Newberg Noon Rotary Club Newsletter for December 16, 2020

~ Newberg Noon Rotary Club Newsletter ~

Rotary Club of Newberg, Zoom Meeting

Wednesday, December 16, 2020

~ Zoom Meeting Participants ~

Joe, Mike, Dan, Shannon K, Dale, Matt, Geoff, Todd, Doug, Tony, Jim, Spike, Judy, Paula, Michelle, Larry, Amber, Auggie, Lisa, Christy, Walter, Julie, Kathie, Brandy, Shannon B, Connie, Paul, Lynn, Patrick.

 

~ Call to Order ~

President Elect Joe Morelock welcomed Rotarians and Friends of Rotary to the Zoom meeting at 12:00 p.m. Wednesday, December 16, 2020. The Rotarians split out into breakout groups to start the meeting.

 

~ Flag Salute ~

Doug lead participants in the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

~ 4 Way Test ~

Shannon K lead participants in the recital of the 4 Way Test:

Rotary’s Four Way Test of the things we think, say and do:

#1 – Is it the TRUTH?

#2 – Is it FAIR to all concerned?

#3 – Will it BUILD GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?

#4 – Is it BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

 

~ Announcements: Paul Harris Fellowships~

Today we had the honor of recognizing two Paul Harris Fellows. This is in recognition of members who contributed at least $1,000 to the Rotary Foundation in the fiscal year. Today we celebrate Jim McMaster and Grant Austin, both of whom were awarded their Paul Harris Fellow +6 (which means they have contributed over $7,000!)

Jim reminded everyone that as a donor you can earmark the money to be used for certain categories that you are passionate about. Jim and his wife donate for education. He also pointed out that this organization does amazing work with very low overhead costs.

Geoff reminded everyone to use Amazon Smile when purchasing from Amazon as it costs nothing and you can select any registered charity, one of which is Rotary International. (Editor note: if you want more information on this, feel free to reach out to Dan Keuler for more info or instructions)

 

~ Guests ~

No Guests Today

 

~ The Rotary Duck (Polio Plus)~

Mike: Mike pointed out that a former member Suzanne Miller recently received a PHF recognition as well. Due to her husband’s illness, they had to move to Arizona to be closer to family. He reached out to let her know that our club received her pin and that we would send it to her. She said to tell the club hello, that she misses us all. He also thanked everyone for their record setting donations this year.

Geoff: Noted that he donates to The Rotary Foundation and designate the money to go towards Polio. Also he spoke about his friend (a Rotarian from Vancouver) who donated Mead to the Auction. Jeff said that this friend runs Ethereal Mead, and if anyone wants to find a unique gift this year, he can point them into the direction of that seller of Mead. (Mead is wine made from Honey)

Paula: Gave sympathies to Auggie for Huskies not getting into the Pac-12 Championship game. Also noted that she will be rooting for the Ducks when they play USC in the Pac-12 Championship.

Spike: Spike, an avid Duck Fan, is also Rooting for them and is excited for the Women’s Basketball team at the University of Oregon.

Tony: Thanked the community for support for nearly 20 years in business in Newberg.

Brandy: Gave appreciation for having received beautiful and unexpected flowers from an unexpected source: Bethany Caruso. She appreciates the community and her fellow Rotarians.

Joe: Put in for the Ducks since his younger brother went to USC. Sibling Rivalry at its best! His father went to UCLA.

Lisa: Gave a Mom-Brag as her daughter graduated Portland State University last week! Congrats!

Auggie: Auggie continued his presentation of each of the 9 Rotary Quilt Squares, which he used as his virtual background.

Total Collected today for Polio Plus: $155

 

~ Today’s Program: Larry Strober – Classification Talk ~

Introduction: Larry Strober is a past District 5100 Assistant District Governor, the Principal consultant of Willamette Valley Consultants, and the 2016-17 Club President of the McMinnville Sunrise Rotary Club. He lives in Lafayette and is on the Peace Committee and bard member of Peace Village Global.

