CARLSBAD: Boys & Girls Club alumnus wins recognition

Greg Nelson inducted into national organization's Hall of Fame

By North County Times | Wednesday, June 11, 2008 12:39 PM PDT ∞

CARLSBAD ---- Greg Nelson started and ran two multimillion dollar companies, but that's not what the Carlsbad entrepreneur considers his biggest career success story.

"The most productive years of my life were the 10 years I was a Boys & Girls Club director," he said, "because you change lives."     

Nelson recently joined the ranks of famous actors, sports heroes, military leaders and politicians whose membership in Boys & Girls Club chapters has shaped their lives.

In May, the 58-year-old Carlsbad resident ---- who joined the Boys & Girls Club of Carlsbad as a child ----- was inducted into the Boys & Girls Club of America 2008 Alumni Hall of Fame     

"The best thing about it was that my wife and four children were in the front row," Nelson said about the awards ceremony, held in San Francisco. "Afterwards, each of my children said, 'Dad, I'm so proud of you.' "

Nelson has been one of the local club's biggest supporters in recent years. He donated $1 million to kick-start the Bressi Ranch clubhouse fundraising effort in 2004.

At the ground-breaking ceremony in February for that $7 million project, he reiterated what he has said in the past ---- there's no other cause that means as much to him as the Boys & Girls Clubs of Carlsbad.

He was 9, he said, when his father abandoned his family, leaving his mom to support him and his brother. His mother, who worked until 9 p.m. most nights, would drop her two boys off at the clubhouse on Roosevelt Street to keep them out of trouble.

"The club was really our home away from home, but it was a lot more than that," Nelson said.

At age 13, he was hired by the clubhouse to help organize activities, water plants and to clean. When he was 16, he was recognized by the club as its "Youth of the Year." After graduating from Carlsbad High School, the club picked him as its athletic director and then he was named aquatics director.

After he made money as an entrepreneur, he donated an initial $200,000 to the club with the request that he remain anonymous.

"I don't want accolades," Nelson said several years ago when the clubhouse fund-raising effort began and he was pushed to step into the spotlight.

"This is about the kids," he said then. "I walk through the club and I see the kids, and I see myself."

Nelson's fellow 2008 Hall of Fame inductees included baseball star Don Haren, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Navy Rear Adm. Earl Gay. Past inductees have included NBA great Michael Jordan, actors Denzel Washington and Jennifer Lopez, and former NATO commander Gen. Wesley Clark.

But it's the folks at home and in the community that have made the biggest impression on Nelson.

"The other day I was in Costco and a guy in line said, 'Hey, Greg,' and I walked over. He told his wife, 'This is the guy who taught me how to swim and gave me my own trophy,'" Nelson said.

"There have been hundreds of times when people have walked up to say, 'This is the guy who helped me,' " Nelson said. "That's why I say those 10 years (as a Boys & Girls Club executive director) were the most productive."

In the 1980s, Nelson started and ran two successful companies, DJO Inc. and BREG Inc. He has since sold both businesses.

Today Nelson is a lifetime club board member, and he and his wife Barbi have helped raise millions of dollars to keep the Carlsbad club open and growing.

Last month's national honor "was well-deserved recognition for Greg," said Luke Matteson, executive vice president of the Carlsbad branch of Temecula Valley Bank and Nelson's fellow board member.

Nelson said the club was where he developed the life, learning and leadership skills that helped him excel in business. Now he wants more Carlsbad children to be able to join the club.

"It's the only next generation we have, so we better take care of them," Nelson said.

Staff writer Barbara Henry contributed to this report.

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