Presentations

Making a Presentation

Frederick Torch Club members are encouraged to give a presentation at a monthly meeting on the member’s area of expertise or other interest. Illustrated presentations are the norm, with volunteers are ready to assist with technical aspects. The presentation should appeal to a wide audience and promote lively discussion afterward.

Presentations should be between 30 and 40 minutes in length. Extemporaneous delivery is preferred, but don’t let concern about your public speaking skills keep you from sharing what you know. If you would like to make a presentation at Torch, or for help putting a presentation together, email info@fredtorch.org.

The best Torch presentations from all the clubs are published in the The Torch magazine. The Torch International website contains everything you need to know to submit your paper for publication, including a style guide, sample source citations, and guidelines for including artwork.

2026 – 2027 Presentations

September 28 – Frederick Mayor Michael O’Connor on “The State of the City”
October 26 – Nancy Whitmore on “Ghosts and Legends of Frederick”
November 23 – Ed McMahon on “Frederick Growth by Fault or Design”
December 14 – Ed Seidewitz on “Edwin Albert Seidewitz (1866–1918): A Family Legacy in Maryland”
January 25 – John Gardner on “Peaceful Beekeeping: 50 Years with Honeybees”
February 22 – Dorothy Bonnett on “Circles of Women: A Discussion of Chinese Women’s Lives”
March 22 – Karl Bickel on “The Feasibility of a County Police Department”
April 26 – Peter Michael on “Other Humans: The Revelations of Ancient DNA”
May 24 – Lois Jarman on “Art and the Brain”

2025 – 2026 Presentations

September 22 – Marguerite Wilson on “Camp Ritchie During WWII: A Secret Training Camp for Intelligence Soldiers”
October 27 – John George on “Charles Lutwidge Dodson, Popularly Known by his Pen Name, Lewis Carroll”
November 24 – Ellen West on “A Visit with Cosmonauts”
December 15 – Major J. B. Blevins on “The History of the Salvation Army”
March 23 – Roseann Lester on “Challenges and Rewards of Life as a Violinist”
April 27 – Annette Breiling on “Adding Friends Education to our Community”
May 18 – Frederick County Executive Jessica Fitzwater on “The Role of the County Executive”

2024 – 2025 Presentations

September 23 – Former Frederick County Executive Jan Gardner on “Government Is Difficult As It Is and Then Along Comes Covid”
October 28 – Peter Michael on “Finding John Hanson: The Rediscovery of the Grave of the Nation’s Only Lost President”
November 25 – Claire Kondig on “Eisenhower, the Boy From Kansas”
December 16 – Frederick Torch 30th and Torch International 100th Anniversary Celebration
January 27 – Geordie Wilson, Publisher of The Frederick News-Post, on “Joys and Woes of Publishing a Local Newspaper”
February 24 – Lois Jarman on “The Wonderful Brain: You Can Teach an Old Dog New Tricks!”
March 24 – Adam Miller, Homewood’s dietitian, on “Better Eating to Attain Optimum Health”
April 28 – Double Paxton Award Winner Lee Robinson on “Quanah Parker: War Leader, Civil Leader, Religious Leader”
May 19 – Joanne McCoy on “Walking the Camino Santiago: Lessons from Europe’s Oldest Pilgrimage Route”

2023 – 2024 Presentations

September 25 – John Fieseler on “From Dilapidated Cannery Warehouse to Visitor Center”
October 23 – Jo Butler on “Trenton Makes, The World Takes”
November 27 – Former State Senator Ron Young on “Reimaging Frederick Then and Now”
December 18 – Mark Gaffigan on “What Is the U.S. Government Accountability Office?”
January 22 – John Menke on “Now You See It, Now You Don’t: The Upcoming Solar Eclipse April 8, 2024”
February 26 – Margaret Procario on “What You Don’t Know About Arguments Could Fool You”
March 25 – John George on “Hans Christian Andersen: His Life and Legacy”
April 22 – Lynn Bernard on “Surprises and Coincidences: A Survey of Religious Architecture”
May 20 – John Clarke on “My 1956 Solo Journey from Kenya to England by Motor-Scooter via the Nile”

2022 – 2023 Presentations

September 26 – John Clarke on “An Absurdly Short History on the ‘Art’ of Solving Equations”
October 24 – Bob Ladner on “Molecular Recognition and Why It Matters”
November 21 – Captain Dana French on “Vietnam Boat People Rescue”
December 19 – John Menke on “The Secret Lives of a Physicist as Told by His Bookshelves”
January 23 – Ed Seidewitz on “Wake Up and Smell the Coffee!”
February 27 – Lois Jarman on “The Injustice of Incarceration”
March 27: – Archer O’Brien on “A History of the American Left”
April 24 – Frank Sledge on “The Key to a Harmonious Pitch for a Uniform Musical Scale”
May 22 – Michael Procario on “Why the Neutrino Should Be Your Favorite Elementary Particle”