Women of the Northwest
Ordinary Women Leading Extraordinary Lives
Interviews with interesting women.
Motivating. Inspiring. Compelling.
Women of the Northwest
Melissa Grothe- President Astoria Regatta, NORC, Teacher, National Parks
Melissa Grothe is
- president of the Astoria Regatta
- has a strong interest of traveling to all the National Parks.
- President of North Oregon Regional Council,
- President of the teachers union
- She's on the Oregon Education Committee
- and went to a conference for Women in Minority.
- And right now teaches fourth grade at Lewis and Clark school in Astoria, Oregon
Links: Every Kid Outdoors, Astoria Regatta
https://youtu.be/E_KiitI2QME
Subscribe to the Women of the Northwest podcast for inspiring stories and adventures.
Find me on my website: jan-johnson.com
Jan Johnson 03:33
I'm your host Jan Johnson with Women of the Northwest where I get to interview ordinary women leading extraordinary lives. And today I get to interview Melissa Grothe. Hello, Melissa.
Melissa Grothe 03:43
Hi, Jan, Thanks for having me.
Jan Johnson 03:45
We were talking about all these amazing things that you've done. And gotten you to where you are as a fairly young person.
Melissa Grothe 03:56
Yeah I like to think I'm still young.
Jan Johnson 04:01
So, you're the President of the Astoria regatta, got a strong interest of traveling to all the National Parks. Yeah. President of North Oregon Regional Council, president of the teachers union. You're on the Oregon Education Committee and went to a conference for Women in Minority. You are in the PEO group. And right now teach fourth grade at Lewis and Clark. Whoa. Well, let me the where do we start? Where do we start? How about let's start with National Parks. Tell me what your motivation is or just makes your heart sing about that.
Melissa Grothe 04:44
Oh my gosh, um, honestly, everything .I call I would describe myself as a park junkie. My goal is to visit all of the major national parks, of which there are I think, currently 63- it's hard to keep track, they keep adding them on. So it makes my it is good, but it makes my checklist harder to accomplish. For everyone I check off another one seems to get added. But I also like visiting the smaller sites as well like National Historic Sites or monuments and things like that. I just am really passionate about history, about nature and getting to see like just the absolutely incredible, the incredible things that we have here in the United States that are often sometimes overlooked. And people often, I think, focus on what the like big expensive adventure can be. And I'm kind of a fan of the opposite. Yeah, where I, you know, we show up in the car and pitch a tent and sleep under the stars out in the middle of nature. And so I just love being able to go and explore and take hikes and just learn about the environment, the animals, the plant life, all of it is just incredibly, incredibly interesting to me. And I don't know, I'm just obsessed.
Jan Johnson 06:04
What are some of the places you've been?
Melissa Grothe 06:05
Oh my gosh, we just spent some time in Acadia National Park this last summer during a two week trip to Maine. We spent like five days total in Acadia, and that was fantastic I'd been before. But this trip was just longer and more in depth and was just - It reminded me a lot of Astoria. In a way it's just like the lobster version of Astoria and the Oregon Coast like the big craggy cliffs, and beaches and lighthouses and so it was kind of like almost a home away from home but snow in the wintertime. So that was the one thing I was like I could live here minus the snow.
Jan Johnson 06:53
Have you done any blogging about your trip?
Melissa Grothe 06:56
I have a little bit, I actually blogged oh my gosh, this year, or this last summer, I did a blog website that was like adventures with Ms. Grothe. That my because my students knew I was going on this road trip and that I would be spending time in parks along the way. And they were so like, they're like, We want to see photos. And so I created a website for them so that they and their families could follow along and friends and families, you know, my friends and family followed along too which was fun, it was a good way to to, you know, keep in touch that way for them to be able to share in our adventures. And we did Acadia and like Grand Teton. We spent time in was did a day trip up in northern Minnesota to voyageurs National Park. kind of all over the place. But it was lots of fun. So yeah,
Jan Johnson 07:52
and where's the next one gonna be?
