Volunteering from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. several times a week, Nelson sorts and rolls the papers into 25-pound bundles in the basement of the clinic. Each bundle is stacked until it forms a 2-ton load, which is sold to a nursery in Pescadero for $200 per ton. The paper is re-sold to wholesale flower shippers in the Bay Area, who use the rolls to insulate loads shipped across country.

This work not only keeps Nelson busy since his retirement from the U.S. Army but has raised more than $50,000 for the clinic, which offers free services for children ages 2­13 who are dyslexic or aphasic and live between Los Gatos and Gilroy.

The clinic is fully staffed by volunteers, with three paid speech pathologists that help the children. Nelson says volunteers, in addition to "good donor friends," help generate the $100,000 needed every year to run the clinic.

Aside from becoming an expert in newspaper shape, size and texture, Nelson is able to see the children improve, which he enjoys immensely. "The kids come in barely able to read, and by the end you can't shut them up," he says with a laugh. "They just beam. It's very rewarding. I feel good about it."

The Scottish Rite is a branch of the Masonic fraternity, which operates 119 volunteer clinics throughout the county. The San Jose language disorder clinic, which opened in 1983, now helps roughly 50 children manage their disabilities. Nelson has earned top ranking in the Masons as a 33rd honorary member, mostly due to his work in generating funds to build the clinic and his continued service as a volunteer.

Nelson also participates in another Masonic branch, The National Soldiers, which keeps his tie to the military strong. The group is composed of former servicemen who promote patriotism. Since the men have all served, their goal is to "convince people that the military is important and that we should have it," Nelson says. He serves with the flag team, which gives a three-part performance explaining how the flag evolved into its present form. The group performs nearly 60 times a year throughout Northern California for schools, nursing homes and church groups. Nelson is a regular, having acted in 30 performances just this year. "I guess I do it pretty well because they sure ate it up last week," he says. "Some people say they don't come unless I perform."

Nelson, who grew up in Santa Cruz and graduated from UC-Berkeley, enjoys performing throughout the Bay Area. After college, he worked for the Western Pacific Railroad Company and then became a supervising examiner for the now-closed Lawrence Warehouse Company in San Francisco.

Throughout his 22 years at the company, Nelson took several terms off to serve in the Army. He was drafted for his first tour of duty, a five-year stretch that included service in World War II, and then became a reserve officer. Nelson took an early retirement in 1961 to go back into the Army as a full-time manpower specialist. He worked for the Selective Service as a field officer, overseeing 10 Western states with a partner, as the "eyes and ears of the Selective Service and identifying problems with the training of reservists," he says. "I didn't want to go back in, but they made it hard to say no."

Serving was difficult for Nelson for a variety of reasons, but particularly because of the memories of World War II, where he "had a lot of good friends that didn't make it." He relays stories of fortune during the war, however, such as when he disembarked from his ship to help Army trucks stuck in the sand. The ship left without him, only to be struck down by a kamikaze fighter pilot later that day, killing most of the men aboard. "I'm a lucky guy," he says with a faint smile.

Nelson retired from the service when he was 60 years old and soon after began volunteering with the Scottish Rite.

Now that he is approaching 89, Nelson doesn't volunteer at the clinic as frequently as he did before, but he enjoys the work just as much, he says. Working through lunch while the television plays in the background, Nelson says a good day produces eight rolls of bound newspaper. "You gotta have something to do to keep busy," he says. "I get nothing except the satisfaction of helping kids get help."

The San Jose Scottish Rite Foundation Childhood Language Disorders Clinic is located at 2455 Masonic Drive, San Jose, 95125. For more information, call 408.448.4357.