Posted: 3/21/07
It's in his blood to work and give to others
NB Lions honor Roger Nelson with Community Service Award
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Not expecting to be so overwhelmed by the honor, Roger Nelson choked up a bit as he delivered his acceptance speech at the Lions' dinner last week. |
By MaryHelen Swanson
Humorously, people used to talk about Martians having green blood, but 74-year-old Roger Nelson's blood is a different sort too. It's full of fresh produce, canned goods, frozen pizzas and jugs of ice cold milk. That's how it is for a man in the grocery business for 39 years.
And that's how it is for the North Branch Lions Community Service Award recipient of 2007.
Nelson, who received the award at the Lions' Governor Night dinner last Tuesday, opened Nelson's Country Market in North Branch in 1968. He told the Lions last week that it was his vision to "not just live off of the community, but to create a thriving business that lived within, and gave back to, the community."
From the beginning, he has served the community in many ways; providing a place to buy groceries as well as returning funds to the community for numerous projects and causes.
Nelson said he wanted to offer a business that provided exceptional guest service, unsurpassed quality, and an expansive variety of products that the community could appreciate. He said he based his business on the Golden Rule and still tried to stay above water.
The beginning of a businessman
It didn't take long for a young Roger Nelson to know what he didn't want to do in life. He wasn't cut out for milking cows, he said. That's what went on on his family's NB farm. He dabbed a little in the bowling business, in a way. He remembers setting up bowling pins, by hand, in a little four-lane alley where the Old Brick Inn is now located.
But next door was a grocery store (where the old library was located on Main Streeet), and it was at Larson's Fairway that he found his niche. Nelson distinctly remembers his first day of work: Nov. 15, 1948. He figures going to work for Harold Larson is what prompted him to go into the grocery business.
In 1953, back in North Branch after leaving the Army, Nelson took over the store and has been in the grocery business ever since. "It gets into your blood," he said.
So he was completely immersed in the business when he opened the new store in Î68 (at the present location).
As a citizen, Nelson has watched North Branch grow and change over the last 39 years. Nelson's North Branch store has undergone four major expansions and remodeling projects in that time also. Later, Nelson's would open a store in Pine City and not long ago, in Mora.
The most recent enterprise is the Central Baking Facility in downtown Pine City.
Taking and giving back
Giving back to the community in big and small ways has always been a part of Nelson's philosophy. Grocers often see needs that no one else in a community see. Likewise, grocers, especially those with kind hearts and a generous character, often find ways to help met those needs. There are stories of such deeds about Roger Nelson that most have never heard. And probably never will be.
In preparing to nominate Nelson for the award, Lion Syl Marking heard a few of those unknown stories, and felt it was time to honor this local businessman for those deeds as well as for all the other things Nelson and his stores have done.
As he spoke to the Lions last Tuesday night, Nelson noted that a giving program called Nelson's Community Support was created in 1991 with a mission to benefit the local communities. "And I believe that's exactly what it has done," he said.
Nelson said the program has donated over a million dollars to schools and non-profit organizations.
The money didn't go to one large organization, he went on, but "we worked with smaller organizations, churches and school groups to help them accomplish smaller, yet no less important, goals such as purchasing a new piano for the sanctuary and making the dream of touring our nation's capitol a reality."
Programs such as Community Cash returns money back to organizations whose members shop Nelson's stores regularly.
The Fundraiser Coupon books have been a great success for local groups, and the Fruit Fundraisers, Turkeys For Reading, 5+5 Milk caps, Labels for Learning, Stuff-A-Truck food shelf events and grocery donations all have benefited the hometown community.
Nelson also noted that nearly every first grader at North Branch schools over the last 20 years has had the opportunity to tour the store and learn about nutrition and health. High school students who work at the stores can earn an extra 50 cents for each hour they work toward a college fund.
Besides the funds returned to the community, Nelson is proud that the stores can offer jobs, currently about 70 in the three stores. "And a paycheck every two weeks," he added.
Theoretically, Nelson is retired; his son Randy and grandson Ryan are filling his shoes in the stores, but sitting in his North Branch office, among the neat stacks of papers with classical music on the radio and a wall-to-ceiling collection of treasures, he is still involved in the business.
He pays the bills, by handwritten check.
"I retired long ago," he chuckled quietly, "but I really didn't," he said with a boyish grin.
"I wouldn't know what to do."
When asked if he will ever completely retire, he flatly responded, "No."
Beyond the walls of the grocery store, Nelson has been a member of the North Branch American Legion coming up to 50 years this spring.
His musical skills on the trumpet have been shared many times over the years, too. The love of music started in 6th grade in a North Branch school. He was first chair trumpet all the way through school, he said. The only time he wasn't was when he was in the Army.
Nelson continues to share his musical talent at local churches and with the St. Croix Valley Orchestra. Nelson practices on a daily basis, and he mentors young trumpet players, too, at no cost to his students.
Nelson said he has never kept a journal, although he has stories to tell and memories that go way back. Like others who have received such awards, having to recall the past reminds them they probably should have been writing it all down. Said Nelson, "I could have written a book, "The Life and Times of ... Me," he mused.
He's not a complainer
Nelson can often be seen bustling about town, usually with a stack of papers under his arm, on his way to do one thing or another.
His wife, Pat, said he's always in a hurry. Yet, she went on, he always has a smile and when he meets someone he'll stop and talk. Most amazingly, Pat Nelson said her husband never complains, ever. And he can't say no to a good cause, she added.
Lion Don Hartzell agreed with Pat, saying Roger Nelson always has time to stop and talk. And he contributes much to the organizations to which he belongs.
Finally, you have to know there's something quite extraordinary about a man who will go with his wife to visit her 98-year-old mother at her home every night before she goes to bed.
Fine words from a man who doesn't get into awards much
In his closing remarks last week, Nelson said, "As we go into the future and grow as a business and as a community, I feel that it is essential to continue the bonds that have been established over the last 39 years. Bonds that support each other. Bonds that keep our community together."
Nelson then went on to make this promise, "As long as Nelson's Market is selling groceries, we will continue our tradition of service, quality, variety, and value, and we will continue to be at the forefront in our community outreach, doing as much as we can to continue to build and maintain real relationships within North Branch, and all of the communities in which we work and live."
When Syl Marking approached Nelson about accepting the honor, Nelson had to be encouraged to accept it. Nelson said he doesn't get into that much.
"I'm not much of a public speaker," he repeated during this interview.
Although Nelson choked with emotion as he spoke to the Lions that night, with those fine words in his closing remarks, this reporter begs to differ.
Comment from Cindy Erickson, 3/21/07
What a nice story about a very nice man. As the saying goes, "to know him is to love him"
Comment from Melody R. Goldbloom, 3/23/07
Way to go Roger!! Congratulations!! You deserve this award because you are Nelson's. You do go out of your way to greet the customers with a smile and a Hello! Thank You for being you!
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