Melissa Grothe 07:54
um, next national park to be determined still, actually, our summer goal this year is Ireland, which isn't a national park, necessarily. Maybe we'll have to visit some national parks in Ireland. But as far as parks here in the US up in the air at the moment.
Jan Johnson 08:12
Just put them in a big bin of names
Melissa Grothe 08:16
it's true. Yeah, I know. Like, I mean, really, like throw a dart at the map would work because I'd go anywhere, basically.
Jan Johnson 08:26
Southwest,
Melissa Grothe 08:27
we actually did that summer of 2019. And that was probably one of the coolest trips simply because the Southwest is so different than the Pacific Northwest like it is night and day. And we visited Mesa Verde National Park, which is easily in my top three. And I it's really hard for me to rank parks because it's like apples and oranges when you compare them because they're also unique and different. But Mesa Verde is definitely somewhere at the very top because it was very surreal. And in a way, almost like a spiritual experience. Like recognizing, just recognizing the indigenous people that still live in that area. And I really appreciated our tour guide when we went through the cliff dwellings that they are, our tour guide was so good about acknowledging that as well. Like there's, you know, this is a sacred place and was, you know, was and still is for the people that lived there. And now their descendants that are still around. And so it just was a very, it was so moving to be able to walk through that space and just be in awe of their architecture and what yeah, I'm thinking like, oh my word like they built these incredible homes that are still standing today. And if you asked me to build anything, and I might lie, it would never yeah, like I would never survive, never ever survive. It's just
Jan Johnson 09:58
That's my old stomping grounds.
Melissa Grothe 10:00
Yeah, it's just, yeah, it's a different kind of beauty. So I really appreciated it. Yeah. And
Jan Johnson 10:06
I like guess that stuff reaches over into your teaching
Melissa Grothe 10:12
so much.
Jan Johnson 10:15
What kind of things have you done in your classroom?
Melissa Grothe 10:17
Oh my gosh, well, from our trip this last summer we drove through Wyoming, like I said, and stopped in Grand Teton. But then we also stopped at Devil's Tower, which they are sort of swap in the process of like, kind of changing up the name. Since Devil's Tower is like, the, you know, settlers name for it, returning it back more towards the indigenous groups and their name, they often call it like Bear tower, because of the ancient myth that they have of the bear climbing the side of the rocks, leaving these gouges in the rock.
Melissa Grothe 10:51
But it was really neat this year during my earth science unit, when we were talking about volcanoes, because I was able to then pull up photos of our trip and photos of this tower that is really actually part of an ancient volcano. So it was something that we'd read about and studied in class, and the kids were so excited. They're like, Have you been there? And I was like, yeah, actually, hang on, let me find my phone and find some photos. And like, scroll, scroll, scroll here, look at it. And they're just, they thought it was so cool. And it's neat to be able to expose kids to that, because I find in Clatsop County, that sometimes kids are not that well traveled. And obviously COVID, the last couple years in education has impacted everybody's ability to travel. But still, there's a lot of kids and families that don't really leave the Pacific Northwest, and they stay pretty close to home. So being able to share what else is out there in the world with them is it's fun for me because they get so excited.
Jan Johnson 11:55
And it's because too, because you have the actual connection to having been there. Yeah, just watching some video or something
Melissa Grothe 12:01
exactly. Like I can tell them the story and say like, Hey, when I was there I saw or we did or like I talked to Yeah, like having the experience is so valuable for them to be able to connect, and they it's fun to see them light up and get excited about it. Like they guess
Jan Johnson 12:18
I'm gonna guess that that's gonna rub off on them later on that they're gonna want to be national parks kids,
Melissa Grothe 12:24
I hope so that's my goal. I fourth grade is the best, in my opinion. Really strong bias there. But it's actually the grade that has the program for every kid. It was called Every Kid in a Park. But now it's like Every Kid Outdoors, they get free national parks passes to use during their fourth grade year. And I like what I hand out during orientation, open house day to families, I'm like, No, here is your free pass for your child. It's worth $80 to everybody else. Use it. Yeah, you would be crazy not to.
