After reaching record-setting numbers for the fourth consecutive year, Dancing with the Local Stars is set for its 2023 show at ilani Casino Resort in Ridgefield, Saturday, March 4, 2023.
 
Dancing with the Local Stars is presented by Parlour 73 of Battle Ground.
 
“Dancing with the Local Stars is, quite possibly, the most exciting fundraiser of the year, as evidenced by its long history of sellout crowds,” said Club President Andi Costello. “Three Creekers believe in service above self and the funds to help the hungry, homeless, at-risk youth in our community. We believe that a fun and festive evening with local talent and a bit of competition brings out the best of our community to raise funds to make a difference all over Clark County.”
 
Since 2018, the Rotary Club of Three Creeks has hosted Dancing with the Local Stars, taking it over from the Historic Trust. The club formed a non-profit foundation in 2021 to take over the event so that donations could be tax deductible. In five seasons of Dancing with the Local Stars, and one season of “Dining with the Local Stars” – a video production that was the club’s pivot during the pandemic in March 2021 – the club has raised more than $100,000 and has distributed significant aid to food pantries across the community, and to non-profit organizations that assist children, veterans and homeless primarily in north Clark County, but all across the county where there is need.
 
This year, the cast of Dancing with the Local Stars includes Jesse Braman (Pivotal Painting & Rotary Club of Three Creeks), Natalie Grushevskiy-Rybak (Aerista Aviation), Marykay Lamoureaux (Ridgefield Main Street Association), Shana O’Brien (Cascadia NW Real Estate), Brad Richardson (Clark County Historical Museum), Angie White-Swanson (teacher, Evergreen Public Schools), Mitchell Wilder(Frito Lay), Dr. Weiya Wysham (Compass Oncology), and Paul Van Der Salm (Heritage Bank).
 
The nine local stars will compete for the grand championship with the funds that they will work to raise between now and the event on March 4. Funds raised during the event may also be allocated to the donor's favorite local stars to help that star win the Mirror Ball Trophy.
 
A panel of four judges will determine the best dancer, in fashion like the TV show that inspires the fundraiser. The judges are Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle, the club’s Immediate Past President Nelson Holmberg, and a professional dance instructor with ballroom judging experience. The final judge will be a member of the audience who wins a raffle on the night of the event to take that seat on the stage. For the third year, KGW Reporter Tim Gordon will serve as emcee of the event.
 
More information about the event – and opportunities to donate to the local stars – is available online at www.dancingwiththelocalstars.com.

Marisol Aguirre has applied for membership in the Rotary Club of Three Creeks and President Andi has already conducted first reading of the proposed membership.

Second reading is expected to be done at our December 1 meeting at The Wheelhouse.

She is branch manager at Riverview Bank.

Aquirre has been in banking since 1995, mostly in the Portland/Beaverton area. She's been a member of the Vancouver/Clark County community for about five years and is excited to be considered for membership in the Rotary Club of Three Creeks.

Please offer any comments you might have about the proposed member to any board member, in writing, prior to the club meeting on Thursday, Dec. 1.

All of us in the Rotary Club of Three Creeks knew it would happen sooner or later.

Our own Susanne Holmberg, co-founder of the Rotary Club of Three Creeks, has been named District 5100 district governor for the 2025-26 Rotary year.
 
“Being selected as district governor to serve during the 2025-26 Rotary year is an honor and I am excited to follow incredible community leaders who all have the same passion and love for Rotary,” Susanne said. “This is an opportunity to make a difference locally and regionally, to share my vision and to make Rotary more accessible and attractive.
 
“Our Rotary clubs have an extraordinary impact in our communities, and I am proud to bring experience and vision from our Three Creeks club to inspire others,” she added. “Rotary welcomes creativity, diversity and collaboration; it is a way to change lives. We are changemakers.”
 
Susanne’s appointment was announced on Saturday, Oct. 15 by current District Governor Steve Williams, and she has already begun work with current leaders. Effective immediately, she is the district governor nominee designee, and she will begin working with her three predecessors in an intense succession program that gets her involved in district leadership right away. She’ll also shortly begin formal training from the district and from Rotary International, leading up to her year as governor.
 
