Our speaker today was John Kirkwood who currently serves as head of security for Land O Lakes, headquartered in Arden Hills. John has had a long career in law enforcement. He grew up in Nebraska and his first job out of college was as a police officer in Lincoln Nebraska. Although he enjoyed that role a lot, an interest in "seeing the world" led him to seek out other opportunities which resulted in him joining the Secret Service. He served in multiple roles and locations during his years with the Secret Service and we learned some interesting facts about the origins of this organization,. It was initially formed in 1865 as part of the U.S. Treasury Department with a charter to go after counterfeiting operations. It wasn't until 1901, during Teddy Roosevelt's presidency that it took on the charter to provide protection for the sitting U.S. president and family. After retiring from the SS in 2011, John joined the Ramsey County Sherriff's Department. In 2015, he switched gears from the public sector to the world of corporate security by joining Land O Lakes. John was an interesting and enthusiastic presenter and we thank Kevin Keenan for arranging it. As a side note, we learned that John's father was a long time Rotarian in Nebraska so we hope he will carry on the tradition and join our ranks!