Mr. Baxter (James E Wall) Still Alive, In His 90s And Healthy?

Mr. Baxter, for those who don't remember him, was an elderly (well, to preschoolers he was elderly) black man who appeared on the show apparently in the early seventies. If he is in his nineties, then he was in his sixties back then.

With the Captain as the leader, Mr. Green Jeans on the farm and Dennis doing the arts, Mr. Baxter was kind of . . . . I want to say science, but I think he really did more story-book reading, as did the Captain.

My best recollection was the Paint stealing Mystery, with Dennis as Garumpf, the black moustache villian who kept stealing paint. This evolved out of very minor skits, I recall, where Mr. Green Jeans or somebody was going to paint the barn and there was no paint.

There were endless exterior skits of the Captain, Mr. Green Jeans and Mr. Baxter pursuing the villianous Garumpf, but he always managed to elude them.

I've just now learned that Debbie Weems killed herself, something I guess I am glad I did not know over thirty years ago. I kind of wondered why she left the show, but I also wondered why Mr. Baxter left the show as well.

It seems Mr. Baxter is still going strong well into his nineties. I'm glad to hear one of my good friends and mentors is doing well.