Jan Johnson 12:59
So didn't you decorate your room like a national park too? Tell me about that.
Melissa Grothe 13:04
Oh, my gosh, I there's this. Probably it's I don't know, if it's a trend. I think it's a fun trend in teaching where you essentially make over your room based on like a unit that you're doing or something that you're studying in particular. And so I have been doing a national park unit for a handful of years where everything, reading math, science, social studies, is all connected to parks, which I can fortunately make work with fourth grade teaching standards. I'm very fortunate that way. And so I was like, I'm gonna try this whole, like, room flip thing, and I'm gonna go for it. And well, what's the worst that's gonna happen? You know, like, it's not, it's not going to be a bad thing. It can only be something sort of good. But I ended up like recruiting people to let me borrow their fake Christmas trees. I mean that Oh, my goodness, I think I did. I brought in my tent. I had like a cooler and camp chairs. I think I had probably like six, five or six full sized Christmas trees and then a bunch of like smaller ones set up around the room. I have a little tiny stuffed bear. My cousin's wife works for one of the forestry groups here in the area. And her group was actually able to donate trees to all the students. So they all got little saplings. And then we use those in the room as well. desks were transformed into picnic tables. You know, like, lots of butcher paper that I carefully take down and roll up now every year because I you know, yeah, being someone who cares about the environment feels bad about like just recycling it after every year. So I like save it all and label it all and keep it somewhere you know, so that it's ready to go for next year. And yeah, it's so much fun.
Jan Johnson 14:58
There are fun things for them to write about
Melissa Grothe 15:00
Yeah, they and they all got to pick parks and do research, they all wrote to their park of choice to like ask for information, and they were getting brochures in the mail. And so they were really excited to be getting mail. Because I think we're all suckers to get good mail, you know, not bills. So, that's just, it was a great, like real life hands on experience for them too. And just,
Jan Johnson 15:25
so I'm gonna guess too that, that you had as much fun putting it all together and seeing the end product.
Melissa Grothe 15:32
Yes, totally. Like, it's fun to get creative in that way. And I, I like to think of myself as creative, not necessarily artistic. So I don't know, like, there's like a difference for me. I have lots of great ideas, I can always play them out. So fortunately, I have a wonderful village that surrounds me and my classroom that are willing to help out, like my parents come in on a regular basis and help staple things to walls and help me climb ladders, or, you know, like Jake is great about helping me haul stuff out to school and unload half a dozen Christmas trees into my classroom. And
Jan Johnson 16:10
I think as weel as the kids be inspired, it's the parents and your co workers as well, too. Yeah, find inspiration from what you do.
Melissa Grothe 16:18
It's yeah, that's my goal is just to, I don't know, like, I always feel like, you know, doing my best and then like, what can I do to be better? And I work with really awesome people that push me as well that I'm like, oh, man, they're doing really cool stuff. Like, I can't settle and just sit here and twiddle my thumbs. I got to like, up my game too. So it's, it's it is it is it's like a challenge.
Jan Johnson 16:45
There's so much more to teaching than a textbook or much more. I mean, it's just, I always felt like, if there was a way to make this real, let's do it.
Jan Johnson 16:55
a lot of questions.
