Family includes six Eagle Scouts
A local gang of six has expended a lot of energy to make life a little bit better for those of us who live here and visitors, too.
They’re Eagle Scouts, all from the same “aerie,” the Albert and Katherine Wallace clan of Dalton Gardens. And the brothers are all alumni or current members of Troop 219, sponsored by the Dalton Gardens Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
They’ve built benches, dug fire pits, installed guard rails and rehabbed a barn.
But what makes the Wallace men’s feat so special is that Eagle Scouts are relatively rare: Only about 5 percent of the youngsters who join the Boy Scouts achieve that highest scouting rank. So, six in a family could very well be a record.
According to a BSA fact sheet, to become an Eagle, a young man must fulfill requirements in the areas of leadership, service and outdoor skills. In the process, he must earn at least 21 merit badges, all before the age of 18.
The Wallace men have done that and more. And their accomplishments have placed them in the ranks of such former Eagle Scouts as the late President Gerald Ford, Apollo astronaut James Lovell, former CIA director and current Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, cartoonist Milton Caniff and Olympian Willie Banks.
Their inspiration, they say, has been their parents, long-time area residents, part owners of Coeur d’Alene Glass, and also the parents of five girls.
Albert Wallace, 58, was a Scout in his youth and a leader in adulthood. He says a prime motivator in encouraging his sons along the Scouting trail was that he wanted them to learn to finish whatever project or jobs they begin.
Finish they did. And the labor itself is not the only requirement. Each of them had to plan his project, then recruit helpers to carry it out.
Here’s what the Wallace boys accomplished in pursuit of their Eagle Scout ranks:
•Jacob, 18, and a senior at Coeur d’Alene High, lives in the family home and has three paper routes. He led a group that built benches for the softball field at Dalton Elementary School.
•Robert, 22, a window installer, also lives at home. He refurbished the Dalton Gardens Horse Arena with help from friends and brothers.
•Albert, Jr., 26, A Post Falls resident, is an auto parts delivery man. He and his team built barbecue pits and poured a concrete slab at the Windy Bay Campground on Lake Coeur d’Alene.
•David, 28, works for Coeur d’Alene Glass and lives in Coeur d’Alene. He built handrails for the hiking trail at Mineral Ridge. Those eliminated shortcuts which had caused erosion and provide a measure of safety for physically challenged hikers.
•Matthew, 30, of Post Falls, also is a Coeur d’Alene Glass employee and an Army National Guardsman. His team built fire pits at the Windy Bay Campground.
•James, 37, of Vancouver, Wash. sells commercial glass. His project was to plant 1,500 trees near a Forest Service campground on the North Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River.
All six praise Scouting and the Eagle program.
Jacob: “It helped me succeed at something. I’ve learned lessons that will help me in college.”
Robert: “People find me trustworthy, and the Eagle program helped make me that way.”
Albert Jr.: “I gained a lot of discipline, and got a lot more out of the program than what I put in. It kept me out of mischief, too.”
David: “I learned a lot and had fun hiking and camping in a lot of places. I have four children, the oldest 5, and when they’re old enough, they’re going to be scouts, too.”
Matthew: “When I went into the National Guard, I got an extra rank because I’d been an Eagle. And through Scouting and the merit badge program I learned citizenship. I also enjoyed camping out with the guys. I’ve just finished as a Scout leader myself in Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls.”
James, the oldest, reflects back on his Scouting days and believes they instilled in him some useful traits that help make life a success.
“I’m a Webelo Scout leader now, and my son is coming along in the program,” he said. “He’s a second-class Scout. I know it’s going to instill in him a sense of honor and, when he finishes a task, a feeling of completion.”