Just a couple of hours before he would oversee his final Shawangunk Town Board meeting on December 7, retiring Supervisor John Valk relaxed on a sofa in the deserted Town Hall lobby and reminisced about his long career in town government.

In an interview with the Wallkill Valley Times, the 76-year-old Valk said he figured it was time to depart after spending the last 26 years as Town Supervisor.

Valk plans to do some traveling, but he still will keep haying his 325-acre County Line Farm, which spills over the Town of Shawangunk into Montgomery in Orange County. Valk’s farm occupies 175 acres in Shawangunk and 150 acres in Montgomery. He has lived in a house on the property in Shawangunk since 1971 when he got married.

“I started milking cows when I was 14 and did that for 38 years,” Valk said. “I might have missed getting up early in the morning for 20 to 30 days in those 38 years. I did two years as Supervisor still milking the cows.”

Valk sold off his herd of cattle when his first wife was terminally ill from cancer. He no longer has any cows, but still cuts the hay and rents some of the land to another farmer.

Valk has spent the last 35 years in various positions in town government. He applied for a vacancy on the Town Planning Board in the mid-1980s, but he wasn’t picked.

However, his involvement in town affairs began when Supervisor John Scott asked him to form the town’s Environmental Management Council in 1988.

“There wasn’t any law on the books allowing it,” Valk recalled. “It had to be established, so I got all the paperwork done and brought it to the board. That must have impressed them because then I was asked to serve on the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) after that.”

After 15 months on the ZBA, Valk filled a vacancy on the Town Board in September 1990. He served over seven years on the board before he was elected Supervisor and began serving in January 1998.

“The biggest regret about this job is that I lost two wives along the way,” Valk said of his late wives Kathleen and Barbara.

Valk has a daughter Rebecca, who is an attorney and the Corporation Counsel for the City of Poughkeepsie, and a son John Robert.

Valk served four years as Deputy Supervisor under then Supervisor Kevin Hunt, who unexpectedly passed away at his home last month after serving as Town Justice for nearly 18 years.

Valk said he enjoyed running for office. The Republican often wasn’t challenged.

“But I hated the politics,” he said. “I always felt once you’re elected, you represent all the people. Not just those who voted for you. I met a lot of nice people. If I would have kept milking cows, I wouldn’t have met all those people. Back there on the farm, the cows they don’t carry on a good conversation.”

Valk said he’s always been blessed working with “good people. On the board, we may have disagreed at times, but we always got along.”

Valk is proud of helping to lead the way to the construction of the paved Wallkill-Walden Rail Trail during his administration.

“At the time, people didn’t like them in their backyards,” Valk said of rail trails. “But we went with it. And when we opened it in 2009, I remember riding a bicycle and little kids were riding bikes with their parents and saying to their moms and dads, ‘This is so much fun. Can we come back here?’ To me, when you build a memory for kids that’s a great accomplishment.”

Building a new town hall and adding two new parks were also done during Valk’s time in office.

“They talked about a new town hall for 30 years and nobody could get it together,” Valk said. He said Councilman Robert Miller and he worked on a committee that led to the construction of the new town hall.

The Tremper-Valk Municipal Center Building, which opened in 2010, is named after the late Town Clerk Peggy Tremper and Valk. Tremper was the town clerk for 38 years.

“We’ve tried to rezone to keep the character of the town,” Valk said. “Don’t get me wrong. We could use some growth. Like the new Mexican restaurant that we have that is doing very well and the opening of the new hardware store. Growth like that is fine. But people want to keep it rural. We’re a bedroom community. We should try to be the best bedroom community that we can be.”

Former Ulster County Legislature Chairman Ken Ronk Jr. was elected without opposition in November to succeed Valk in office. He and Ronk have had a number of conversations since Ronk was elected, Valk said. Former Town Highway Superintendent Joe LoCicero will join Ronk on the new board in 2024.

“Everybody takes office with the intent of making the town better,” Valk said. “And I think they will. Just finding money to do things is the hard part.”

Deputy Supervisor Adrian “Binker” DeWitt, who has served on the board with Valk for 22 years and has served as his Deputy Supervisor for the last 15 years, said Valk’s departure will leave big shoes to fill.

“A lot of the stuff I’ve learned from him I’ve used in my professional life,” DeWitt said. “We used to work out of a small town hall and then we worked out of trailers when we were building the big new town hall. We had very little payment for it because a lot of the money John had saved.”

“John has become like a second father to me and that extends beyond the town hall as he has become a part of my family,” Councilman Brian Amthor said. “He has been a tremendous Supervisor, working tirelessly for the Town of Shawangunk knowing he had its best interests at heart, even knowing you can never make everyone happy all of the time when decisions had to be made.”

Councilman Alex Danon echoed the statements of DeWitt and Amthor.

“He’s been a good mentor for me over the past few years,” Danon said. “Being an elected official is very demanding and difficult and yet he chose to continue to serve year after year. He’s provided stability in the town for 30 years and made a lot of great progress.”

A celebration is planned at town hall on Saturday January 13 recognizing Valk’s service and that of Bob Miller, who is stepping down after 20 years on the town board. Hours are 1-4 p.m.

Valk, who will remain in office until December 31, summed up his years of service with one final thought.

“It’s been a great ride,” he said.