Melissa Grothe 16:55
Yes. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, man. And it's all I mean, I feel like this year, especially, it's been a lot of this, like, a lot of conversation and having conversations with kids, because life is so weird for them right now,
Melissa Grothe 17:14
And they are they're at that age that they are starting to notice things around them and notice the world around them. And they have questions. So we, we talked about it, you know, we just, we have good conversations, and they are always just like, ready, like leaned in listening, you know? So
Jan Johnson 17:32
isn't that a great opportunity to teach them evaluative skills? Or how to figure out what's truth and what isn't? And exactly how to Yeah, opinions and
Melissa Grothe 17:43
yeah, and things. It's a conversation all the time, like, I had a student ask Well, can I just use Wikipedia? And I said, Wikipedia can be very useful. Yeah, I, myself, use Wikipedia. Just make sure you double check other sources to make sure. Like is it, you know, accurate information? Because, technically, I could write Wikipedia if I wanted to, and make it say what I wanted, even if I wasn't right. They're like, Oh, okay. Like, they don't realize those things yet. So it's a great chance to kind of open their eyes and like, have them take the chance to, like, seek out sources, you know, and, and look at things from different perspectives, because they are, yeah, they're building that empathy and compassion, you know, that the younger kids are often self centered, because simply because developmentally, that's where their brains are, you know, I think kids go through the Me/ mine, learning to share stage because it is literally a step in child development. And by the time they get to me in fourth grade, they're at that age that they get to start looking past themselves a little bit and start realizing like, oh, what I do actually has an impact on others. Right. And so that's been a lot of conversation lately, as well, just recognizing that. Yeah, you could do that. But how is someone else is gonna feel about it. You know,
Jan Johnson 19:06
I think to you, you've got the perfect position to I mean, you're involved in a lot of different councils or basically, in a political sense. Yeah. I mean, yeah. In organizations like that, but, but all of them involve thinking of outside of yourself. Yeah. Thinking of the community and yeah, whatever. So I think that is a natural thing for you to be teaching. Yeah. Your kids in your conversations as well. As you know, what can you see out there needs to be done and how can we go about doing that?
Melissa Grothe 19:38
Yeah, no, that's exactly it could change. That's exactly it. Yeah. Yeah. i It's kind of a joke. Our mutual friend Lori gave me a magnet at one point that says stop me before I volunteer again. And it's got this blonde lady on the magnet. Yeah, it is. It's like one of those. It's got this blonde lady and she's she got it when she was on a trip somewhere. She said, I saw this. I thought, This is Melissa. Because I'm constantly like, yeah, I can do that. Yeah, I can help with that. Yeah, that's doable.
Jan Johnson 20:18
You've got to be a little type A
Melissa Grothe 20:19
Yeah, A plus.
Jan Johnson 20:22
Yeah, I know that person. Tell me about Astoria Regatta.
Melissa Grothe 20:28
oh my gosh,
Jan Johnson 20:29
Because not everybody understands about what that is like and who we have people in Washington and Oregon. I actually have people all over the world that are listening. Yes, this is an international audience.
Melissa Grothe 20:41
Yeah. So the Astoria Regatta Festival started, oh, my gosh, in the late 1800s. It was this big celebration of the fishermen returning from salmon season and celebrating essentially, like this big influx into the community, since we are a community that was largely built and founded on the fishing industry. And so it's like, possibly not, we're not 100% sure, but one of one of the oldest festivals like west of the Rocky Mountains, and we are the oldest in Oregon, which is really cool. We just before COVID celebrated our 125th Festival, which is really awesome. Yeah. The last couple years, we've had to do some smaller things just because COVID. Very, very minimal. But we're excited this year to have the entire festival back and keep just celebrating our community. And I got involved with regatta when I was a junior in high school as a representative of Astoria High School, I was on the regatta court, okay, which is a group of young woman ambassadors that represent their school, but also just represent our county and our community, public and work in different, like community service roles. They volunteer for different activities, they work, they build their public speaking skills. They go through a mentorship program, with other with women in our community, often tied to whatever it is that they're interested in, you know, so if they express interest in going into the medical field, we'll try and connect them with a mentor who is in the medical field.
Jan Johnson 22:30
What, what qualifies a person to be able to be on the court?
Melissa Grothe 22:34
Oh, good question. We are simply looking for people who are, they're motivated. That helps, just because
Jan Johnson 22:43
Type A?
Melissa Grothe 22:45
Not always, but um, like just balancing the schedule of regatta with the rest of your life can be challenging. So they have to be someone who's pretty on top of things we're looking for someone who's wants to be involved wants to make a difference wants to be a role model. Because growing up I attended, I don't even know how many regatta parades as a kid. But I always remember seeing those people on the float and thinking oh, like, they, you know, like, I want to go up and be like them.
Jan Johnson 23:15
And with the parade wave.
