Kiwanis Club of Menlo Park’s Christmas tree lot is open on the Stanford campus
The Menlo Park Kiwanis Club opened its Christmas tree lot last week, and front and center was current President, Bruce Wellings. The tree lot is a long-standing holiday tradition, having started as a fundraiser for the Club more than 40 years ago.
Located on the Stanford campus on the corner of Embarcadero and El Camino Real, across from Town & Country Shopping Center, the Kiwanis lot will be open during the week from 2:00 to 8:00 pm and on the weekends from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm. Once again, Noble Fir trees will be delivered fresh from Oregon weekly. Wreaths and other holiday decorations are also available.
Bruce, who has been a member of the Kiwanis for 21 years, heads Wellings & Company, which his father founded in 1974. “Today the company is the third oldest family-owned business [in terms of consecutive ownership] in Menlo Park, right behind Flegel’s and Draeger’s,” he said.
“Just as we’ve grown our business in the past, my focus is to grow the Kiwanis Club, increasing membership, so we can play an even bigger role in the community,” he continued. “We are looking for men and women who want to be part of Menlo Park and who want to give back to community organizations that enrich the city and make it what it is today.
“We go from one fundraising or community service project to another, with no breaks throughout the year. It’s impressive. With more members we can do even more. That’s my goal.”
The Kiwanis Club meets each Tuesday at noon at the Allied Arts. There is a general membership for those who can attend weekly meetings, and a special service membership is available for those who can only attend meetings once a month. All members support community projects and fundraising events.
Note: As we’ve covered in the past, there are two other long-standing tree lots in Menlo Park — one at Webb Ranch and another at Nativity School, which also serves as a fundraiser. New this year is an unaffiliated lot at the corner of Valparaiso and El Camino.
Photo by Judy Horst
Craig K December 04, 2015 at 4:29 pm
You need to correct your information. The Christmas tree lot by Kiwanis Club has been going on since the late 50’s, probably around 54 or 55 time period. I know this because my father was president of Kiwanis and they had the lot next door to Sprout-Ritz department store on Santa Cruz Ave. I always got to help there with sales and getting tree stands. What a great time it was.