by Thaddeus Flint
A snowy spring morning did not keep the family, friends and colleagues of New Lebanon Councilman Bruce Baldwin from filling the High School cafeteria Saturday, March 28, as they gathered to remember and honor him in his passing.
[private] Baldwin was something of a Renaissance man, someone who can do many different things and do them well. At one time or another–and sometimes probably all at once–he was a father, husband, writer, mechanic, board member, teacher, friend, and many, many things in between. And in being able and capable in all these different ways, he was seen in different lights by those whose paths crossed with his during Baldwin’s 73 years of life.
His sister, Joyce Howe, remembered the young Bruce Baldwin with whom she grew up. “He was very, very handsome,” said Howe, “I mean he told us so.” Photos of Baldwin the soldier during the Korean War, which lined a wall of the room along with scrap books, news clippings, and awards, backed up Howe’s memories. Baldwin looked something of the movie star back then and he looked like he knew it.
Jeanine Tonetti chose to remember her husband by reading an Op-Ed piece he had written for the Chatham Courier in 1992. In a participatory democracy “we are the government,” wrote Baldwin, who went on to champion “harmony in diversity,” counsel to “co-exist with our neighbors,” and warn of the “danger today of wanting to place blame.”
His youngest daughter Nikki O’Farrill said he was “goofy, honest, and at times scary.” His abruptness was a part of who he was, but “what he did not give in emotions,” she said, “he gave to New Lebanon.”
His oldest daughter, Jessica Wolbert said her father taught her that “when you work hard for something, you get there.”
“He stood up for what was right,” said Tistrya Houghtling, the Town’s Court Clerk. “He was truly a representative of the people.” Hamilton played and sang Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind”, which she felt best represented Baldwin the politician, with the audience singing along to the refrain “the answer my friend is blowin’ in the wind. The answer is blowin’ in the wind.”
As a politician Baldwin was remembered in different ways. “He was a goofball,” remembered John Traynor, who had served as Town Supervisor for New Lebanon, as had Baldwin. But he was possessed of “great wit and great generosity,” added Traynor. “New Lebanon will be poorer now that Bruce has left us.”
Monte Wasch, who also served on the Board with Baldwin, remembered him as being “the repository of all knowledge” and noted that the re-built Town Hall should be seen as Baldwin’s “enduring legacy.”
Gabriel Steadman recalled how he had once come to the Town Board with the LVPA to see if there was any way they could get some more EMTs. Baldwin solved the problem by becoming an EMT himself. “It needed to be done, so he did it,” said Steadman.
Doing what needed to be done, it seems, could be Baldwin’s refrain. And Baldwin’s close friend and Planning Board member Greg Hanna hoped that that refrain would live on. “The best way to remember him,” said Hanna at the closing of the memorial, “is to incorporate some of his personality into our own.”
Those who were unable to attend the memorial to Bruce Baldwin, and who would like to view it in its entirety, can contact Town Clerk Colleen Teal at the New Lebanon Town Hall for a copy of the video [/private]