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Friday, October 13, 2006
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A hand for John Nelson Retired Potlatch employee is Outstanding Senior Citizen Staff Writer John Nelson believes in lending a hand.
But it's hard to believe that the retired Potlatch employee has enough hands available for all the volunteer work he does.
Nelson, 78, Brainerd, was named Thursday the 2006 Outstanding Senior Citizen of the Year. He will be honored at the annual Distinguished Service Awards Banquet Nov. 16 at Timbermist, an event sponsored by Brainerd Community Action, Brainerd Dispatch and Brainerd Jaycees.
DeAnn Barry, executive director of the Lakes Area Senior Activity Center in Brainerd, surprised Nelson while he was having a cup of coffee at the senior center with his wife, Florence, and other senior center volunteers Thursday morning, which is senior doughnut day.
"I feel very humbled by it," Nelson said of being named an outstanding senior. "I was very surprised and I feel there are so many more deserving of it than me."
"He's the kind of person anyone would want to be when they're retired," Barry said of Nelson. "He's just a real upbeat person, very positive and always willing to lend a hand, just very consistent in that regard."
Nelson was born and raised in Ironton, a middle child of 15 children. A Korean War veteran, Nelson was an Army cook in Korea during the war. He spent 10 years working for Burlington Northern in Brainerd and then spent 28 years working at Potlatch before retiring in 1989. He and his wife, Florence, will be married 54 years on Oct. 18. They have five children, 10 grandchildren and one great-grandson.
Nelson makes popcorn for residents at Bethany Good Samaritan Village and at St. Joseph's Medical Center several times a month. He drives Bethany patients and others who need a lift to and from their medical appointments and serves on the Bethany Good Samaritan Auxiliary board. Until two years ago Nelson volunteered every month at the Soup Kitchen and now does it every other month, fixing meals with other volunteers from St. Francis Catholic Church. He has volunteered at an annual Soup Kitchen fundraiser for the past four years. He received his 100-hour pin in 1999 for volunteer service at St. Joseph's Medical Center.
Nelson is active in his church and attends Mass nearly every morning. He served as a Eucharistic minister and provides communion every Sunday for shut-ins. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus and helps with the Tootsie Roll fundraising drive every spring, along with volunteering as a Salvation Army bellringer twice a season and picking up trash along Highway 210 about three to four times a year.
Nelson also volunteers at the American Legion blood drive and offers poppies for donation every year for the VFW. He helps with the Veterans Day supper. He also volunteers at the senior center, helping the Thursday morning crew make doughnuts, a senior center fundraiser.
Nelson is a gifted woodworker and makes crafts in his wood shop. Some are sold in the senior center gift shop to help raise money for the senior center. During the Crow Wing County Fair, Nelson is employed to walk around the fairgrounds to make sure everything is going smoothly in the buildings and on the grounds.
"He's an extremely modest person. He said, 'There are a lot of people who do more than I do,'" Barry said he told her after receiving this award. "I told him 'Next year you can nominate them. This is your year.'"
"I try to volunteer as much as I can," said Nelson. "I like to. I like to meet the different people."
JODIE TWEED can be reached at jodie.tweed@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5858.
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