Jack Baker of Bayville honors victims of pandemic by planting flags

Many young people are committed to helping others and improving their communities, but few are as willing to devote themselves to charitable work as Jack Baker, of Bayville. A recent graduate of Locust Valley High School, Baker, 17, has gone above and beyond as a volunteer to honor the memories of those who died during the coronavirus pandemic and the attacks on the World Trade Center, and the soldiers who have given their lives for their country, among others.

After spending his early years in Locust Valley, Baker and his family moved to Bayville when he was in third grade. He received high marks in all of his IB and AP courses at Locust Valley High, was All-Honors in the National Spanish Honor Society and was an All-Conference football and baseball player.

But it’s Baker’s efforts off the field and outside the classroom that made him stand out. One of his most notable efforts occurred during the dark days of Covid-19, when hundreds of thousands of American lives were claimed by the virus. One of them was Baker’s grandfather, and Baker knew that he wanted to honor him, as well as the hundreds of others in the community who died.

After seeing a story about the hundreds of thousands of flags that were planted on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in remembrance of the victims, Baker was inspired to do the same in Bayville.

“When my grandfather unfortunately passed away during Covid, my family wasn’t able to get together or have a memorial service or anything,” he recalled. “When I heard about the memorial they did at the National Mall, I was like, I can do this for Nassau County, representing the people who have passed away in Nassau, but also representing everyone on the North Shore and everything.”

Baker, dozens of family members and friends gathered in December 2020 to plant 2,000 flags outside Bayville Village Hall, with the blessings of Bob De Natale, who was then the village’s mayor. They completed the task in one day.

Baker is also a junior ambassador for the Henrik Lundqvist Foundation, and was required to do an independent service project. De Natale, now the deputy mayor of Bayville, said that when he heard about the idea for the flags, he happily supported Baker’s plan.

“I was very impressed that he came to the village hall and requested permission to plant the flags in commemoration of those victims,” De Natale said. “The fact that he was able to organize a group of people of all ages to come to the village hall and arrange so many flags, it was really very impressive.”

Baker had been accepted as a junior ambassador for the Lundqvist Foundation as a result of his earlier efforts to honor others who died in tragedies. For several years on and off, he has taken part in the Tunnels to Towers Foundation’s 5K run, in memory of those who died in the Sept. 11 attacks.

He has also volunteered for Wreaths Across America, a nonprofit that coordinates wreath-laying ceremonies at the graves of veterans across the country. For these and his other efforts, he was recently honored with a Nassau County Legislature Citation by Josh Lafazan, the legislator for Baker’s district, who lauded his community service efforts.

“Jack is a rock star, and he’s made such a difference in his community,” Lafazan said. “He’s an incredible role model for students in our community to look at what he’s done and make an impact at the local level.”