Going down to Yasgur's Farm...40 years later

See the other photos here....

We missed the Woodstock Festival, Aug 15-18. 1969. Had other plans. Those who say they remember it, probably weren't there either. It's hard for us to believe time has passed so quickly. After a month's notice that they were not welcome in Walkill, NY, the organizers of the music festival, Woodstock Ventures, set up shop on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel Center, NY - a natural amphitheater. The festival was organized to promote their new recording studio in Woodstock, NY, about 50 miles from the actual site of the big concert. Backed by the fortune of an heir to a pharmaceutical fortune, they quickly set up the site but were woefully unprepared for the number of people that swarmed in, many of whom eventually abandoned their cars after hours of gridlock to walk miles to the site. The 4 day concert attracted an estimated 4 to 5 hundred thousand folks, seemingly spontaneously assembled. It is easily the grandest musical venue to this day, featuring the biggest names in rock n' roll, who were helicoptered in from the relative comfort of the Holiday Inn in nearby Liberty, NY.

"3 days man!....the NY State Thruway's closed!" "Be advised the brown acid is not particularly good...but it's your own trip." Good advice, certainly, but after surveying the carnage created by a half of million people soaked by 3 days of thunderstorms, I quickly concluded that they had better had been on something no matter how great the music was.

And in the end, the love you take is equal to the trash you make. When Woodstock ended on Monday morning, after Jimi Hendrix gave his memorable performance, over 600 acres of garbage was left behind on Max Yasgur's dairy farm. It took over 400 volunteers and $100,000 to remove it all. A huge hole was dug to bury shoes, tents, bottles, and other debris. The garbage filled the hole and created a pile of trash that was set on fire, burning for days. The resulting pollution triggered a fine from the town of Bethel - just one of many that would would trail Woodstock Ventures for years.

Years later, the area has been tastefully preserved as the Bethel Woods Arts Center and includes a museum that is well worth the trip even if you don't see one of the many concerts scheduled during the summer months under the beautiful pavillion. To us, Woodstock is recent history but to the many youngsters we saw viewing the museum's artifacts and eagerly buying souvenirs, it might as well have been a Civil War era battlefield. Though a battle was not fought there, it did mark the birth of a new nation - the Woodstock Nation. The rest, as they say, is history. Woodstock remains both unique and legendary.

Thanks to hosts Frank and Gogi for inviting us to stay at their Catskill lake house retreat and to see the Loggins and Messina Concert - amazing performance almost 40 years to the day of the original Woodstock Festival....Peace and love.
Woodstock Trivia: The other band that played last night, Poco, said that they, too, had been invited to play at Woodstock back in '69, but their manager had already booked them to play that weekend at a high school auditorium in Long Island for $500 more than was offered by the Woodstock promoters. Hope they invested that surplus in Apple stock.