Council memorializes beloved local chef
June 19 declared Chef Jackie Baldwin Day in honor of the longtime RPI executive chef
TROY, N.Y. >> When Jackie Baldwin died at age 51 more than a year ago, shortly after being di- agnosed with lung cancer, the loss was felt across the campus of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and around the city.
“Jackie was just a terrific person, and it was a shock when she died,” City Councilwoman Lynn Kopka, D-District 5, said of her longtime friend, who she jokingly referred to as her “personal chef.”
At its Thursday night meeting, the City Council unanimously agreed to declare Monday, June
19, as Chef Jackie Baldwin Day in the city, an honor timed for the day a group of friends and family will host the first fundraiser for a scholarship in Baldwin’s memory.
“This is one of the things that really make you feel good, when you can try to do a nice thing,” said Councilman Dean Bodnar, R-District 3. “It just shows [ Troy’s] sense of community, whatever differences we may have.”
A native Trojan, Baldwin was a graduate of Troy High School and Russell Sage College who earned a culinary degree from Schenectady County Community College in 1983 and went on to become one of the few premier female chefs in the region. She worked as executive chef at L’Ecole Encore in Albany and Hiland Park Country Club in Queensbury, as well as house manager at the Steuben Athletic Club in Albany and food service manager for Price Chopper Supermarkets, before joining RPI as its executive chef in 2001. She held that position until 2015, when she was promoted to area executive chef for Sodexo, which manages dining services for the college, as well as scores of universities from coast to coast.
Baldwin was also active and well- known outside the kitchen, organizing the Troy Pig Out, donating her time to Capital Roots’ Community Gardens program, as well as Empty Bowls, Joseph’s House & Shelter and the Sanctuary for Independent Media, and creating Omelets in the Park as a day of appreciation for members of the Washington Park Association and the James Beard Foundation. Kopka pointed out her friend also bought and rehabilitated a historic building at the corner of 4th and Ferry streets that was home to The Brown Bag, a popular overnight burger joint, until it closed in September, six months after Baldwin’s death on March 18, 2016.
City Council members memorialized Baldwin with a resolution they presented to her sister and two brothers at the beginning of their monthly meeting. Friends and family hope to also keep her memory alive through the Chef Jackie Baldwin Memorial Scholarship at SCCC, whose inaugural fundraiser will take place from 5 to 9 p.m. on Chef Jackie Baldwin Day at the Franklin Terrace Ballroom on Campbell Avenue.
The evening will include more than a dozen chef- sponsored food stations, a culinary student competition, Baldwin’s favorite homemade pickles, a cash bar, silent auction, live music, a memory table recalling her accolades and a place to share written memories. Tickets for the fundraiser are $ 60, $100 for a couple, with donations also welcome.
For information, to purchase tickets or to make a donation, visit http://ChefJackieB.BrownPaperTickets.com or www.facebook. com/ChefJackieB.