• President Matt Ruppert acknowledged Jeff Cutler with a recruitment pin for bringing our newest member, Michael McCord on board. Unfortunately, with the recent loss of Heidi Golemon, we are still stuck at 43 members.
• 
• Bill Burrows gave us, “All the news that’s fit to hear,” including word that the water in Rio de Janeiro may be unsafe for the summer Olympics competition next summer due to the high levels of bacteria from human waste. In further news, while swimming in a lake in the German Alps, a teenager discovered a 17.6 oz bar of gold. (I, for one, am considering changing my vacation from Brazil to Germany.) Thought for the day: “The secret of life is meaningless unless you discover it for yourself.”
• Gene and Jeannie Anderson shared a musical interlude that they first saw 63 years ago, performed by Harry Belafonte and Ella Fitzgerald at their homecoming in Wisconsin. “Dear Liza, Dear Liza.”  
•  
• They told the tale of a bucket with a hole in it that proved very hard to repair.  Smiles and laughter all around showed the appreciation of the club for the Andersons bringing us a welcome change of pace for our meeting today.

President Matt Rupert introduced our speaker for the day: one of our newest members, Jared Gibbs. Jared is an agent with American Family Insurance. He is also our new Facebook administrator. Jared was sponsored by Ben Fellows.

Jared shared family pictures with us. He grew up in West Covina, CA, and attended Long Beach State, but his family now lives in AZ. His wife was his high school sweetheart. They have been married eight years after dating for seven, and they have two sons; the oldest just started kindergarten.

Jared loves basketball and is a fan of the LA Clippers. With four surgeries on his right knee, though, much of his adult experience with the game has been coaching, including leading his high school alma mater team to three league championships in five years. More recently, Jared taught 30 3-year-olds how to play the game for the non-profit, Paladin Sports. “If I can change one child’s life with the impact of sports, it’s worth it.”

Jared, with his wife and kids, love to hike AZ, and look for new trips pretty much every weekend. They are planning to hike Havasupai Falls with a group of friends in the near future. “I want to get out and do as much cool stuff as I can before my knees don’t work anymore.” “Cool stuff” also includes sky diving on his 30^th birthday, snorkeling in Cancun, whitewater rafting in Canada, and more.

Jared worked at AT&T for six years and won many awards for sales and customer service, but he always knew he wanted to own his own business. A buddy introduced him to American Family, and he has been with them for four years. “I love what I do; I love meeting people; I love advising them about the risks they may face.”

Jared and Dana manage the posts for our Rotary Club’s Facebook page. If you would like to post something on the page, please share that information with one or both of them. Yes, Len, Jared does have all the appropriate filters in place.