By Yankee Public Relations
Unity Bank Balloon Pilot Tom Baldwin, 67, has spent a good portion of his lifetime in the air, but the Bethlehem Township resident says it never gets old particularly when introducing first-time riders to ballooning as he did at the recent Warren County Farmer’s Fair. As a Silver Sponsor of the fair, Unity provided tethered rides in their balloon and collected donations for scholarships sponsored by the New Jersey Future Farmers of America.
“I have been fortunate enough to pilot balloons for the late Malcolm S. Forbes in Northern France, but coming to the Warren County Farmers Fair has been a family tradition since I was about eight-years-old,” said Baldwin, who grew up on a family dairy farm in Hackettstown that bordered a small airport. “The tethered rides are a great way for people to be introduced to ballooning because a full hot air balloon ride is a costly although wonderful experience. Unity Bank sponsored the cost of having the balloon present for the fair so it worked out well for everybody.”
Unity Bank was also a sponsor of the The Kids’ Corral at the fair, where bank staff helped children assemble Moonjars, a colorful kit that shows kids how to plan for the future and build their dreams by learning to save, spend and share. The bank also hosted educational savings activities for children and a game where children won coins to start saving in their Moonjars.
Baldwin received much of his early flying experience working with Forbes, the former chairman and editor in chief of Forbes Magazine, who died in 1990. Baldwin piloted the flamboyant multimillionaire’s uniquely shaped balloons, including a French château, elephant and sphinx. A former Far Hills resident, Forbes brought Baldwin to France a half dozen times to pilot balloons near the Château de Balleroy in Normandy.
“I was told Malcolm was part of the D-Day invasion and saw the château, which at the time was serving as a hospital, and later came back to buy it and refurbish it,” said Baldwin, who earned his private pilot’s license in 1970 and started ballooning four years later. “Having grown up next to an airfield, flying was always in my blood. When I started flying for Malcolm there weren’t too many people in the State of New Jersey that piloted balloons so when we were introduced through a mutual friend it resulted in some quite memorable experiences.”
Baldwin started In Flight Balloon Adventures of Clinton in 1987. A Unity Bank customer, he started piloting the bank’s balloon in 2003 after the bank’s marketing staff reached out to him. A graduate of Hackettstown High School and Bloomfield College, he also was a teacher for 31 years at what is now known as the Mountainview Youth Correctional Facility in Annandale. He provided instruction in the building trades, job skills, math and welding.
“Tom has been a great partner for the bank as both a customer and our balloon pilot,” said Unity Bank President & CEO James A. Hughes. “Aside from the great marketing exposure he creates for us, Tom’s many years of experience as an educator and pilot allow Unity Bank to provide a service to the community every time he takes the Unity balloon in the air.”
Baldwin was one of five children to grow up on the family dairy farm, where he learned the skills needed to be the selected as the Tractor Driving Champion of the State of New Jersey in 1962.
“I’m glad I grew-up on a farm because there was always work to do and it taught me responsibility,” said Baldwin, who is married with two grown children and four grandchildren. “It was a very busy life with a great deal of work to be done every day, but we always made time for the Warren County Farmer’s Fair and I’m glad we still do today. Over the years the fair’s popularity started to wane a bit as did farming itself, but the introduction of the balloon festival a few years back has truly created a resurgence that Unity Bank is proud to support.”
About Unity Bancorp, Inc.
Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: UNTY), the parent company of Unity Bank, its primary and wholly owned subsidiary, is a financial services organization headquartered in Clinton, N.J. Unity Bank provides financial services to retail, corporate and small business customers through its 15 bank branches in Hunterdon, Middlesex, Somerset, Union and Warren Counties in New Jersey and Northampton County, Pennsylvania. Unity Bank provides traditional and community-oriented commercial banking services, including personal and business checking accounts and time deposits, money market accounts and regular savings accounts. For more information, please visit www.unitybank.com or call 800-618-BANK (800-618-2265).