Larry shared that he, by nature, is a family man and a peacebuilder. He has a wife (with whom he recently celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary) and 2 sons (one California and on Oregon), and 5 grandchildren. He is also an advocate for small businesses on a professional level. His lineage and his grandparents are from Ukraine. They immigrated to the US to Brooklyn New York, where Larry’s Parents grew up and he spend much of his childhood. Larry was also a big baseball fan and was hugely disappointed when the Dodgers moved to LA, only a couple of years after Celebrating their World Series Victory back in 1955. Larry also left Brooklyn when his parents moved to Long Island during his high school years. He graduated and went to Bucknell University and joined a fraternity and was in a Doo-Wop group!

Late into his College years he joined the Army ROTC and was assigned to the Signal Corp to Fort Monmouth, New Jersey where they distributed defense terminals (satellites) worldwide. His having received that experience, and a medal to boot, provided him the resume he needed to go out and get a great job and even to meet his wife in Tustin, California. His early professional life was in computing technology, working for Hazeltine, MicroPro, Supercalc, Circuitwriter, Intesoft, and Quvis (working on digital projects like Toy Story and Pirates of the Caribbean).

He started a family and moved to McMinnville for its great location and accessibility to Portland Music. His consulting business out of McMinnville was selected to work with America’s SBDC of Oregon to provide consulting work to Yamhill County Small Businesses. He was then recruited to join Rotary while attending a Greeters event by the now President of the McMinnville City Council. He loved Rotary and joined immediately. His Rotary Creedo is “Making a Difference.” An avid fan of the game Bocce Ball, he began organizing Boccee Ball Tournaments, raising thousands of dollars for charity over 6 years. Mike Caruso even played in his tournaments for many years. He also made the McMinnville Sunrise Club a Peacebuilder club. He also got involved with the Elijah Interfaith Institute, which is an organization that brings all major religions and religious leaders together for interfaith collaboration and peacemaking. As a Jewish man, he prides himself on his interfaith relationships with members of all religious communities. Another Rotary based project he has been involved in is the Special Olympics helping with Bocce Ball. Larry worked with Newberg’s Peace Village and also helped create Peace Village in McMinnville, working with his Club and their Interact Clubs. They have planted 8 or 9 Peace Poles in the McMinnville Area, with more on the way. He is anxious to work hard in the Newberg Club, spearheading and participating in all Peacebuilding activities and other important work.

 

Welcome Larry!

 

~ Next Week’s Program: ~

Check your e-mails for Mike Caruso’s Zoom meeting access information.

~ Joke of the Day ~

Q: How do the North Pole Accountants value Santa’s Sleigh?

A: Net Present Value

~ Happy Quotes! ~

“My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that?”

– Bob Hope

 

~ Published 12/30/2020: Dan Keuler, Newsletter Editor ~

Newberg Noon Rotary Club Newsletter for December 9, 2020

~ Newberg Noon Rotary Club Newsletter ~

Rotary Club of Newberg, Zoom Meeting

Wednesday, December 9, 2020

~ Zoom Meeting Participants ~

Shannon B, Mike, Dan, Debby, Auggie, Tony, Gene, Ralph, Sean, Denise, Amber, Larry, Rachel, Lisa, Judy, Laura, Brandy, Paula, Kathie, Patrick, Geoff, Paul, Walter, Julie, Shannon K, Paula, Joe, Matt, Lynn, Doug, Stan, Christy.

 

~ Call to Order ~

President Shannon Buckmaster welcomed Rotarians and Friends of Rotary to the Zoom meeting at 12:00 p.m. Wednesday, December 9, 2020. The Rotarians split out into breakout groups to start the meeting.

 

~ Flag Salute ~

Gene lead participants in the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

~ 4 Way Test ~

Walter lead participants in the recital of the 4 Way Test:

Rotary’s Four Way Test of the things we think, say and do:

#1 – Is it the TRUTH?

#2 – Is it FAIR to all concerned?

#3 – Will it BUILD GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?

#4 – Is it BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

 

~ Announcements ~

Early Birds Christmas Auction: The Early Birds Rotary Club of Newberg is having their Virtual Christmas Auction through December 10.

