North Bethesda Rotary Club | North Bethesda Rotary Club

The Cyprus Friendship Program

February 5th

Geoffrey and Tom McCarthy from the Olney Rotary Club talked about a joint Rotary and Cyprus Friendship Program.sponsored by the Olney Club. The Friendship Program was first successful in Northern Ireland as a peace-building model. In 1974 Cyprus had a civil war between Greek speaking Christians in the South West and the North Eastern Turkish speaking Moslem’s which was settled by the UN imposing a boundary line across the middle of Cyprus requiring some Greek families to move South and Turks to move North causing much bitterness. In July 2013 Maryland families hosted, for a month, seven pairs of Cypriot teens, each pair comprising one Greek speaking and one Turkish speaking teen, for training in conflict resolution, leadership and peace building.

Classification Talk – Jorge Urrutia

January 29th

Jorge was born into an upper class Guatemalan family of MDs and one engineer. At age 18, he arrived in the US on a student visa with $40. He got a job in an Italian restaurant which provided room and board. He graduated from Montgomery College, UMD, and Harvard with an advanced degrees in engineering and Public Administration. He worked in engineerig for the Navy and DOD in Madrid, Europe, and Diego Garcia ( a British island in the Indian Ocean ). Jorge then worked for the National Institute of Standards & Technology. He retired from the US Government and is the owner and CEO of Management Services Inc Universal in Gaithersburg.

Kent Mason – A Pictorial Journey of West Virginia

January 22nd

Kent started with his West Virginia winter photos from the highest point in the Allegheny Mountains (that run from Georgia to Main). He then switched to photos of the Cheat River, that runs North from WV to Ohio. Kent ran the river rapids in the bow of an inflatable boat that can carry 8 people; the professional guide steered from the stern. The 7 riders all had paddles to help keep them in the boat. Kent showed a picture of the Cheat in August ’13 when it was very low water and the big rocks in the rapids were exposed. The rapids are graded 1 to 5 in difficulty (based on the height of the water and the water flow). In September 2 boats and a canoe ran 7 Cheat rapids with class 3 and 4 difficulty. Kent did 5 rapids and went ahead down river for two of the most difficult rapids to take pictures as the boats came through the rapids.

Kent started with his West Virginia winter photosfrom the highest point in the Allegheny Mountains(that run from Georgia to Main). He thenswitched to photos of the Cheat River, thatruns North from WV to Ohio. Kent ran the riverrapids in the bow of an inflatable boat that cancarry 8 people; the professional guide steeredfrom the stern. The 7 riders all had paddles tohelp keep them in the boat. Kent showed a pictureof the Cheat in August ’13 when it was verylow water and the big rocks in the rapids wereexposed. The rapids are graded 1 to 5 in difficulty(based on the height of the water andthe water flow). In September 2 boats and acanoe ran 7 Cheat rapids with class 3 and 4 difficulty.Kent did 5 rapids and went ahead downriver for two of the most difficult rapids to takepictures as the boats came through the rapids.