By Kris Leonhardt

STEVENS POINT – In 1947, Roland Martin was denied a chance to obtain his Eagle Scout ranking when his Scout troop folded when he was just 14. Now, his grandson, Quinton is carrying on that legacy in a very special way.

Quinton started Cub Scouts in 2014 and moved onto Boy Scouts in 2016. It took him about two years to get from Life Scout to his final goal – Eagle Scout – finally reaching it this year. He not only reached the goal his grandfather was denied of, but also gave his grandfather a nod as he was achieving it.

Roland spent multiple decades working with the Scouts and was awarded the Scoutmaster Award for the Wisconsin-Upper Peninsula Michigan region by the National Eagle Scout Association.

As a nod to his grandfather, Quinton set his sights on doing his Eagle Scout project at the Central Wisconsin Environmental Station (CWES.)

“My grandpa, who passed away a couple years ago, he was actually the camp director when it was Camp Chickagami. And he was the camp director for a very long time, and it was a place that he had a spot in his heart for and he still lived really close to it and everything. I thought as a way to dedicate it to him I would go there and see what they needed,” Quinton explained.

“I built this deck, which is used as like a platform. They have a lot of classes; they go out there, and campers as well, it’s for both of them whenever they’re doing activities outside to kind of have a place to sit and gather. And they use it for different classes and other purposes that they need it.

“It ended up being a lot of work. COVID definitely complicated things. The price of supplies went up, but the planning was definitely the longest part.”

Quinton said he got a lot of help from family and friends on the project, led by his dad, Pat, and mentor, Deano Bushey.

As a member of Boy Scout Troop 201, he was awarded the rank of Eagle Scout at a Court of Honor held this summer at St. Bronislava Church.

“I think I like to look at the bigger picture on it. And the biggest thing with it was my grandpa always embraced like Boy Scouts and Eagle Scouts and so did my dad and my uncles and my older brother. And it was just something about following their paths of good mentorship and good leadership, to be a part of something that’s a little bit bigger than yourself and giving back and knowing strong ties your community can do, and better yourself as a person and better your community.”

Quinton is now a student at U-W Madison, studying computer engineering and computer science.