Friday, August 14, 2009

I remember Woodstock ...40th Anniversary


It seems like yesterday that I was up early putting on my bell bottom pants, sandals, love beads, tee shirt, vest, leather wrap band around my head, peace necklace and heading out the door for Woodstock New York with my Dad.

My Dad was hired to do some security up at the festival. One of his responsibilities was to hire people to take the tickets at entrances. Lucky me, I was able to call my friends to work for my Dad. So bright and early we all piled into my Dads car and up the NY Thruway we went. The plan was to work our shift, return home, and go back again for the next 2 days. We could hear the music and get paid. It sounded perfect. Little did we all know what was to lie ahead.

My Dad was a character and super conservative. I use to date this guy with long hair and my Dad use to yell at him to cut his Hippie hair. If you wore bell bottoms my Dad would rant on and on about the Hippies. He thought that his daughter was out of control by the way I dressed and my Hippie friends. One can only imagine how ironic it was for my Dad to be headed to Woodstock with a bunch of Hippie girls in his car. I remember my Mom going with the flow. The musical HAIR was on Broadway that summer. My Mom loved that album. Mom was singing the songs from HAIR and dancing around the breakfast table with the stereo blasting that morning. She wished she could come to Woodstock to hear all the wonderful music.

After driving a certain distance the cars began to crawl up the NY Thruway. People started to jump onto our car for a ride and my Dad was yelling for the Hippies to get off of his car. Stop and go traffic caused my Dads car and many other cars to overheat. It was obvious that we were only getting up to Woodstock by hitching a ride with a working car or walking. My Dad asked this car full of Hippie guys to take us the rest of the way to Woodstock as he stayed with his car. They said sure old man to which my Dad went berserk.

Let me back up here a moment. My Dad had a conversation with several truckers who were on their way back from Woodstock. They told my Dad that all the roads were blocked ahead. These trucks contained lighting and fencing posts needed for the concert. My Dad knew that this was going to be a major issue but at this point I am not sure he knew the magnitude of all the other problems.

So, the Hippies in the car stopped at one point and told us to get off the trunk of their car because they needed to get into the trunk. The trunk was loaded with drugs. Of all the cars my Dad picked for us to finish the journey this made me and my friends laugh. Eventually traffic stopped and people just abandoned their cars and everyone walked into Woodstock and the rest is history.

My Dad went back home and we stayed until Sunday morning. Miracle of miracle that the next day we were able to meet up with the rest of our friends. The rain and the mud made for lots of mosquito bites and sucked up my sandals. The lack of food did not help but the music made up for these minor inconveniences. I stepped on a soda can pop top and was given a # of 900 at the medical tent to come back for a tetanus shot when the helicopter made the next drug drop off. Drug drop? That was a joke as you could find drugs readily all around you. Flying in some food would have been a good idea.

Talking about food... Mom was home dancing to the music and looking for my face on TV. She could not believe my Dad left us alone up there. She had everyone saying a rosary for my safety. My Italian Aunts were running to and from church lighting candles for me. Italians like a crisis and this was indeed a crisis since I was sort of missing. The house was packed every day with family bringing food over to comfort my Mom. Your typical Italian vigil for the return of the prodigal son but in this case the Hippie daughter.

How did we get home? We walked out on Sunday morning and into the town where generous people handed us jelly sandwiches and gave us water to drink from hoses. We jumped on cars and rode down the Thruway until we found a friends car and drove home. My parents were so happy to see me. I was so filthy with all this dried mud on my body that my Mom hung two sheets over her clothes line and I stripped outside. My clothing went into the garbage. I was given a towel and ran into the house to take a long hot bath. Oh, and of course the Aunts were all there to welcome me back with meatballs and pasta!

The media then consisted of about 3 major stations on TV and the clips they were showing did not come close to the amount of people attending Woodstock. I like to tell people it was like going to a concert at a mega football stadium . No matter which direction you turned the ENTIRE crowd moved with you. Would I go again? You betcha. My Dad came to the realization that Hippies were not all drug crazed kids and my Mom and I were forever dancing to the wonderful music of Woodstock.

34 comments:

  1. Hi Joyce,
    What a wonderful, fascinating, timely post! I loved every word of your Woodstock experience. It's so well-written. I loved the parts about your family and how they were responding to your being "sort of missing!" Delightful first person account of a major happening in our cultural history!!! Thank you so much for sharing it with us.

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  2. Wow!!! This was SUCH a fun read!!! I cannot believe this experience you had. Did you keep your ticket stub? I got a kick out of your dad calling everyone a Hippie. I feel sorry for our parent's generation all our generation put them through. Talk about culture shock. Oh well, they made it through and so did we. I just wish I would have saved my Water Buffalo sandels. : )
    M.L.

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  3. Oh Joyce --I'm so jealous! This was so much fun to read!

    I was 16 then and I knew there was no way I could go...I had no car, no money, no idea how to get there. I bought the Woodstock vinyl album as soon as it was produced and I think I went to the movie three times.

    I remember I was amazed because I knew Richie Havens! He use to sing for dollars in Washington Square Park in NYC. I always stopped to listen to him play.

    My husband just bought the blu-ray DVD Woodstock collection -- let me know where you were in that crowd of half a million so I can look for you when I watch it..lol!

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  4. Awsome...I totally missed that episode in my life... Darn it anyway, I loved the special the other night on tv. Amazing, xoxo~Kathy~ @ Sweet Up-North Mornings...