 

~ Guests ~

No Guests Today

 

~ The Rotary Duck ~

Shannon B: Shout out to everyone wearing festive Christmas Attire, and showed off her fabulous Gingerbread man socks.

Mike: Shared a message from Natalie Verdyan, about a dedication ceremony for the installation of the first Peace Poles in Russia! The President of the Moscow Rotary Club has a goal to add more peace poles and Peace Builders Clubs in Russia over the next year. Additionally Mike mentioned that the Newberg Peace Committee is in dire need of members. The time commitment will be typically a few hours a month and help will be appreciated. Currently Mike and Larry are heading the peace efforts for our club. Email Mike if interested in helping out.

Kathie: Noted that the Salvation Army is still in need to volunteers to be Bell Ringers. Additionally, First Federal is doing a Virtual Blanket Drive whereby they are soliciting donations through Amazon. You can CLICK HERE to go to the Amazon Wish list, purchase blankets, and have them shipped directly to YCAP. You can get more information at First Federal Yamhill County’s Facebook page.

Patrick: Patrick bragged on his amazing, hardworking staff in Nepal. They are doing their first 2 RMR trainings with 25 participants each for doctor training. Their goal has been to make the system sustainable and have been making big strides to making that goal. Thanks to participation and buy in from the Government in Nepal and the volunteers, the EMS effort has gone very well and will continue to advance in coming years.

Auggie: Gave a shout out to Tony, who has done so many good contributions to the communities including Dictionary Distribution Projects and Thanksgiving Turkey Drives, and gave condolences to his having to close down the Newberg Excel Fitness location.

Tony: Thanked Auggie and the community for support over their 20 years in business.

Shannon B: Gave appreciation for the great work hes done as a community member but also as a great and generous business owner, who treated his customers and teammembers amazingly.

Lisa: Thanked Tony as well as she was a member of the club and made a lot of valuable friendships there.

Rachel: We will be doing their annual diaper drive this year for A Family Place. This year the donations are even more important resulting from economic struggles. You can even order and have them shipped right to Crones Appliance.

Auggie: Auggie continued his presentation of each of the 9 Rotary Quilt Squares, which he used as his virtual background.

Total Collected today for the Duck: $90

 

~ Today’s Program: Sean Andres: Updates From the Chehalem Cultural Center ~

Currently, due to Covid, the Chehalem Cultural Center is closed, but does have exhibits and you CAN make an appointment to come visit and see the exhibits by calling the front desk and making arrangements. There are currently 3 exhibits and this is a great way to safely get out of the house and experience art locally.

There have been many successful projects over the last decade transforming what used to be known as Central School, a building built in 1935, into the now Chehalem Cultural Center. The Parks and Rec District was effectively donated the property by the School District after they closed down Central School. The first completed phase of the building included art galleries, classrooms, glass and ceramics studios, ad meeting and office space. Phase Two included the ballroom, black box theater, and culinary center. Currently, the Center looks forward to Phase Three: renovating the upstairs to include a theatre, movement studio, and 250-seat Lajoie theatre.

The Lajoie Theatre is named after Merlin and Sandy Lajoie, local philanthropists whose family owned Newberg Garbage back in the day, and they made a generous donation towards the project due to their love of art and theater. The goal is to complete and officially open the theatre in Spring of 2023. This is the last large public space left to renovate in the CCC. The idea is for it to be a real community space where different production companies can utilize it to bring performance art to the community. They are not looking to be a theatre company, but provide space for established theatre companies to use. Additionally, this phase will include a lobby remodel, green rooms, and backstage areas. The total project is estimated to cost approximately $5 million, half of which they have already secured, while they are also hoping to significant government funding, which has seen widespread support from local and state politicians, as well as various private donations and grants. Any and all donations are appreciated towards this project. You can talk to Sean about what opportunities there are even seat sponsorships which includes getting custom engravings with your name or someone you want to honor onto the backs of the seats in perpetuity for a donation of $2,500. Sean also said that he is soliciting ideas for what their first shows should be in 2023.

