This week: May 1, 2026 - Karen Willetts - Classification Talk
New member Dario Price was last week’s breakfast speaker and used the occasion to present his obligatory classification talk.
Born in Texas to parents in very modest circumstances, it was apparent immediately that he was quite gifted intellectually, achieving perfect SAT scores, earning an MBA in Chicgo, a law degree, a brief career on Wall Street, and so on. Rather than being arrogant about his blessings, Mario soon realized it was his obligation to express his gratitude by service to others less fortunate. Having learned early from individuals in Texas that service to others is the basic principal of Rotary, Mario started his affiliation with Clubs –seeking them out in various cities. He found North Bethesda Rotary through a chance encounter with one of our members at Rockville High School, which led to today’s classification talk.
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Speaker Kathryn Randall last week described her work as a Professional Organizer with the specialty of working with seniors who are beginning “rightsizing” and “decluttering” for functional and safety reasons. “Afterwards, do a full house inventory and send it to one’s children.” Kathryn’s mantra is “Always be Cleaning.” She focused particularly on the disposition of “collections. Her view is that very few collections have increased in value-children rarely want them– so keep no more than 10% of your accumulation. Lightening the load of all possessions takes time. Don’t rush – but do not wait for a crisis when you may not be able to participate in decisions. Everyone should make a list of important documents, using a suggested form that was distributed to the membership.
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Bob Parkinson (Lexington Park club) began his talk with comments about his recent visit with the new Rotary International Japanese president SakuJi Tanaka whose theme for the year is “Peace Through Service.” At the local level this means people using their time and skills to help other people—each doing what he does best.
“In our district there are 60+ Rotary clubs,” said Bob. ”Annapolis is the largest with 162 members, and there are six clubs with under 10 members.” During the past year, membership admissions and attritions have both been about 240 people, hence a static membership account. Bob hopes that the North Bethesda Club can raise its membership to 45 during the coming year, and that other clubs will be able to add to their ranks. District 7620 will continue to support the International Rotary project of conquering polio with funding for vaccinations, and our District is also obligated for the completion of a grant to Gallaudet College in D. C. This $500,000 project began about 15 years ago with a grant of $250,000 from a single donor, and today there is $65,000 still outstanding
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