Discovering The Mature Lifestyle
U.S. Curling Olympian resides in Columbia Heights Story inside
Health & Exercise January Issue
January 19, 2018
Exercise has been a lifelong habit for St. Louis Park man By SUE WEBBER Contributing Writer
Gerald Mortenson has been a fitness buff at Lenox Community Center in St. Louis Park for the last five years. He participates in enhanced fitness, Tai chi, and Zumba gold. On his own, he goes to the gym and does Kung Fu and other martial arts. “The senior exercise program is dance-based,” Mortenson said. “I almost minored in dance at the University of Minnesota Bemidji. Kung Fu is really dancing.” An active lifestyle is nothing new to him, he said. “It’s a lifetime thing you do for physical conditioning,” he said. “I grew up in a rural area next to Maplewood State Park near Pelican Rapids, and there were so many things to do,” Mortenson said. “I was the oldest. We went for walks in the woods. It was a pioneer area, like a step back in time. We made sure we went in a group.
You don’t go alone in a rural area.” His mother encouraged her children’s outdoor activities, but was opposed to their participating in school sports, Mortenson said. “She would say, ‘There’s enough brain damaged people in the world without adding to it.’” At the time, he recalls, “I was pretty much upset. It took half a century to prove her right. “My father always said, ‘If you keep busy and do something new today, think what you will be tomorrow.’ He guided us by that, and my mother agreed with him.” Mortenson has been involved in Kung Fu since before he was in grade school, he said. “There was a family from China who lived a quarter of a mile from us, and I babysat for the parents,” he said. He has been a trail walker, hunter and ice fisherman along the way, and used to ski, though he said he backed off that because it was too expen-
sive. Growing up, Mortenson enjoyed chemistry and biology in school and wanted to work in a scientific field. “My first choice was to be an attorney, but you simply have to come up with the money for law school,” he said. Now retired, Mortenson worked in medical
research for 15 years and in the motorcycle industry for another 15 years, as well as at Best Buy and Carlson Marketing. “I had the most fun being in the motorcycle industry,” Mortenson said. “It really started to become a cultural event, and everyone was so excited. I had my trusty
Gerald Mortenson (left) was recognized for contributing 250 volunteer hours to the St. Louis Park Senior Program. (Submitted photo)
Gerald Mortenson is shown (in the back) doing Tai Chi with instructor Rand Adams (foreground). (Submitted photo)
Harley Shovelhead. I sold it eventually, and I’m sorry about it to this day.” He also enjoyed power boating and archery. He works at having meals with several courses and lots of vegetables, and no bacon or pizza. “Rather than eating out, we eat in – nice simple meals,” he said. Mortenson, who has two daughters, a son and six grandchildren, is an
Curling is sport of choice for Columbia Heights man By SUE WEBBER Contributing Writer
John Gordon has enjoyed the sport of curling since 1977, when his exfather-in-law in Superior, Wisconsin, said he was looking for players.
“He was a pretty accomplished player,” Gordon said. “I started playing recreationally then. Curling was a very popular game in Superior in the early 1970s. It’s still popular there. It’s a hotbed of curling.” His steady playing and
love for the sport resulted in Gordon’s being a twotime Olympian. “When curling became an Olympic sport, there was a special tournament to qualify,” Gordon said. “You qualified by doing well in the state, district and regions.”
“When I competed, nobody selected you,” he said. “You formed your own team and qualified or not. It was all decided on the ice.” Now, a committee for U.S. Curling selects the athletes and puts the teams together, he said.
“They evaluate you on your on- and off-ice ability, compatibility and sports psychology,” Gordon said. He added that while more than 50 countries have curling, only 10 countries make the Olympics. “The host country
unabashed Minnesota booster. “Why would you live in one of the most beautiful spots on earth without taking advantage of it?” he said. As for getting involved in physical activity, he said, “If you get exposed to it, those are the things you choose to do. That’s the important thing, rather than sitting around. There are so many things to do.”
gets in automatically,” he said. “The rest of the spots have to be earned.” Gordon was on the first Olympic curling team, the XVIII Winter Olympics (1998) in Nagano, Japan. He was one of 2,176 participants from 72 nations
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