Mark Ramsdell has been a pastry chef and instructor for more than 30 years.  He served as assistant pastry chef at The White House during the Clinton and Bush terms.  Ramsdell and his instructor, Roland Mesnier, produced gingerbread showpieces at the White House.  After they left the White House, they continued to design and produce gingerbread showpieces such as models of Mount Vernon and the White House for events at the French Embassy and other nonprofits.  Some of the showpieces were auctioned off for hundreds of thousands of dollars.  Mark showed slides of the production of the showpieces and passed around a book he produced with Roland Mesnier.

Susan is the Chef Instructor for the Hospitality and Tourism Management program at the University of MD Eastern Shore and also teaches at the Universities at Shady Grove. She is the former director of the Workforce Development program DC Central Kitchen. Susan teaches students how to prepare 200 meals twice a month for needy families with 80% of food from store’s “after picks”. Students learn to cook balanced meals, production operation,etiquette, marketing, and communications by case study; and are 95% employed.
Member

Metro Bethesda Rotary President, Russel Lacey, talked about the success of his club and some possible collaborations with our club. Russel has been a member of the Metro Bethesda club for 5 years and the club has gone from 18 members to 45. Their objective is 55. Every new member attends a FIRE SIDE CHAT and the district Rotary Learning Institute ( RLI ) training. To encourage members under 35, their quarterly dues are $210 for 2 years instead of the usual $310. They have frequent social club parties at members homes. The club netted $39,000 from their annual golf outing which they do with the Chevy Chase Chamber (which also netted $39k ). They pick a popular charity to promote which got half the $39k and the other half went to the club’s foundation. They promote the golf outing revenue with a BOARD of FAME with every member’s revenue contribution. ( Member’s quota is $1000.) Golf foursomes cost is $950. It is an all day event with a 10AM shotgun start and breakfast, lunch and dinner and is over by 5:30PM.