Commentary

As much as I’d love to believe another Woodstock could happen, in my heart I realize otherwise. In 1999 we saw what happened when commercialization latches onto something that is meant to be “for the music.” The 30th anniversary attempt at re-creation was marred by violence and, after the insanely priced bottles of water and food offered to the captive audience led to revolt, fires being set and damage done.

The 1969 Woodstock Arts and Music Festival was an unlikely confluence of the times: the mood in the country, frustration over war, good intentions and the overwhelming desire to prove that hundreds of thousands of people could peacefully co-exist in the name of music for three days. In our era of 24-hour connectivity and corporate sponsorship and with the loss of the beautiful innocence that still pervaded in the 60s despite the charged climate, there will never be another generation-defining moment like that concert on Max Yasgur’s farm.

I had the pleasure of visiting the newly opened Museum at Bethel Woods on June 21st, a mere 19 days after it opened. While I thought I knew the story of Woodstock after scouring over the movie and reading several 1960s books in my youth, what I knew was superficial.

The museum does not just focus on the music and the event, it is also a time capsule of the decade, covering the cultural foundations for the concert and the years leading up to it. Interspersed with the history are personal stories from all sides of the event – the organizers and performers, the attendees and, the most interesting of all, the people from the surrounding villages who were overwhelmed by what was happening in their community.

We’ve all seen the images of the gridlocked New York State Thruway – a wall of cars miles and miles long – and footage of people leaving their cars behind and hoofing it the remainder of the way. We’ve seen the flimsy chicken wire fences that couldn’t stop the ticketless from taking part and the muddy shell of what used to be Yasgur’s alfalfa field in the aftermath.

Fast forward nearly 40 years, the town is still sleepy and the muddy mess that became site to the crown jewel of the 1960s counterculture is now a gorgeous and pristine area of rolling hills, perfect landscaping, a performing arts amphitheater and this immersive, interactive museum.

The moment you walk in, you know you are in for something extraordinary – your senses are filled with songs of the time and aural reflections of the era. While it is not a remarkably large museum, they have made use of almost every available space. In all, it can feel a bit overwhelming, but in essence, I imagine so were the times.

The museum itself is a combination of artifacts, interactive displays, award-winning documentaries produced specifically for the exhibit, text and music. The highlights are many, and include letters that were posted by attendees trying to find their missing friends, Wavy Gravy’s unusual outfit for the event and a technicolor VW Bug, which serves as a mini-theater for a film about the traffic jams and getting to the event. The screen is the bus’ front windshield. Once you leave the bus, you stumble upon an amazing floor-to-ceiling theater that surrounds you and brings you into the heart of the concert.

Despite all the neat interactive bits, I was still most drawn to the stories:

A plaque with a “then” and “now” photo of Leni Binder tells her story. She and her husband ran a gas delivery business in Bethel in the 60s. When she started seeing the masses coming, she had one of her employees run to the local grocery store and buy up all the nonperishable sandwich fixings he could. She spent the night making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and sent her entire crew out the next day with their trucks filled with them and orders to give the sandwiches and sodas to all the kids they saw. Often the appreciative recipients would try and pay for the welcomed food, but as the employees pointed out… Ms. Binder wanted them to have it and she was just doing her part to help out.

There were many stories filled with the goodwill of both attendees and local residents alike. If somebody has something someone else needed, they handed it over without thinking twice… knowing if they were in the same position someone would likely do the same for them.

If you ever find yourself in the area, or are looking for an interesting day trip and happen to be within driving distance, I would highly recommend visiting the museum. It is a must see for anyone who has ties to the Woodstock event, lived through or has just dreamed of the opportunity. For more information on the museum, visit http://www.bethelwoodscenter.org/museum.aspx.

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with one of my favorite quotes, courtesy of Yasgur himself. A conservative farmer who opened his farm to the event after it had been turned away from Saugerties and Wallkill, Yasgur said of the attendees to other concerned residents: “Look, the reason you don’t want them here is because you don’t like what they look like. And I don’t particularly like what they look like either. But that’s not the point. They may be protesting the war but thousands of American soldiers have died so they can do exactly what they’re doing. That’s what the essence of the country is all about.”

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