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Newberg Peace Community
Rotary Club of Newberg Oregon, District 5100
The Rotary Peacebuilder Club Program was initiated by Mike Caruso, PDG of District 5100, and shortly thereafter, together with Larry Strober, the Rotary Club of Newberg Peace Committee was formed. From these beginnings, our Newberg Community for Peace has expanded to include not only the Rotary Club of Newberg, but also the Newberg Rotary Earlybirds, and Newberg Kiwanis. In recent years, George Fox University has contributed support to our PeaceFest with their time, volunteer efforts, and vision for Hoops for Peace (2027). The initial “coming together” for a festival for peace is what triggered a broader discussion of peace within the Newberg community resulting in the Oregon PeaceFest. Initially the festival was titled the Inaugural Denise Bacon 5K Run/Walk for Peace & Peace Fair, held on September 16th, 2023, and brought together nearly 70 Runners/Walkers to commemorate the life of one of our dedicated Rotarians, Denise Bacon. Mike Caruso expanded Rotary’s reach for peace to the local community college with a program on Ending War 101. The 2025 Oregon PeaceFest expanded on the inaugural event and brought together residents of the greater Newberg community as a celebration of the peaceful accomplishments of the community at large, a carnival for children and a re-dedication to embracing the continuation of life in a nonviolent manner. The event, held on Sept. 21 at the Chehalem Cultural Center and adjacent Rotary Centennial Park, introduced the Fellowship for Global Nonviolence during the 2025 Oregon PeaceFest staged locally by Newberg’s three Rotary clubs, as well as local Kiwanis and Soroptimist organizations. The Fellowship is one of the vehicles used to expand nonviolence to a broader audience which includes a board representing Rotary and Rotary Peace Fellows from the US, from the Philippines, the UK, and includes voices against genocide. The 2026 community for peace will further expand the Oregon PeaceFest, the Peace Pole Project, and highlight the importance and resilience of Peace Zones and the Oregon Peace Trail.
Mike Caruso, Founder of the Rotary Peacebuilder Clubs. Mike Caruso. https://peacepodcast.org/pdg-mike-caruso-founder-of-rotary-peacebuilder-clubs-and-world-peace-through-rotary/. Mike is the founder of Rotary Peacebuilder Clubs, founded in 2011, in District 5100, which are now in over 450 Rotary Clubs and growing, Mike joined the Newberg noon Rotary club in 2001 having his daughter Amelia as his sponsor. He retired as senior vice-president of Caruso Produce Inc. in Jan. of 2005, to begin his world peace service through Rotary.
Vision: To achieve Peace and Nonviolence through engagement and collaboration. Mission: To establish effective community programs on peace and nonviolence with measurable results.
Goals: Building peace within our youth through hands-on projects such as participation in events such as the Oregon PeaceFest, maintaining the Newberg Peace Garden, and sustaining existing community projects such as Interact’s annual event, Helping Paws Helping People. And continuing to support goals within our community and our District with: Peace Poles - the continued planting of peace poles at local education institutions and commercial entities, and expansion globally by working with Rotary clubs in other countries to plant peace poles; Education - get the word out on online peace education programs such as Ending War 101 and other online programs available through networks such as World Beyond War. Emerging Programs and Projects: For the future, Larry Strober of the Rotary Club of Newberg Peace Committee is a co-founder of the Oregon Peace Trail. The trail from Astoria to Brookings (https://oregonpeacetrail.org/) a 382 mile trail planned as a Camino-like experience (https://caminoways.com/camino-de-santiago). In addition, Larry Strober of the Rotary Club of Newberg Peace Committee is an advisor to the Peace by 2030 Moonshot (https://peace2030.earth/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/PEACE-ON-EARTH-BY-2030--THE-STORY-1.pdf). Kathi Futornick is a member of the Fellowship 4Global Nonviolence, publishes their website (https://4globalnonviolence.org/) to provide worldwide news on peace efforts and success stories, ways to build community, and the changing nature of wars i.e. nexus with climate change, integration of AI into weapons.
Larry Strober. https://peacepodcast.org/larry-strober-rotarypeacepoles-world-believes-that-through-our-actions-peace-is-possible/. Rotarian Larry Strober has always loved the challenge of making an impact sometimes under very challenging circumstances. In the newly created RotaryPeacePoles.world website he says: “We know you love peace and we encourage you to plant a peace pole in your community’ as a reminder that peace is possible. Larry receives 10-20 world emails daily and he takes this challenge to answer every email request immediately. He is the current director of the Rotary Peace Pole Project working with Rotary clubs around the world to install Peace Poles dedicated to promoting world peace with the words, “May Peace Prevail On Earth” in 4-6 world languages. During the 2023 Rotary Convention in Melbourne Larry had a conversation Rotary President- elect 2023-24 Stephanie A. Urchick where he shared his dream for Peace Poles in every country. She now mentions the Peace Pole message in her talks and articles. Thank you Stephanie. Peace Podcast
Kathi Futornick
Newberg Rotary Earlybirds/Newberg Kiwanis
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