Paul Arveson, who has done strategic planning for government agencies, corporations, and nonprofit groups, continued with his exercise in strategic planning. He has incorporated many features of Rotary International’s new “Action Plan,” a strategic effort to revitalize clubs worldwide, in a plan for our club. The plan, focused on Rotary members as “People of Action,” includes four major priorities. They’re shown in red below and in Paul’s house diagram.

1. Impact: People of Action are effective problem-solvers.
2. Reach: People of Action activate and inspire one another.
3. Engagement: People of Action strive to understand the needs of others.
4. Adapt: People of Action are inventive, entrepreneurial, and resilient

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