Melissa Grothe 23:16
Yeah, and not even like in the sense of just like being a princess. Because I've never really been that kind of a, I was never like a princess girl growing up. But like just being involved and being like a part of something. And so we're constantly seeking applicants this year, we did juniors and seniors, since we didn't have a court last year because of COVID. But normally we recruit juniors in high school that are ready to jump in with both feet and get involved in their community.
Melissa Grothe 23:30
So and how many, how many girls?
Melissa Grothe 23:49
usually four ish. We have, I think five this year, just because we had some really great applicants that were like, Oh, my gosh, there were some applicants that I was like, I don't know why I'm interviewing you. Like you should be interviewing me because your resume is way, way better than mine. We're just so great to see that. Like, it's fun to be now on this side of the table, so to speak, in the interviews, because now I get to see the this, you know, this next generation of young women coming up that are going to be leaders.
Jan Johnson 24:25
It's hopeful.
Jan Johnson 24:26
Yeah, it is. It's so encouraging and so hopeful. And I just am like, oh my gosh, they're doing great things now they're so interesting and cool now, with what they're doing. Yeah, exactly. Get better. It's only going to be uphill for them. Yeah. You know, like, there's just all like it's only going up because they're involved in so many great things already. And so passionate about stuff already that I'm like, Oh my gosh,
Jan Johnson 24:48
you're gonna have to send some to me. Sounds like they'd be great interviews!
Melissa Grothe 24:55
Yeah, so I've been involved on the board side of the festival since 2016, my former court chaperone actually was on the board. And she recruited me to be involved and get involved as the secretary way back in the day there. And so I served in that role for a handful of years before I was asked to be our vice president. And then last year, I was technically the president, but we didn't have like a real festival. So this is my I am the official president of bringing back the regatta after COVID. So I'm,
Jan Johnson 25:30
I can do this. Yeah. What are the things that make you think you can do that? I mean,
Melissa Grothe 25:40
that implies that I think that I can do this. No, I don't know.
Jan Johnson 25:51
What does it take to be able to be a woman who can step out and say, hey, I can do that?
Melissa Grothe 25:57
I great question. Definitely the backing of my fellow board members that, like our our past president that I served as vice president under had asked me, if I, you know, had said, I'd like you to take on the next president's role. And I just flat out said, like, because I was vice president, or because you actually think that I can do this, because there's a difference, you know, there's such a difference. And he was like, no, like, you've got this. And I was like, oh, yeah, I don't know what you see. But no, I think it just takes organization needing to like, you know, I am fortunate, we have an incredible checklist, it is literally a year of items that I work through, like, I've been working through the February list of things that I have to accomplish. And I have a great team around me we have active involved board members that want to, you know, see this come through, we have great contractors that we're working with, to tackle things that we don't have the bandwidth or the skill necessarily to do the best work at as far as like marketing and website and things like that. I know, that's not my, my strength. So we work with people that are just on it, and can take care of things like that for us. And being able to say like, Okay, I know, I'm responsible for this item, but I need someone to cover a, b and c. And just putting it out there and not taking kind of not taking no for an answer when people sit there and don't volunteer. And I'm like, No, but seriously, who's going to do it? Because I can't do it. All right. So
Jan Johnson 27:33
it has to be a team to do accomplish it
Melissa Grothe 27:35
It's an entire, it's like a four day festival. But it requires, like legitimate legwork, and lots of conversations.
Jan Johnson 27:45
What are some of the challenges?
Melissa Grothe 27:46
Oh, my gosh, raising funds. That is it's not cheap to throw a festival for the community. It doesn't come free. And so it takes some serious leg work. We have a committee that is responsible for that, that go out and talk with local businesses, local business owners, community members that have, you know, capital to be able to help with that. We publish like scholarship letters, reaching out to people to donate either, because we have two fun two buckets of money, so to speak, there's the festival bucket. But then there's our scholarship bucket as well for our court members. And so it's been kind of a, like a team effort, then between both groups trying to fundraise and have the funds that we need to support these young women in their future endeavors through scholarship, but then also to be able to host this giant festival. And I mean, like people don't think about it, but it's like, you have to think about things like renting porta potties for downtown like I, I've never thought about renting a porta potty in my life until I joined Regatta. And so it's like all these little things that you're like, oh, yeah, someone had to do that. It had to come from somewhere. And so I think that's one thing that people that
Jan Johnson 28:14
Like pick up garbage afterwards.
