Maynard Baker fought many battles in his legendary life

WARRENSBURG | Former Warrensburg Supervisor Maynard Baker was nothing less than a legend in his own time. He died April 19, but his legacy will endure for countless years— and tales about his exploits will be passed on from generation to generation among residents of the southern Adirondacks. Baker, 91, died at home with his family at his side, just two months after he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Baker was an ardent fighter for property owners' rights and motorized access to wilderness, battling state agencies and environmental causes through most of his adulthood, until his sunset years when he focused on barrier-free access for people with disabilities. Maynard was one of the organizers of the infamous Northway blockade of May 12, 1990, when about 500 property-rights advocates protested state regulations by driving their vehicles at a crawl down Interstate 87, side-by-side in dozens of rows across all lanes, for 57 miles southbound from Exit 30 to Exit 17, then turned around and repeated the blockade back to Exit 30. With the vehicles moving as slow as 15 miles per hour at times, traffic was backed up for miles, 49 tickets were issued, and 12 people were arrested. Former news correspondent Carol LaGrasse of Stony Creek said that Maynard and others were protesting the report of the Commission on the Adirondacks in the 21st Century, which proposed far stiffer regulations to be imposed by the Adirondack Park Agency. The local citizens' collective anger, she said, was also stoked by the rumor that the state had amassed enough money to purchase all the privately held acreage in the Adirondacks. "Maynard was a real believer in the people of the Adirondacks and the fairness they deserve," she said. Baker's politics: resistance to state edicts Maynard was elected Warrensburg town supervisor five times, serving from Jan. 1, 1988, through 1997, campaigning on promises that in today's era seem incomprehensible. He promised voters he would never allow municipal zoning in town, he'd stop the state from forcing the town to build a municipal sewer system — although raw sewage had historically flowed untreated into the Schroon River — and pledged to ignore the state mandate to close the town's garbage dump. All three of these edicts came to pass, however, Baker accomplished the latter two at bargain prices. He also fought for trails and old roads into the Adirondack wilderness to be opened up to motorized vehicles. Baker achieved national fame in 1990 when he and several dozen other Adirondack residents — including some members of his Adirondack Freedom Fighters' group — protested the state's closure in 1990 of Crane Pond Road to motorized vehicles in compliance with state law protecting wilderness areas. For the prior 70 years or so, motor vehicles had traversed this two-mile unpaved lane into the Pharaoh Lake Wilderness to access Crane Pond. During this protest of the road closure, Baker slugged a counter-protesting environmentalist from Vermont, knocking him to the ground. This week, Moriah Supervisor Tom Scozzafava recalled the punch, which was recorded for posterity by local news videographer Jack LaDuke — and ended up nationally telecast on the CBS' 60 Minutes. "He decked the 'EarthFirst' guy — he touched Maynard first, and that's all it took," Scozzafava said. "Maynard was definitely a fighter — you knew where you stood with him….He didn't 'back door' people. If he didn't like you, you knew it. Maynard had his own way of getting things done Scozzafava, who ran for state Assembly in 2002, recalled how Maynard had been his campaign coordinator for Warren County. He recalled how Baker introduced him to hundreds of people and boosted his votes in Warren County. In campaigning, one of the people Baker introduced him to handed over a $10,000 check, which Scozzafava refused, as it far exceeded state laws for political donations, he said. But weeks later, "Scozz" received dozens of checks for smaller, legal amounts from people he didn't know, he said. "Maynard called me up and asked me if I had received a lot of checks," Scozzafava said —Apparently Baker had instructed the generous donor how to skirt the election law on donations. Baker got into politics in an unconventional way, current Warrensburg Town Board member Bryan Rounds recalled this week — it stemmed from when Baker was arrested on suspicion of "jacking" deer at night, according to tales repeated for decades. Maynard ended up spending weekends in jail, his daughter Star Baker Mowery confirmed. "Maynard felt he had been railroaded by 'the system,' so he decided to run for Thurman town judge," Rounds said. While behind bars, Maynard asked jail guards for a phone book, and he spends his idle hours copying phone numbers of people to call when released, to solicit their vote, Mowery and Rounds said. In the next general election, he won the post of town justice. Rounds relayed a local tale that as a judge, Maynard heard a plea from local resident who was worried he'd have his gun confiscated if he was apprehended for deer jacking — and Baker had given him reassurance. "Maynard told him, 'If they bring you in, I have to take your gun, but there's nothing stopping me from loaning you mine,'" Rounds recalled. Santanoni protest: yet another showdown with state authorities In June 1997, Maynard led a group of protesters, riding all-terrain vehicles heading toward an access road to Camp Santanoni. They were clamoring for ATV access by people with disabilities over roads and improved trails that extended into forest lands and were closed off to motorized vehicles — yet DEC employees occasionally drove ATVs and trucks down these venues. DEC blocked the protester's progress with half-ton barricades and told them that they were all were welcome to walk into the area or hire a horse-and-buggy service that could legally take them over the roadway — stoking anger among the protesters who didn't