Baxter
Sam Baxter, the longtime field manager for the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, died earlier this month.
He was 66.
Baxter got his start in ballooning in the late 1970s when he worked as a crew member for a balloonist at the fiesta. He quickly bought his own balloon and began learning how to fly.
“In his younger years we called him ‘Captain Cactus’ because when he was practicing his landings he would come in and take off the tops of the cactuses,” said his younger sister, Marj Baxter.
Baxter’s first balloon was called Angel Wings, which was made by Adams Balloons. He eventually got together a group of about 15 balloonists who all had balloons made by Adams and christened the group The Adams Family. They were a Balloon Fiesta mainstay for years.
“Ballooning was his passion,” said Baxter’s wife, Shannon Baxter.
Sam Baxter was awarded the Sid Cutter Award by the Albuquerque Aerostat Ascension Association in 1995, and this year he was inducted into the Balloon Fiesta Hall of Fame.
“He was great. He was a man of vision. He visualized a lot for this field that got accomplished,” said his assistant field manager Janie Jordan.
Shannon Baxter said her husband helped plan and install the flag poles that surround the field as well as the tall benches people can lean or eat on, among other improvement projects at the field.
“He was in construction his whole life. He married his two loves of construction and ballooning,” she said.
Baxter enjoyed the outdoors and was an enthusiastic camper and boater. He also enjoyed NASCAR racing and gardening.
“He was a larger-than-life kind of guy. He drew people to him with his personality. He was not afraid to speak his mind but, for the most part, he was pretty quiet,” Shannon Baxter said.
Marj Baxter said her brother was good at getting people to volunteer to help out and inspired loyalty in the crews he worked with during Balloon Fiesta.
“If you were liked by Sam then that meant something,” Shannon Baxter said.
Marj Baxter said he was not a particularly religious man, but he was a very spiritual.
“He always told me that when he was up flying, that was his kind of church. What he got from flying was that he felt like he was just right there and close and in the middle of everything that made a difference,” she said.
Ballooning was a perfect outlet for his adventurous nature, she said.
“Sam always would watch which way the winds were blowing and he would take pride in trying to find the winds that would take him the other direction, so as crew, we knew we were going to be picking him up from the opposite direction of the most of the rest of the pilots were flying in,” she said.
“He lived life to the fullest. He may have been cut short in the years, but not necessarily in the mileage,” she said.
Balloonist Helped Improve Fiesta
Sam Baxter
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