Melissa Grothe 29:09
Yes, yeah. Yeah. And that's things that people don't think about. They're, you know, they show up to the parade, they get the candy and they go home. They're like, Yay, Regatta happen? They're like, Yeah, but also, we started planning for that in December. It's taken us like seven to eight months to make that happen.
Melissa Grothe 29:11
And what about you said the girls speak, speaking with Tell me about that.
Melissa Grothe 29:32
So they are all given speech topics that usually connect somehow to the region and our history or connect to the theme of the festival for the year. And then they research, write their own speeches and then start presenting them. They get to present them, of course to our Regatta board, which is fun to see, like basically their first ever presentation because then they'll do those same speeches on coronation night on the first night of Regatta. And that is part of their score for who becomes the queen. And gets, I mean, it comes down to getting a larger scholarship, because you end up serving more time with Regatta. And so it's fun to see them going from beginning to end. But then there's the in between where they have to practice somewhere. Practicing to the bathroom mirror isn't as effective as practicing in front of groups. And so we have been struggling, especially the last handful of years to find organizations that want to host the speeches and host our court in order to let them present their speeches and practice just because community organizations are not as active it feels like they were as they used to be, you know,
Jan Johnson 30:49
If somebody listening to this had an idea but for girls to speak at, how can they contact you?
Melissa Grothe 30:55
join go to our website, astoriaregatta.com Click on literally the button for the court and, or you can just email astoriaregattaassociation@gmail.com. Okay, you'll get me and I will send your email to the person that schedules like, Dun dun dun dun. Yeah, link to that. Yes, please. Yeah, that'd be awesome. Yeah. Yeah. It's that. It's gonna be I think, a fun. That is our goal this year is just to have fun because it's been the two years of not fun. Not fun. Yeah, like it's been a really lame last two years. As far as community celebrations go, which is no one's fault. It's just you know, the facts of life right now. And so our theme is actually regatta just want to have fun. A play on Sunday, loppers song. Yeah, you know, it's so we came up. It was my job as President to create speaking speech topics for them. And so it's all about different ways that you can have fun in and recreate in Clatsop County, but historically, and in modern days, so like some people one of the gals will be speaking on outdoor recreation specifically versus what do you do on a rainy day? Because you know, we have lots of those. Yeah, did you?
Jan Johnson 32:15
I don't know if you had a chance to listen to Lauri Serafin's podcast.
Melissa Grothe 32:20
I haven't.
Jan Johnson 32:21
So she's with the Forsstrom house
Melissa Grothe 32:23
Yes. Queen Alli Forsstrom.
Jan Johnson 32:26
Yeah, she's got all the information on her.
Melissa Grothe 32:27
Oh, I know. Yeah, I manage the Regatta social media. And we follow Lauri on social media. So we could keep up progress on the house and because of that awesome side Regatta. So it's been, it's just been fun. Yeah. And Lauri's been good about, you know, giving us some likes and thumbs up on things that we post too, which I appreciate and sending us photos when we were looking for, like historical photos of past courts or past Regatta, Queens. And so yeah, super fun. I just yeah, it's been a fun, a fun adventure, to say the least. But it's definitely a challenge. Trying to just keep up, you know, and like, I feel like, in a way, we're starting from scratch even though I know we're not.
Jan Johnson 33:20
Okay. So what challenges have you had?
Melissa Grothe 33:22
It can be a challenge to find volunteers, like day of like when you need to actually, like have someone doing the manual labor right. During the festival, our board just isn't large enough. I mean, there's like 10 to 12 people, usually on the board. But when you're running multiple events during a day, you can't be everywhere at once. And in my role this year as president, historically, I kind of have been the chaperone during regatta week, where I just take care of getting the court where they need to be for their events. Job. Yeah, exactly. And in my role as Secretary on the board, that was fine. I didn't have any, like, official other duties. So like, just be present.
