Newberg Noon Rotary Club Newsletter for May 22, 2019
Greeter: Lisa Salmons
Club President Om opened the meeting with her usual INSPIRATIONAL GUSTO!
Pledge: Jeff Lane
Guests: Jeff Boileau- Spouse of President Om Sukheenai and Father of Paris Boileau (NHS Interact Club President); Kathie Byers – Community Impact Coordinator, First Federal, Prospective Rotarian (applied for membership); Josie Duff – Art Intern, George Fox University, Guest of Geoff Gilmore
NHS Interact Club Representatives: Paris Boileau, President, NHS Interact Club—Daughter of Om Sukheenai and Jeff Boileau; Macy Schowalter, Ashley Andrade, Sean Vriese
Visiting Rotarians: Matt Huegli, Treasurer, Sheridan Rotary Club, System Repair Analyst; Rod Federwisch – President-Elect Newberg Earlybird Rotary Club; Jekabs Bikis, Newberg Earlybird Rotary Club, Dean, College of Business, George Fox University, Guest of Geoff Gilmore.
Rotary Moment (Walter Want): Walter noted that his & Julie’s son, Damian, is visiting from California. As a student at Newberg High School Damian was selected for a Rotary Exchange visit to Australia. Walter reminds us of the value of Rotary friendships for life through the Rotary Exchange Program.
Announcements: New Mural—Newberg Library Annex (Geoff Gilmore): Geoff Gilmore introduced George Fox University Intern Josie Duff [w/ apologies to Josie, as the editor could not rotate the photo! : – ( ]
The interns are about half way through the mural design. Given that the mural will be affixed to a public, city-owned building, signage codes are more challenging. Geoff is working with the City of Newberg to align the mural design with city code or he may seek a code exemption if necessary.
Mike Caruso – Rotary District Conference (Om): President Om recognized Mike Caruso for his excellent talk at this year’s Rotary District 5100 Annual Conference. The focus of Mike’s remarks was “Women in Rotary.”
What Makes Newberg Great? (Shannon Buckmaster): Shannon Buckmaster, CEO of the Chehalem Valley Chamber of Commerce, will host a production team from Portland’s Channel 2’s News Production Team focusing on “What Makes Newberg Great?” Among other stops, Shannon will show our Rotary mural on the wall of Steve’s Auto Body Shop.
Memorial Park Clean Up (Jim McMaster): Rotarians are invited to participate in our annual clean-up of Memorial Park Thursday, May 23, from 4-7.
Transfer to Newberg Earlybird Rotary (Beth Pent): With sadness, Beth Pent announced that, due to work schedule and friendships with members of the Newberg Earlybird Rotary Club, Beth will transfer to the morning club. Beth intends to stay in touch with our club and be a voice for Noon Rotary at Earlybird gatherings. Our thanks to Beth for her service, humor and willingness to step up and help with: Memorial Park Clean Up, Pool Park Barkdust Party, Pie-Baking for our Annual Auction, Scholarship Committee, Tracking Auction bids, Auction Set Up and Organization etc. Beth does it all with humor and gusto! Beth, we shall miss you and wish you well in your new club!
CYFS Garage Sale (Deborah Cathers-Seymour): CYFS will hold a Garage Sale at 216 E 3rd Street Friday and Saturday, May 24 and May 25.
Honoring Ken Austin, Jr. (Rod Federwisch: Rod Federwisch, President-Elect of the Newberg Earlybird Rotary Club, invited Rotarians to participate in Thursday, May 23rd, Earlybird Rotary Club Meeting at 7:00 a.m., Chehalem Cultural Center, honoring Ken Austin, Jr.
Basic Nursing Assistant Class Thank You (Todd Engle): Todd Engle shared a “Thank You’ note from students enrolled in the Certified Nursing Assistant Program at Friendsview. Our Foundation contributed to the program. The program is such a success, Newberg High School increase enrollment to 20 students for 2019-2020. Rotarian Judy Robinson shared that she began her time as a nurse at Friendsview with 16 years of nursing service to Friendsview residents.
