Menlo Park Rotary - The Rotary Club of Menlo Park Website

We hope you would also visit our club and learn more about Rotary and its members. We meet every Wednesday at 12:15pm at the Menlo Park Recreation Center - 701 Laurel Street, Menlo Park.

Dr. Gordon Teter

A Dedicated Rotarian since 1959

by Terry Kent

"Rotary has always served as a valuable and enjoyable antidote to provincialism and it never ceases to amaze me that my conversation contains so many references to things I learned from our programs!" Dr. Gordon Teter

Gordon's story begins on the 19th of August, 1925, in St. Paul, Minnesota, where his dad was employed by the Great Northern Railroad. That was the 1st five years of Gordon's life.

But like many of us his dad had bigger and better ideas for his career and family. Next stop: sales en-gineer for the Thomas Edison Storage Battery Com-pany where he became "a company man" which was common in the 1930's & 40"s. This would make all the Teters experts in US geography. Many years later, with his medical skills in tow, Gordon would benefit from this wide range of experiences with people and places in setting up his medical practice where he remains active to this day. Their moves included:

• Two years on Long Island.
• Two years in Birmingham, Alabama.
• Four years in Kansas City.
• Two years in St. Louis.
• Finally, the Boston area.

All before Gordon was 16 years old. He got to know a lot of kids in a lot of schools as his dad took over the New England territory.

By this time his dad realized how much he was being used as a trouble shooter and negotiated a deal that would keep his family in Boston, i.e. no more moves and the place from which he retired, and Gordon would finish high school in the suburb of Wellesley Hills.

A nearby suburb of Boston was Cambridge so Gordon said to himself "I think I'll apply to Harvard College". Obviously all the schools and relocations didn't hurt his grade point average along the way. When finished there he had the tal-ent and endurance to continue at Harvard Medical School in the class of ‘48.

Graduating with an MD luck kicked in again and he started a 5¬year internship/residency to qualify as a specialist in surgery. 2 years later that was interrupted by the Korean War. Gordon joined the U.S. Army Medical Corps drawing on what he already had learned and spent his tour of duty in Japan.

Afterwards he was able to resume and complete his residency and pass his specialist exams as a surgeon. In 1958 Gordon finally arrived in Menlo Park to live and work and prosper as the doctor he always wanted to become, remaining here without the moving and relocation of earlier years.

Gordon considers it good fortune that early on he met the late Dr. Harold Brumm who introduced him to Rotary. The rest is history, launching "one of my most enjoyable and re¬warding experiences" through today.

Rotary, in those days, was a very different organization: it was a luncheon and meeting of business and professional men (no women were permitted in membership then) focusing mostly on local and national news and projects. Members enjoyed one another's company and spent a lot of time on understanding mostly local issues.

Today that focus has expanded exponentially to include a strong emphasis on INTERnational service, projects and goodwill. Despite competition this seems to effectively sup-plement our interest in issues nearer at hand.

People ask Gordon "Why do you keep going, when your hearing is so bad that you miss a lot of what goes on?" His reply is always the same: "I love to see all my friends, and I do get a surprising amount from our programs."

And for this (and so much more) Gordon says thank you all!

Welcome to

The Rotary Club of Menlo Park

And

The Rotary Club of Menlo Park Foundation

What We Do

The Rotary Club of Menlo Park provides an opportunity for people to work together to enhance the lives of children, the elderly, and other underserved members of our local communities. Our members are men and women living and working in Menlo Park, Atherton, and surrounding communities. Additionally, we also work with Rotary International to help people around the world who are struggling for survival.

However, it is not all work, we have a fun time socializing. Many of us also support each other's careers, adding to our networking ability.

To watch a short video about our club please click here.

Our service opportunities are broken into Four Avenues of Rotary Service:

Community Service

College Scholarships

Annual high school Academic Awards Ceremony

Tutoring

Student leadership program

Grants to local non-profit groups

Local work projects, such as Special Olympics and Rebuilding Together

International Service

$300,000 matching grant for health, water, air quality, and microlending in Guatemala

Matching grants for pipe system for potable water in Guatemala

Support of Rotary Ambassadorial Scholars

Support of the International Groups Study Exchange Program

Vocational Service

Club Service

Annual Club BBQ

Holiday Luncheon

Tutor Appreciation Luncheon

Weekly speaker program

TGIF’s

Wine appreciation group

The Rotary Club of Menlo Park Foundation

The Rotary Club of Menlo Park Foundation gives away $70,000 each year in scholarships to local high school students. We also provide grants to local non-profit groups.

100% of Donations to The Rotary Club of Menlo Park Foundation are tax deductible, since none of these funds are used for administrative expenses!

Please join us for a visit.

The Rotary Club of Menlo Park meets almost every Wednesday at noon at the Menlo Park Recreation Center, 700 Alma St. You may call 650-321-7343 or contact us through this website if you have questions.

Please visit us on Facebook.

The Rotary Club of Menlo Park has a Facebook page to share information, photos, and videos with our members and fans.