Jan Johnson 34:06
So I was the secretary needs to take over.
Melissa Grothe 34:11
Because I will actually have to be present at things and actually do a job and have a role this time instead of being in the background. So I have to brush up on my public speaking skills too
Jan Johnson 34:24
Okay, I'm gonna ask you two more questions. Okay. What brings you joy?
Melissa Grothe 34:29
Oh, so many things. It's like, hard to, I don't know life in general, like just
Jan Johnson 34:38
organizing.
Melissa Grothe 34:38
It does, like purging things and cleaning things out and organizing and then you know, but no, honestly, like spending time with you know, like with Jake and being able to travel is something that we can do right now. And just even if it's like a small trip, you know, like if we do a day trip somewhere that just is honestly just, that's what it takes, like, that's what I need to give myself a break. Yeah, exactly. Just to like, give myself time from all those other things that I'm doing, and to help keep a healthy relationship, like being able to have that opportunity together to talk and just, you know, yeah. Be in because yeah, we're both busy. And so
Jan Johnson 35:22
Any you do need to sit back and yeah, to refresh, you gotta fill your cup again.
Melissa Grothe 35:26
Exactly. You can't get it out. Exactly. You can't pour from an empty vessel. So I, I just appreciate, like, and his understanding of that, like that he knows I'm busy. And he's involved in a lot of things too. So we keep kind of wild schedule. But that opportunity when we get to just spend time, whatever it is just the two of us hanging out and enjoying each other's company, wherever that might be. Often exploring something new hiking, whatever it is, is that it's just like, oh, man, like, Yeah, any like, the world could literally be crumbling around me. And, but it's okay. Because I park I've got, yeah, I've got this other thing going on. That is like, that brings me so much peace and happiness. So yeah,
Jan Johnson 36:17
yeah. Well, I'm sure that's gonna be a long time from now. But when you're 80 or 90 or 100, what, what do you want people to say about you at your funeral?
Melissa Grothe 36:33
Oh, man. That's, oh, that's tough. We just had a funeral for my grandfather who passed a few weeks back. And the number one thing that everyone said about him was that he was so incredibly humble. And that is probably the biggest thing that I admired about him myself. Both as a child growing up, and, and as an adult, I've had the privilege of living basically in the same area as him most of my life. And so I don't I it's when I do things, I don't do them. Like, I don't hold my role as president of anything. Because I think it's important that I'm the president, or that I have this title. But like I said, like when I was asked if I could be if I, you know, wanted to be the president Regatta? It wasn't because I didn't say yes, because I thought I deserved to be this. Yeah, I don't want like, that's the last thing and the farthest thing from my brain. When I say yes to doing things or helping with stuff, that it's just like, there are things that roles that need to be filled. I happen to I happen to have some abilities that will help with that role. And so I just do it. I'd love if people would say the same thing about me someday that I just served and did it. You know, like, because it was the right thing to do not because I wanted the attention or the power or the like the glory for it, because that is not in any way, shape, or form. Glorious, no. Ordering. porta potties is really actually not that glamorous.
Jan Johnson 38:13
More people going pick me, pick me
Melissa Grothe 38:15
Yeah, I wouldn't be begging for volunteers. So in theory, like if down the road, people just, you know, maybe notice that I that I'd done some stuff and that it wasn't for my own, you know, feather in my cap or anything like that, because I don't know, I just I use the gifts that I have been given and the talents that I have to to help where needs, like where things need to be taken care of, or to serve in ways that I know. I can make a difference for other people. Yeah, so
Jan Johnson 38:48
that's awesome. All right. Well, we're gonna have to wrap this up. Thank you. Yeah, for being here and joining me today. This was a lot of fun. It was
Melissa Grothe 38:59
it's nice to see. a former coworker. Thank you, Jan.