The 11th annual Park Potomac Ice Cream Social fundraiser for Interfaith Works was held on the open green space of Park Potomac on August 24th. The program provides backpacks for needy students and is supported by many Mongomery County nonprofit organizations.

Thanks to the efforts of John Waterston, and Dan More, we were able to donate 72 backpacks. Interfaith Works reported that nearly 3,000 backpacks were funded through the project. A hardy crew of North Bethesda Rotarians (shown below) turned out for the event

Our speaker for August 23, Bruce Levine, described the loss of the American Chestnut tree in the United States, and efforts to find a way to bring the trees back. Bruce is a member of the board of the Maryland Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation which is dedicated to returning the American Chestnut to its place in the forests of the eastern United States.

Bruce described efforts to find a type of chestnut tree that is resistant to the blight that has killed millions of trees. Recently, DNA research and advanced scientific tests have shown some promising results.

He is currently a second career PhD candidate in plant sciences at the University of Maryland where he studies the interactions between plants and pathogen

The Kashmir conflict is a territorial conflict primarily between India and Pakistan over the Kashmir region. The conflict started after the partition of India in 1947 as a dispute over the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir and escalated into three wars between India and Pakistan and several other armed skirmishes. China has also been involved in the conflict in a third-party role. Club Member Bob Sonawane gave his perspective on the conflict at last week’s meeting.

The second presentation was by Victoria Feldman, who discussed the Glenstone Museum in Potomac. After the meeting she took a group of us on a tour of the museum and we had a great time (and got a new appreciation of modern art).