Scout Troop 9265 Thank You: Teresa Arnold, leader of the new Girl’s Scout Troop 9265, thanked Rotary for our involvement in supporting scouting over the years. The Boy Scout Charter was recently changed to permit girls.
West Valley Color Run (Matt Huegli, Treasurer, Sheridan Rotary Club): Matt Huegli, Treasurer of the Sheridan Rotary Club, invites all Rotarians and families to participate in the “West Valley Color Run” scheduled for Saturday, June 15th from 9:00 – 10:30 a.m. at 317 S Bridge Street, Sheridan. All ages are welcome! Register online by June 7th at: https://runsignup.com/Race/OR/Sheridan/WestValleyColorRUN This 5-K Fun Run replaces “Phil Sheridan Days” and is a fundraiser for Rotary scholarships. Participants can run, walk, ride a scooter etc. Cost of admission is $30.00.
Duck: Curt Walker collected $106 from generous meeting attendees.
Program – NHS Interact: Rotarians Judy Robinson and Denise Bacon serve as advisors to the Newberg High School Rotary Club. Judy introduced Interactors: Paris Boileau, President, NHS Interact Club, Macy Schowalter, Ashley Andrade and Sean Vriese.
Interact – First Peacebuilder Club: Mike Caruso, Peace Committee Chair, presented Paris Boileau and students with a plaque honoring Interact as the first Interact Peacebuilder Club. Interact members voted unanimously to become a Peacebuilder Club. There are currently 115 Peacebuilder Clubs world-wide with the Newberg High School Interact Club as the “first” Interact Club to join. Mike also awarded Master Peacebuilder pins to each student—the same award given Rotary Peace Scholars.
Club Background and Growth: The Interact Club is currently comprised of 28 active members. In an effort to recruit incoming freshmen, Interactors meet with eighth grade students at the Middle Schools, describe the goals of Interact and provide information as to how students can join.
Invasive Species Removal and Tree Planting: Interactors joined with Rotarians, middle school students, and Chehalem Park and Recreation District staff to remove invasive species and plant trees at the Chehalem Glenn Golf Course and in a local neighborhood.
School and Art Supplies Uganda: The Interact Club contacted a school in Uganda. Ugandan students lack school and art supplies. The NHS Interact Club initiated an art and school supply drive among students at the high school. Students donated markers, paper, etc. Interact used social media, flyers and a luncheon information table to elicit supplies. After mailing supplies Interactors wrote and received letters from Ugandan students.
Peacebuilder and Mental Health: Interactors promoted Mental Health Wellness among high school students; focused on anti-bullying strategies and voted to become a Peacebuilder Club.
Students’ responses to “Why Join Interact?”: “When I joined Interact, I had a desire to save the world and make a difference in someone else’s life. We give them an opportunity.” “I wanted to do something for my community. Mom shared with me about Interact and encouraged me to join. I love to volunteer.”
President OM: “Interact club is so sentimental story for all of us. Here is the history that I got from Jennifer Blake in October 2018 during joint board meeting. Years ago It has begun with our passing Rotarian, Ray Simonsen, who was a principal at NHS. He spent his own money to pay for lunch for the interact students to meet. At that time, the Interact project was collaborated between the Early Bird and Noon clubs. We were told that Ray had about 32 interact students. Then things changed as we all experienced. Moving forward, in 2014 the project fell into the Noon Club. Denise Bacon re-built it. When Denise Bacon invited Judy Robinson to join the interact club in 2017 as an advisor resulted in the Interact club growing to 28 students. A success story for the Newberg High School Interact club besides of tree planting, art and hygiene supply to school kids in Uganda, Mental Well-being week, and much more. This club is the the first Interact club in the world to enroll in peace builder program. So proud of the kids and our club.”
Next meeting: will be at CCC…..Program: McMinnville and Newberg are joining with each other for the Relay For Life of Yamhill County. Presenter: Jami Fuller, Event Coordinator