“After reviewing applications, checking with references, and completing an interview with each of the candidates, the nominating committee discussed the strengths of each of the candidates,” Williams said. “After deliberating for some time, the committee has made the unanimous decision to nominate Susanne Holmberg of the Rotary Club of Three Creeks Vancouver to be District 5100’s District Governor for the Rotary Year 2025-26.”
 
Susanne has been active in District 5100 since 2006 and was instrumental in the formation of Vancouver's Rotary Club of Three Creeks in 2016. She has served as an assistant governor for the Clark County region and currently serves on the district's Learning and Development committee. She has also served on the district’s Grow Rotary committee.
 
“The members of the Rotary Club of Three Creeks are so proud and excited to support Susanne in her role as district governor,” said Rotary Club of Three Creeks President Andi Costello. “Her commitment to Rotary and to ‘Service above Self’ is evident in everything she does. We look forward to her continued innovative approaches and leadership to carry Rotary forward and be more approachable.”
 
The role of district governor in Rotary is similar that of a non-profit executive director, but as a volunteer. Susanne will be the chief executive of District 5100 which includes 66 Rotary clubs and seven Rotaract clubs stretching from Seaside and Long Beach in the west along the Columbia River to Wallowa County, Oregon in the east and from Battle Ground in the north to Stayton in the south.
 
While the Three Creeks club is Susanne’s “baby”, she had previously been a member of the Rotary Club of Vancouver, where she served as club president in 2013-14. She also served two terms as the founding president of the Three Creeks club.
 
She is also a Rotary Foundation major donor, bequest society member, Paul Harris Fellow and a member of the Polio Plus Society. When she officially takes leadership of the district on July 1, 2025, she will be the ninth District 5100 governor from a club in Clark County. She is also a board member for the North County Community Food Bank and serves on the Clark County Public Facilities Board, representing the lodging industry. Professionally, she serves as director of creative strategies and talent development for Vesta Hospitality, a national lodging company based in Vancouver.
 
She will be the first district governor from Three Creeks, and the first from a Clark County club since Barb Crozier of the Rotary Club of Camas-Washougal served her second term in the position during the 2015-16 Rotary year.
 
Past Clark County district governors include Ron Keil (Rotary Club of Vancouver, 1970-71), Sam Jones (Rotary Club of Vancouver, 1982-83), Ron Hart (Rotary Club of East Vancouver, 1987-88), Buck Heidrick (Lewis River Rotary Club, 1999-2000); Dave Jay (Lewis River Rotary Club, 2007-08), Dr. Dennis Wickham (Rotary Club of Greater Clark County, 2008-09), Barb Crozier (Rotary Club of Camas-Washougal, 2010-11 and 2015-16).

At its October 13 meeting, the Rotary Club of Three Creeks board of directors voted to appointed Kinsey Dhoot and Charla Burke to leadership positions.

Dhoot, who had previously served as the club administration director and president elect nominee, was appointed to fill the open position of president elect, following a resignation from that position.

Burke, a newcomer to the club's leadership group, was appointed to fill the opening in the club administration position following Dhoot's promotion.

In January 2023, Dhoot will begin her training to become the club's next president, a position she will rise to on July 1, 2023 and serve through June 30, 2024. Burke will serve in the club administration position through June 30, 2023.

Dhoot, who has a long history with Rotary - having served as staff advisor to an Interact Club in the Evergreen Public Schools and traveling to third-world nations for Rotary National Immunization Days in the fight to eradicate polio, will become the club's eighth president. She has been a member of the Rotary Club of Three Creeks since November 2020.

Burke is a relative newcomer to Rotary, who has become involved in the club and is passionate about its extensive service to the community. She joined the club in January 2022. This is her first service to the club's board of directors.

The Rotary Club of Three Creeks was recognized by ShelterBox International on May 5 as a Bronze Hero Award winner for the 2021-22 Rotary year.

Three Creeks included ShelterBox in its strategic giving in each of the past two years.

"This is a direct result of the grants that our club has made to ShelterBox in the last year, supporting families experiencing displacement from their homes due to natural disasters, political unrest or war," said Club President Nelson Holmberg. "So thank you to all in the club who participate in our fundraising in all of the ways that we all do."