Sean also shared some insight on the significant positive economic impacts that this project will bring to the CCC as well as to the community. The project will create 17 full time jobs and will bring in a lot of tourism to the town which boosts businesses locally, including working hand in hand with the already thriving (sans COVID affects of course) hospitality and wine industries.

 

~ Next Week’s Program: Larry Strober’s Classification Talk ~

Check your e-mails for Mike Caruso’s Zoom meeting access information.

~ Joke of the Day ~

Dan Keuler Original:

Q: What did the Accountant do when he joined the Circus?

A: A Balancing Act!

~ Happy Quotes! ~

“Go out into the World and share Joy, not Germs.”

– Shared by Shannon Buckmaster at the end of the meeting

 

~ Published 12/14/2020: Dan Keuler, Newsletter Editor ~

Newberg Noon Rotary Club Newsletter for December 2, 2020

~ Newberg Noon Rotary Club Newsletter ~

Rotary Club of Newberg, Zoom Meeting

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

~ Zoom Meeting Participants ~

Shannon B, Mike, Dan, Geoff, Todd, Lynn, Ralph, Gene, Brandy, Michelle, Amber, Shannon K, Dale, Auggie, Laura, Joe, Denise, Paul, Christy, Lisa, Walter, Julie, Jim, Doug, Paula, Tony, Jim.

 

~ Call to Order ~

President Shannon Buckmaster welcomed Rotarians and Friends of Rotary to the Zoom meeting at 12:00 p.m. Wednesday, December 2, 2020. The Rotarians split out into breakout groups to start the meeting.

 

~ Flag Salute ~

Todd lead participants in the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

~ 4 Way Test ~

Dan lead participants in the recital of the 4 Way Test:

Rotary’s Four Way Test of the things we think, say and do:

#1 – Is it the TRUTH?

#2 – Is it FAIR to all concerned?

#3 – Will it BUILD GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?

#4 – Is it BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

 

~ Announcements ~

Thank you notes from recipients of our recent grant

Paul shared that a few months ago, the District contacted us that we had some grant money available. We put in an application for a grant whereby we partnered with Love Inc to use the money on a food program that helps people in need of food. The money went towards gift cards at Grocery Outlet that would be awarded to people who completed Love Inc’s “Life Healing Choices” or their “Money Management” class as an incentive and congratulations for completion of the course. They received a $25 gift card halfway through the course and another $25 gift card after completing the program. The club received thank you notes from several recipients. Shout out to Sean Elliot, the owner of Grocery Outlet and Love Inc for this partnership and all of the other community service he does for the community!

Early Birds Christmas Auction

Shelley Kolb shared that the Early Birds Rotary Club of Newberg is having their Virtual Christmas Auction today through December 10. The auction is now live. She shared a few items, such as a fishing trip, a mexican cuisine dinner party, a hot air balloon ride, a champagne brunch for 8, a 2 night staycation in Dundee, dinner on the greens for 8, a paddle boarding adventure, a night at the Allison, a wine tasting at a new winery for 6, an airplane ride, and a whole lot of gift certificates for business in Sherwood. Go to their website for more details. There is also a paddle raise. There is one more week to participate, bid, and donate.

 

~ Guests ~

Shelley Kolb, Visiting Rotarian from the Newberg Early Birds Club

 

~ The Rotary Duck ~

Auggie: Pointed out that the Beavers beat the Ducks this last weekend, and that means that all Beaver fans need to ante up and pay happy dollars toward the duck. Also celebrated the Huskies winning by 24 against Utah!

Laura: Thanked Mike Caruso and Aaron Thomson (from the Albina Club). They are collecting from 26 different Rotary Clubs and they have almost completed this huge effort. She also thanked Paul and Paula for work on fundraising for the 911 EMS system international Grant project in Napal. They have $11,000 to date and need to get to $35,000.

Mike: Gave Kudos to Laura for her work on global grants. He also mentioned that last night he received an application for a Peace Builder Club from the Rotary Club of Wilsonville. There are now 37 peace builder clubs in the District.

Ralph: Thanked Love Inc and YCAP for assisting a homeless individual he has been helping to find housing. Ralph also has a brag whereby he has has not consumed any energy from the grid thanks to his net zero solar panel system!

