This October, Betsy and Kevin embarked on an unforgettable journey through the picturesque regions of Tuscany and Umbria. Joining a group of Miata enthusiasts, they spent a week driving through Italy’s scenic landscapes, visiting historic towns, exploring majestic mountains, savoring world-renowned vineyards, and soaking in the beauty of the Mediterranean coast.

Their journey was filled with breathtaking views, cultural discoveries, and incredible camaraderie. Stay tuned as they share their experiences and highlights from this memorable trip!

This morning, we are excited to welcome our two RYLA candidates:

• Malaika Wande (mother: Jermaine Denee Bowens), a student at Edison/Blair High School with a focus on Architecture.
• Ananiah Gedion (mother: Martha Damte), a student at Springbrook High School.

We are thrilled to have both students and their mothers join us today. Their dedication and ambition are truly inspiring!

The Annual Meeting is a cornerstone of our club’s operations, where we elect officers and directors for the upcoming year. The president or presiding officer will invite Nick Martinez, chairperson of the Nominating Committee, to present the slate of officers and directors. Nominations will then be opened to the floor for additional submissions.

After all nominations are recorded, ballots will be distributed to active members present in person or via Zoom for immediate completion, submission, and counting.

We extend our sincere thanks to Nick Martinez for his dedication as this year’s Nominating Committee Chair.

We encourage all members to attend, either in person or online, and take part in shaping the future of our club. Don’t miss this important meeting!

Join us for an engaging presentation by Paul Arveson as he shares insights from his unique and varied journey. While Paul’s primary field is physics, his career has extended across government, commercial, and nonprofit sectors, reflecting a deep curiosity and passion for exploration.

In this talk, Paul will highlight some of his most interesting experiences, illustrated with a selection of slides, and will leave time to answer your questions.

My mission is for you to answer that question with a resounding…YES!

I love teaching and learning at Springbrook.  I’ve been here in many capacities since 2000.  Yes, more than 20 years at the Brook. Prior to Springbrook I taught at Eastern Middle School in World Studies.  I moved to Maryland in 1998 after teaching Social Studies in Camden, NJ and North Penn School District in Lansdale, PA.  Originally from Philadelphia, I love all things Philly.  Go Eagles!
I attended Penn State University, Temple University and Johns Hopkins University.

I live a quiet life with one college aged son, a supportive spouse and a loyal black lab mix whom we rescued when he was 3 months old.  

Laura, a Montgomery County native, is the Office Manager & Marketing Specialist with The Monitor Group, LLC, a financial management firm located in Rockville, MD where she facilitates two philanthropic programs, one hyper-local and one national.

She also has her own wedding officiant business Meet You at the Altar. Laura has worked with many nonprofits in the community and logs 100s of service hours each year with various local non-profit organizations that focus on homelessness, hunger, children, domestic abuse, and entrepreneurship.

Her commitment to helping people extends to holding positions in numerous nonprofit organizations, including her current role as Vice President for the Personal Care Foundation.

This morning, our very own Dan Moore will be giving his Classification talk. Since becoming a Rotarian in 2014, Dan has been actively involved in many of our Club’s projects. We look forward to hearing his story!

Claes will give a kind of classification talk. He comes from a Rotary family. His father was a dedicated  Rotarian. Claes will survey key points in his life and professional career, discuss interesting people he has met, and describe surprising, rather exciting events along the way.

Marina Khoury is an expert in sustainable urban redevelopment, master planning, and form-based codes. A partner at DPZ CoDesign, she has led its Washington D.C. office since 2007. A licensed architect fluent in several languages, she has worked on projects worldwide, including pioneering resilient urbanism codes. Khoury co-led the development of the Miami21 code, the first form-based code in the U.S., and serves on the Expert Committee of the UNEP-GFHS International Green Model City Initiative. She is active in civic groups like the Congress for the New Urbanism and Smart Growth America’s Form-Based Code Institute, where she served as Chair.

Anna Tirat-Gefen is an immigrant from Ukraine, a full-time working mother of five children, a wife, and a rocket scientist. Anna also helps match students with host families for an international high school student exchange program.
Anna’s hobbies include catching up on sleep, taking walks, cooking, reading and writing.  Anna is also a published designer of crochet patterns, and yet unpublished poet. Another hobby gives Anna a big recognition. This hobby is the comedy.

Anna lives, works and performs at many Comedy Clubs in the Greater Washington DC area. One of very successful performance is Comedy as a Second Language.