Tualatin Rotary Carries on the Regatta Run Tradition

If you live anywhere near Tualatin, chances are you are very familiar with the city’s famous Pumpkin Regatta each October. This event began in 2004, and includes most notably, people paddling giant hollowed out pumpkins around the Lake of the Commons. Participants are often in costume, and can include anyone from the mayor to our Tualatin police officers.

But many people may not know that the Regatta Run, in conjunction with the Pumpkin Regatta, was started as a way to raise scholarship funds for Tualatin High School students in honor of Corporal Matthew Lembke. Cpl. Lembke was a graduate of Tualatin High School and had joined the Marines in 2009. After two previous tours in Iraq, Matthew was critically injured on a patrol while serving in Afghanistan.

The Lembke family has been organizing the Regatta Run for the past 12 years in Matthew’s honor, and have raised well over $200,000 for scholarships awarded to fellow Tualatin High School graduates.

This year, the race is being transferred over to the Tualatin Rotary Club. It is a natural fit with the Rotary Club’s long-standing support of college scholarships for first-generation college students, as well as many other youth-focused programs in the community. In fact, over that same 12 year period, the Tualatin Rotary Club has awarded over $125,000 in scholarships and contributed over $200,000 in additional funds to other youth programs.

The Tualatin Rotary Club is honored and excited to be carrying on the tradition of the Regatta Run in 2021. To support the Tualatin Rotary Club in their fundraising efforts that support our local youth, REGISTER TODAY for the Regatta Run!

To learn more about the Tualatin Rotary scholarship program, visit our scholarship page. You can also visit tualatinrotary.org or click here to learn more about the club and their work in the Tualatin community.