The Badge of a Good Scout : Milt Samuels masters a new knot--being tongue-tied--as the Eagles he nurtured pay him a surprise tribute.

Woodland Hills scoutmaster Milt Samuels should have figured he was in store for more than a typical night of teaching knot-tying when his wife made him slip on a clean green uniform shirt and Scout kerchief for this week’s troop meeting.

Although he has led more than 700 such gatherings during a 25-year scouting career, Samuels mastered a new knot--being tongue-tied--when a group of his ex-Scouts staged a surprise tribute to him.

Eighteen Eagle Scouts who over the years have been led by Samuels to scouting’s highest rank turned out to praise the 64-year-old scoutmaster. So did half a dozen former members of his own childhood troop.

“He was a nice boy back then and he’s a nice man today,” said Bud Plone, 63, a Playa del Rey resident who earned the Eagle rank in 1937 along with Samuels. “We kind of had a feeling that Milt would stay involved in scouting.”

Such longtime involvement is unusual, however, according to Scout officials who administer 109 troops for 2,223 boys in the San Fernando Valley. They say that most scoutmasters serve about four years before tiring of the steady diet of weekend hikes and weekly meetings.

The type of tribute that Samuels received Tuesday night at Calvert Street Elementary School is also unique, Valley scouting administrators said.

“Usually the rewards of what scoutmasters do don’t show up until much later, when it becomes clear what the boys have done with their lives,” said Chad Holman, Boy Scout district director for the West Valley. “It’s very unusual for Scouts to do something like this on their own.”

Drawing on organizational skills that they credited their scoutmaster with teaching them, the ex-Scouts lined up certificates and tributes for Samuels from leaders ranging from Los Angeles City Councilwoman Joy Picus to California Democratic Sen. Alan Cranston.

Jeff Feldman, 20-year-old ex-Scout, directed detective work that tracked down Samuels’ childhood scouting friends and 90-year-old Louis H. Grosher, the scoutmaster of Samuels’ boyhood troop.

The white-haired ex-scoutmaster had an emotional reunion with Samuels and the other now-balding Eagles. “I learned a lot from these boys. I still hike three or four miles every day,” said Grosher, who lives in Los Angeles.

Members of Troop 504 said they learned the same type of lessons from Samuels 50 years later.

r”He sure doesn’t show his age,” said 16-year-old Michael Smith, who is one of Samuels’ newest Eagle Scouts. “He’s the one who will push you along on hikes when you think you can’t go any farther. He’s also always there whey you need him--when you have family problems or something.”

David Warshawsky, 29, who along with Samuels’ son Bruce was one of Samuel’s first Eagles, said the same was true in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

“He’s been a friend to me. Through all the ups and downs, Milt was always there. He will always mean so much to me,” said Warshawsky, now a Burbank lawyer.

Outstanding Record

Valley scouting Commissioner Larry Monson said Samuels has helped 22 boys through the merit badge process to win the Eagle rank since becoming a scoutmaster 17 years ago. For three years before that, Samuels led a Woodland Hills Cub Scout pack.

“That’s impressive when you figure the average scoutmaster has one Eagle about every three years,” said Monson, of Canoga Park. “Milt’s record is way out of proportion. But I think it’s because the kids know he’s sincere.”

Samuels, a lock salesman, was also brief when his time came to talk at the end of the ceremonies.

‘I’m Overwhelmed’

“I’m overwhelmed,” he said as he accepted a new hiking jacket and boots from his 32-member troop. His Eagles presented him with a 4-foot-tall plaque bearing their names--and space for plenty of future Eagles.

On Wednesday, Samuels arose at about 4 a.m. to take another look at the polished-wood plaque, according to Florence Samuels, his wife of 35 years.

“He was just walking on air,” she said. “He was too excited to sleep. We went out and found a restaurant that was open and had breakfast.”