Paula: Paula got a text from her niece with a video of her nieces son walking for the first time, which also happened to coincide with what would have been her late mother’s 102nd birthday.

Shannon: Happy Birthday to Brandy!

Auggie: Auggie continued his presentation of each of the 9 Rotary Quilt Squares, which he used as his virtual background.

Total Collected today for the Duck: $114

 

~ Today’s Program: Amber Hansen-Moore: Classification Talk ~

Amber is originally from the very rural state of Nebraska, and a fan of the Nebraska CornHuskers Football team, as is most people in the state. She pointed out that the official tourism logo reads “Nebraska: honestly it’s not for everyone”, as it receives the least tourism of all of the 50 United States. She was born and raised in Norfolk, Nebraska, a town very similar to Newberg, which is in part why she has felt very at home here in Newberg. She left Norfolk after high school to attend Wayne State College to study political science and public administration as she has always been interested in public administration, community service and social issues. Additionally, she spent time working in politics working in senate campaigns, but realized quickly that this work was not for her, and that public policy and community service was where her heart was.

After College, she found her interest in improving peoples lives led her towards working in Non-Profits. She found her calling working for the Community Action Partnership of Nebraska and moved to Lincoln to work for them beginning in 2010. She held many roles there starting at the bottom and quickly working her way up until she was the Executive Director of the organization. There are over 1,000 Community Action Agencies throughout the US who are all independent non-profits, but work together and with similar principles. Her Partnership included 9 of the Nebraskan agencies. She worked there for 6 and a half years and became a member of the Lincoln Rotary Club #14, which is actually the 14th club ever established throughout the world. It had over 100 members and she appreciated that Club but mentioned that she feels more comfortable here in our Newberg Noon Club.

In 2017 she met her now husband, Tommy (seen in the leftmost photo along with her nephews), and together they made the move away from Nebraska to Oregon where she became the executive director for Dental 3, a nonprofit that serves the Portland Metro Area providing preventive dental care for children in low income elementary and middle schools. She realized that her passion was in helping people struggling with poverty, and in July became the Youth Outreach Director for YCAP, here in Yamhill County.

YCAP Youth Outreach:

YCAP youth outreach has a Safe Shelter, the only runaway youth program in the county, which provides short-term and long-term shelter. Services include providing safe and stable housing, case management, life skills development, and family support services and mediation. They also have a Drop-in Center, which started 18-20 years ago, that provides services to youths 11-21, designed to offer support and preventative services that promote good decision making, personal responsibility, and healthy lifestyles. The services of the Drop in center includes academic support, jobs development, prevention and peer support activities, social support and recreational activities, and mental health services. This place is an amazing place for kids to be able to come and have fun, find a quiet place to study and learn, or even just to get out of the house and into a fun and safe place in the community.

Amber and her husband Tommy have an 18 lb Cat named Captain and a dog, Milo. Her dad (pictured bottom right) is a huge Packers fan (Editors note: GO PACKERS!) and she is a big Seahawks. She hopes one day to be able to go to her first NFL game with her dad when the Packers play the Seahawks. She has been very happy to get back into Rotary and looks forward to getting to know the community, building connections and friendships, and serving the community.

Additional notes about YCAP Youth Outreach:

  • The primary goal of the shelter programs is to reunite kids with their families or find them safe living arrangements, utilizing different tools and services as well as working with other agencies and foster homes.
  • They do a lot of valuable work with regards to family mediation to resolve issues within families.
  • Rotary clubs helped fund the development and opening Drop in Center back when it began 18 to 20 years ago.
  • They are funded by a variety of generous partners including 2 Federal Grants, a generous grant from the Austin Family Foundation, donations from many private parties, and other small grants they apply for.
  • They are certified by DHS and are hoping to better partner with DHS in different ways to improve their services.
  • She is also improving her partnership with CASA and other groups doing similar work. Fun Fact: Laura’s husband and Shannon Buckmaster volunteer for CASA.

 

~ Next Week’s Program: Updates from the CCC by Sean Andres ~

Check your e-mails for Mike Caruso’s Zoom meeting access information.

