to approximately $16 per month, or $193 per year, for the average homeowner over the 20-year life of the bond.

The community is invited to the department’s Behind the Badge event on Thursday, Oct. 15, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. The event provides a chance to tour the police station and hear from past and present members of the department.

To learn more about the measure, visit forestgrove-or.gov/policebond.

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

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 River Partners

Thurs., Oct. 15: Executive Board Meeting, 7 a.m.
Online

Thurs., Oct. 22: Board Meeting, 5:30 p.m.
Zesti Food Carts, 2131 Yew St., Forest Grove

Thurs., Oct. 22: Monthly Social, 6:30 p.m.
Zesti Food Carts, 2131 Yew St., Forest Grove