We heard from Talia Newman, Assistant General Manager and Community Outreach Coordinator for Harvest of Rockville, a new medical cannabis dispensary located on Rockville Pike right next to our meeting location.
Talia described the many variations of cannabis, which has been used in textiles for centuries. The most common type used currently is Sativa, which originated in Africa, Central America, and western Asia. She also described the components of cannabis, the plant structure, and growth cycles. Cannabis can be administered by smoking, vaping, ingestion, and applying it to skin. Each method has pros and cons.
In Maryland, cannabis can now be acquired legally for medical use through a certification process involving a doctor and visit to an authorized Maryland dispensary.

Dr. Anil Latey, Rotarian and Past President of Rotary Club of Poona Downtown ( RCPD), India will be a speaker at our club breakfast meeting on August 9. The title of his presentation is: The History of RCPD, Current local and International Projects & Accomplishments. Dr. Latey has been involved with several water projects in partnership with our club and other local and international organizations.

We will hear from Heidi Webb, new Assistant Governor for District 7620 for Montgomery County Rotary Clubs. Heidi helped install our new officers last month. She’ll be back for a presentation. Here’s an excerpt from Heidi’s profile on LinkedIn:
My expertise in board development, strategic visioning, capital campaigns and major gift solicitation, as well as event planning and management and grant writing is coupled with an unwavering enthusiasm for what I do and what I know to be possible.

In addition to my work, I volunteer extensively. I am a Rotarian (former President of the Rockville Rotary Club), and have served on more than a dozen benefit committees for multi-million dollar fundraising events. I helped author and sign into law, a teen suicide prevention bill in 2005. I continue to advocate for this and other causes, because I strongly believe that we can all do our part to make the world a better place.

The meeting included a discussion on plans for the coming year with newly-installed officers and directors. Key issues are community service projects, membership, and fundraising. President Carmela (below) distributed copies of a new club directory, which lists all current members and has a calendar of the events of the coming year. If you missed the meeting and would like a copy, contact Carmela.