~ Joke of the Day ~

Did you hear about the man who invented the Knock Knock Joke?

He won the No-bell prize.

~ Happy Quotes! ~

“I would much prefer to achieve goodness than greatness.”

– Dan Keuler

 

~ Published 12/5/2020: Dan Keuler, Newsletter Editor ~

Newberg Noon Rotary Club Newsletter for November 25, 2020

~ Newberg Noon Rotary Club Newsletter ~

Rotary Club of Newberg, Zoom Meeting

Wednesday, November 25, 2020

 

~ Zoom Meeting Participants ~

Shannon B, Mike, Dan, Gene, Debby, Brandy, Larry, Kathie, Denise, Joe, Amber, Paula, Kim, Auggie, Lynn, Geoff, Todd, Dale, Lisa, Ralph, Michelle, Matt, Walter, Julie, Judy, Doug, Jim, Shannon K.

 

~ Call to Order ~

President Shannon Buckmaster welcomed Rotarians and Friends of Rotary to the Zoom meeting at 12:10 p.m. Wednesday, November 25, 2020. The Rotarians did a 10 minute large group chat instead of breakout sessions today.

 

~ Flag Salute ~

Gene lead participants in the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

~ 4 Way Test ~

Todd lead participants in the recital of the 4 Way Test:

Rotary’s Four Way Test of the things we think, say and do:

#1 – Is it the TRUTH?

#2 – Is it FAIR to all concerned?

#3 – Will it BUILD GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?

#4 – Is it BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

 

~ Announcements ~

Shannon shared that the Early Birds Rotary Club of Newberg is having their Virtual Christmas Auction from December 1 to December 10. There will be a live portion which includes a paddle raise. Sherrie from the Early Birds will be here next week with more information.

 

~ Guests ~

No Guests today

 

~ The Rotary Duck ~

Paula: Paula recently had a chance to catch up with her nephew from Kazakhstan, which was very nice and looks forward to visiting him again.

Mike: There are a lot of things going on at the district level: President elect training, a district assembly in April, and more. He noticed our club is an anomaly. After 15 years of fluctuating membership, we are currently up to 75 members, including our honorary members. As a means of district comparison, over the last 9 years, McMinnville went from 100 members to 41, Clackamas went from 89 to low 60s. The downward trend over the decade is nearly district-wide with the exception of Newberg. We should be proud that our membership has done so well, and even includes many younger members than in the past. Portland Kawanis even folded after 100 years.

Shannon B: The great sustaining efforts of the Newberg club is a tribute to us all and our efforts. Lets continue to show resilience and lead by example.

Kathie: Donated in memory of a dear friend who passed away unexpectedly. He was her pastor and board member to LINCS, a Sheridan non-profit helping youth in the community. He lived a life of love and acceptance, inspiring her in many ways.

Dan: Wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. His family will for-go the typical family tradition and instead ordering a meal in an effort to support a local business during the shutdown. Many restaurants are open and selling Thanksgiving meals each year. Shannon B said she will be doing the same, at Rosmarino Osteria Italiana.

Dale: Expressed that we all have so much to be thankful for. He is thankful that he works with great people worldwide at Relief International and dedicated his donation in honor of the first COVID-19 death at his global organization, a Doctor in Syria. Additionally, he honored an employee who used to work for him who had his funeral yesterday, Sergei, a military man and was killed in action.

Julie & Walter: They are thankful to be in Rotary, as a Rotarian recently stepped up to help them out with something they were unable to do themselves due to old age. Thanks for being there for one another!

Todd: Thanked the Friendsview employees and residents for their high levels of efforts in fighting COVID. They had a difficult month whereby they had to do several rounds of COVID testing resulting from different occasions of contact tracing and possible positive tests. Their great efforts have really served to protect everyone living and working at Friendsview. They have only had 1 resident test positive, and that was back in March. Shannon B thanked them for their diligence as they have always had impeccable integrity and always treated their staff well.

Joe: Gave a shoutout to all parents, grandparents, legal guardians, and other community members who have been supporting their students over the last few months. Also reminded us that Friday the 27th is Native American Heritage Day in the US. Specifically honoring the Yamhill Native America Tribe, for which Yamhill County was named, who are an important part of our history.

