North Bethesda Rotary Club’s own Nick Martinez, our recent past President, is a financial adviser in the Bethesda branch of Edward Jones.  Nick will speak to us about the recent volatility in the world’s financial markets and how to respond constructively to these developments.

Here’s an excerpt from Nick’s writeup on the Edward Jones website:
“As an Edward Jones financial advisor, I believe it’s important to invest my time to understand what you’re working toward before you invest your money. It’s also important to understand the level of risk you’re comfortable accepting when investing so we can balance it with the steps necessary to reach your long-term goals.  Whether you’re planning for retirement, saving for college for children or grandchildren, or just trying to protect the financial future of the ones you care for the most, we can work together to develop specific strategies to help you achieve your goals. We can also monitor your progress to help make sure you stay on track or determine if any adjustments need to be made. Throughout it all, we’re dedicated to providing you top-notch client service.”

Larry Heilman is currently a Research Associate in the Anthropology Department at the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum.  His research focus is the U.S. Government’s development assistance program in Latin America.  He wrote USAID in Bolivia, Partner or Patron, published by First Forum Press.  He has taught a course on Latin American cultural development at Montgomery College, University of Maryland, Johns Hopkins and the Institute for Learning in Retirement, affiliated with American University.

In 1998-99, Larry was resident technical advisor for monitoring and evaluation for a local government project funded by the Agency for International Development (USAID) in Poland.  Previously, he was a Director of Management Systems International, where he managed development activities, including articulating strategic plans for USAID field missions in Asia, Africa and Latin America.  For 20 years before that, Larry was a Senior Foreign Service Officer with USAID.  He planned, implemented and evaluated development programs in Africa, Asia and Latin America.  His particular interests were in planning and managing rural development, nutrition improvement and disaster recovery.  During that time, he was posted to Bolivia, Nepal, Bangladesh and Burkina Faso.  Larry has a Ph.D. in History from American University, an M.A. from the University of California at Berkeley and a B.A. from the University of Florida at Gainesville.  He served in the U.S. Marine Corps.

This talk and slide presentation covers the “first family” of Potomac: the Offutt’s, for whom Potomac was originally named (Offutt’s Crossroads). The talk, by a descendant of the Offutt family, explores when and how the village came to be called Potomac, with feuding among the family, the end of slavery, a business partnership gone bad, and attempted murder all playing a part—not to mention a few ghostly appearances in later years!

Ralph Buglass is a frequent speaker for Montgomery History on a variety of local history topics and a volunteer researcher for Peerless Rockville, the nonprofit historic preservation organization for Montgomery County’s seat of government. In 2020, with Peerless Rockville, he co-authored Images of America: Rockville, a pictorial history of the city’s 250 years. He also teaches lifelong learning courses at American University, Johns Hopkins University, Montgomery College, and Frederick Community College. A Montgomery County native, he graduated from Winston Churchill High School, then earned a BA in American history from Cornell University and an MA in journalism from American University.