achieve their goal of obtaining access. DEC, however, responded to public concerns over the ensuing years and made accommodations for appropriate access for people with physical limitations. "Maynard didn't take DEC as the supreme authority — he fought them over what he felt was unjust," Rounds said. Maynard left school after 8th grade to support family One of Maynard's daughters Starr Baker Mowery detailed Maynard's younger years. She said he used to talk about how as a child, he would watch his mother sweep the dirt floor of the family home. Maynard dropped out of school as an eighth-grader, so he could go to work as a butcher at the old county home and farm — to help feed his parents' family, Mowery said. As a 16-year-old boy, Maynard lied about his age so he could enlist in the U.S. Navy and serve his country, which he did for two years, Mowery continued. During his tenure in the service, Baker wired money home to support his parents and siblings back home. Several months before he could vote, he was awarded a a World War II Victory medal and honorably discharged in July 1948. A lifetime of hard work; barroom brawls His lengthy career of hard work included employment at Karl Duell's Oldsmobile Garage in Warrensburg, Warrensburg Pulp and Paper Mill, Double A Provisions in Glens Falls, American Locomotive in Schenectady, then Alfred Najar's sawmill in Wevertown. On Oct. 4, 1953, he married Ruth Glenda Rounds at the Kenyontown Methodist Church in Thurman. In 1964, he and Ruth launched a 24-hour truck stop known as the Toll House Diner at the corner of routes 9 and 28, and Maynard became well-known for his homemade soups and pies. Later, he worked for area mason Gene Therian and later ventured out on his own as a masonry contractor. Slinging concrete blocks for many years gave him considerable strength which he retained in his 70s and 80s — useful in standing his ground when necessary. No question, Baker had a reputation as a barroom brawler. Approaching 80 years old, Maynard knocked a man half his age across the barroom of Ashe's Hotel when someone questioned the integrity of one of his family members, according to local news archives. Also, Rounds said he heard of a bar fight involving Maynard in which the battle ended up with furniture smashed and a piano destroyed. "For all of his toughness, he never left the presence of his family without telling them he loved them, and he had a real soft spot for kids," said Rounds, an in-law of the Baker family. Maynard also worked on constructing the Adirondack Northway in the mid-1960s, laying concrete. At about this time, he began manufacturing concrete burial vaults, forming them in the garage of his Thurman home and he turned it into a successful enterprise. During this era, he served five years as Thurman town justice and on the town board for eight years. In 1968, he launched a funeral home in Warrensburg bearing his name, selling it in 1986, and in the following year launched his political career. Baker's outreach to the less fortunate During this era, he helped various town residents by personally helping install sewer service lines at their homes during his free time — assisting people who could not afford the mandated hookups, Mowery said. "Being a town supervisor wasn't just a job for Maynard, he took his position to heart, looking after people who were less fortunate," she said. Scozzafava said Baker had a heartfelt concern for others in distress. "He was a great guy," he said. "If your vehicle broke down at 20 below zero some night at 1 a.m., he'd stop and help you out," he said. "That's the kind of person he was." A considerable number of municipal infrastructure improvements were complete during his decade as town supervisor. Several years after tenure ended, he had a new funeral home built in Queensbury bearing his family name. He accomplished much of the work personally. During this era, Maynard also developed and operated Bakersfield East Campground and Events Center on Schroon River Road in Warrensburg. In 1998, Maynard sought to extend his political influence onto a national level, and he ran for U.S. Congress, representing the 22nd Congressional District. He ran on a conservative platform featuring state's rights, empowering local government, opposition to gun control, restoring property rights, downsizing government, and restricting abortions — as well as moderate principles including tax relief for the middle class, and access to health care for all citizens. He outpolled former state Labor Secretary John E. Sweeney in northern Warren County, but Sweeney ended up winning the election and serving eight years. Maynard's activism endured into his final years After his exit from politics, Baker continued fighting for access for people with mobility impairments, which spurred his parallel campaign to rescind APA restrictions banning seaplanes on various lakes that were within Forest Preserve areas of the Adirondacks. Maynard's commitment to his convictions extended into his final years. About 17 months before Maynard died at the age of 91, he told Scozzafava he wanted to get together with him and organize a campaign to secure barrier-free access into state parklands, the Moriah supervisor said. "Maynard told me, 'By God, I'm gonna get this done before I go,'" Scozzafava said. Baker's calling hours and funeral drew hundreds of people. Held on April 23 and 24, the services included full military honors as well as gestures of respect by the many community organizations in which he was active. Concluding her reminiscences about Maynard's life, Starr Mowery offered her thoughts. "Dad left quite an impact on this world," she said. "How many people do you know that lived a life as he has?" (See Maynard's obituary at Legacy.com for a detailed history of his career, affiliations and achievements.)

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Maynard Baker fought many battles in his legendary life

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