Shannon B: Fined herself for the noisy birds we all heard singing in the background of her house. They were an early Christmas gift for her son and they get really excited, especially when she is in virtual meetings.

Kim: Thanked everyone who has supported her in terms of our successful membership efforts. Also, gave a shoutout to her mom who works in a care center in Utah, and has also been working very hard with regards to fending off COVID. All of the care centers deserve credit for their life saving efforts.

Ralph: Gave kudos to YCAP. He has been giving assistance to a homeless individual by allowing her to live on his property, but told her she needs to find a safe option for winter. She was recently successful in getting temporary housing at a Motel through YCAP at least through the holiday season.

Matt: Has been absent from several meetings, but is thankful for Beavers recent success, his kids doing well in their first quarter of school, and proud of his wife for working, taking classes, and serving the community.

Auggie: Auggie announced his presentation of each of the Rotary Quilt Squares over the next 9 weeks, which he used as his virtual background:

 

Total Collected today for the Duck: $275

 

~ Today’s Program: Debby Thomas: Classification Talk ~

Debby is the Dean of the College of business at George Fox University, a Leadership Coach at Professional Development Academy, and a Newberg Resident and Professional. She has joined Rotary in the spirit of her lifelong goal of helping people. Additonally, as the dean of the College of Business at George Fox, she hopes to work towards further integrating her department into the community. She is excited to learn about different opportunities for herself, her students, and GFU to serve the community.

Debby lives in Newberg with her Family. She has 4 kids, one born in Tualatin, and another in Belgium, while they lived there preparing for a move to Rwanda. Her youngest two kids were born in Rwanda, where they lived for 20 years working as a missionary. She met her husband at George Fox, and noted that her kids are 5th generation students at GFU! She was really hoping to work for George Fox after moving back to the states and she was fortunate enough for that to work out for her.

Rwanda is a the “Country of 1000 Hills” named for its terrain, and is located right in the heart of Africa. It is very small but very densely populated. After she and her husband graduated from GFU, they made plans to serve in India to work with the organization Evangelical Friends Mission, but they ended up being sent by the organization and by God to Rwanda, which happened to be during an extremely politically dangerous period. Her family was even robbed at their home, at gunpoint on her second week living there! They were so committed to helping/serving that they stayed, persisted, and learned the language, which is considered one of the most difficult languages to learn. She found that the people of Rwanda had a great enthusiasm at church but went home to terrible standards of living, where they had high fatality rates to illnesses and poor educational attendance. Debby decided to spend her time serving in Rwanda to work to really provide a whole-life transformation for the people of her new community. She partnered with Discipleing for Development, a group that helped with those efforts of working with the people towards improving the communities. They succeeded in helping many people help themselves in terms of getting out of poverty, which rippled out positivity and improvements in other aspects of life. Their success included really doing research, working with the people to make sure they recognize what needs they have and are ready to buy into. They even worked with the United Nations and learned from past mistakes made from other organizations or past efforts. She really strived to empower the people to change their own minds and believe in themselves and what they are working towards, to ensure that they become self-sustaining rather than reliant on the missionaries.

She also started and ran a school, teaching other kids of missionaries. Her kids very much enjoyed growing up in Africa, and attended a Christian school in Kenya. Their campus even was home to interesting wildlife including Baboons and monkeys.

She has also started and run a few commercial businesses making and selling foods such food made from the extremely nutritious extracts from the Morniga Tree. She will forever be a huge fan of ethinic foods. She now lives in Newberg and works at GFU.

 

 

 

~ Next Week’s Program: Classification Talk by Amber Hansen-Moore ~

Check your e-mails for Mike Caruso’s Zoom meeting access information.

~ Joke of the Day ~

I’ve decided to quit my side job as a personal trainer because I’m not big enough or strong enough. I just gave my too weak notice.

~ Happy Quotes! ~

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”

– John F. Kennedy

 

~ Published 11/26/2020: Dan Keuler, Newsletter Editor ~