Mr. Valentine became involved in Boy Scouts some 35 years ago and it all started with Troop 49 and continued on throughout the years without taking a break. He served the troop in many ways; as an Assistant Scoutmaster, Scoutmaster, Committee Chair, Public relations, merit badge counselor, our Unit Commissioner and mentor to 57 Eagle Scouts including his son Matthew in 1985. With the number of additional scouts, parents and adult leaders- it is easily in the high hundreds in the troop alone. In our district he served many years as a Unit Commissioner for other troops and Cub Scout packs. For 25 years he was our District Chair for Scouting for Food. During this time he was awarded the District Award of Merit and then our Council’s highest award: the Silver Beaver Award. He believed in being a trained leader so he went to Wood Badge where he was part of the Antelope patrol.
There were times when Matt would talk about what the adult’s role in scouts should be, and he would say that “we have succeeded if we can make a positive impact on at least one scout”. Mr. Valentine’s impact was much higher than just one scout. When the troop went camping or on a high adventure trip, if there were any questions or concerns, he either had the answer or he could tell us where to find the answer, sometimes it was as easy as “go to REI”. He was serious most of the time but if you were fortunate enough to see it he had a sense of humor. The stories of his adventures; one time going to Boundary Waters and running into a bad storm and how he and Allan Kastelic had to sew a sizable tear in a tent or when he went to Philmont or going to Camp Gardner Dam or Camp Long Lake he could always tell us something funny that went on; either what a scout did or what an adult did.
Many times over the years when a scout needed a place to build part or build his entire Eagle project, he had the necessary wood working tools at his house so into his garage everyone went and let the building begin.
The scout motto is “be prepared”, he was always prepared, sometimes over prepared, but he made sure everyone was prepared. There is a line in the scout oath that says “to help other people at all times”- that was Mr. Valentine. There is no doubt that his legacy will go on for a very long time in Troop 49 and in our district.
Over many years Mr. Valentine made some lasting donations to the troop, including the purchase of our current troop trailer, several High adventure tents, our original Timberline tents used on all weekend and summer camps, and the Camp kitchen sink and Dutch ovens.