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  5. Oh Joyce...what a wonderful story!! I can just see your aunts all frantic about you 'missing'! I was only 11 at the time and was probably still playing with Barbie dolls~~lol! What a different era that was, right?
    Thanks so much for sharing that incredible few days with us...

    Hugs,
    Lynn♥

    ~Let FREEDOM Ring!~

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  6. what cool memories thanks for sharing Rebecca

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  7. How fun was that! What a great post. I loved hearing all about your adventure and am AMAZED that your Dad let you continue without him. I am visualizing all your relatives saying a novena for your safe return. What a memory to pass down to future generations. Thanks so much for sharing.

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  8. Oh, my...what a time that was. I was older by then...30, with one child and one on the way.
    My brother, 10 yrs younger, didn't go but he sure wanted to. I've heard stories of it all my life. So glad you had such a good time and now, good memories.

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  9. Great story! I can't believe your father let you go on alone. I remember that time well....but from home. No way would my father let me go.

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  10. What an amazing experience to have had. Thanks for sharing it!

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  11. Sounds like fun! Thanks for sharing this great story!

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  12. What an incredible story!! And so much fun to read. I was a little young then but my sister's were older and very hippie~like!!

    What an experience, you lucky girl!!

    xoxo
    Jane

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  13. Great story!!! I am jealous. I got a baby sister that year, but you were a part of history.

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  14. Joyce--I thoroughly enjoyed reading this!I can't believe you were there! I loved the Italian "vigil" :) Who knows--that's probably why you are here to tell the story. Now, you've got me singing "Hair"...shining, gleaming streaming, flaxen, waxen....

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  15. Oh, Joyce, what a story! You were really there! Oh, I remember hearing about it and seeing little clips on TV, but you were there! I had my hip huggered bell bottoms on! :)
    Be a sweetie,
    Shelia ;)

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  16. Over here in England I never heard of Woodstock at the time, though I'm sure this country's thousands of hippies did. I remember the music though; there's never been anything so memorable since.

    I remember earlier in the 1960's we had been down to Portsmouth on the south coast for some athletics event and driving north to come home my dad had to drive through the village of Woburn in Bedfordshire.

    The name Woburn was synonymous with Hippies then, Dad stopped just before the village to give us our battle positions! Anyone who wants the loo - go now because there'll be no more stopping until we're well past "them". And keep your heads down (we 3 kids were in the back and mum in the front). With that dad revved up the engine and took a run at Woburn. We peeped out of the window and sure enough there were all these hippies sitting outside a pub drinking beer. They weren't drunk, weren't bothering anybody but they were THERE and when a van-load of them pulled out of the car park in their flower-painted van (truck) - probably going home for lunch! - Dad was convinced they were chasing us and drove hell for leather at top speed (40mph was as fast as he could go!) We loved it and dad dined out for ageson his tales of Hippy encounters.

    Thanks for the memories. Your first hand account is absolutely priceless.

    love, Angie, xx

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  17. I am surprised your dad left you there too! what a memory!

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  18. What a great read, I almost felt like I was there with you. I remember my bell bottom pants...
    Thank you for stopping by my blog, and leaving your nice comment, My Mother is going Chemo right now, so thank you for your prayers.

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  19. "If I can't dance, I don't want to be part of your revolution."

    Emma Goldman 1869-1940

    Dance with me, Emma!

    Tom Degan 1958-

    Nice story!

    www.tomdegan.blogspot.com

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  20. Wow! What a fun story! You should enter a writing contest! :0)

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  21. You tell the story so well - I was hanging to every word! How fun are those memories??? Thanks for writing this - it was so enjoyable.

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  22. What a great story -- I can't imagine your Dad LEAVING you there ! But to experience Woodstock . . .

    Culinary lavender is indeed dried but what makes it culinary is that it is free of pesticides, etc. and is edible. Ordinary dried lavender is not.

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  23. So you were even crazy back then....Love the aunts at home having a vigil....can't have a crisis without a full Italian meal...

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  24. oh I adore your story...thank you so so so much for sharing...I would of loved to experience the whole crazy history making event! Your post gets an A++ today! Happy week to you!

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  25. Thanks for sharing your story. I enjoyed it. I remember seeing on TV that the NY Thruway was closed....wow! Also remember when the album first came out. I think everyone bought it back then....

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  26. Thank you so much for sharing with us, I was only ten at the time, but 5 years later they had a concert in N.C. something like woodstock... I ask my mom if I could go , she said NO... So I went any way... had a great time,Would have went to Woodstock If I had been old enough and had a ride!!! So cool that your dad was your ride half the way!!!What an experience!!!

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  27. loved your post, I was a kid and don't remember anything about it.

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  28. I was a teenager and I missed it. On the wrong side of the border, and we didn't really know about it until it was over. I love your story Joyce. I was watching the old films on TV, thinking about what a blast it would have been.

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  29. Got chills reading this .. I have been sorry for 40 yrs that I didnt go ...

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  30. Thanks for sharing this part of your life...You tell it so well and it is so fun to read..I lol the whole time! I can't believe that your Dad left you there!
    I was 16 at this time and remember seeing clips on TV. I also dated a long haired guy, which my dad did not like. :)
    Thanks you for visiting my blog; I hope the stuffed chicken breasts turn out well for you!

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  31. I was sent over from one of my blog readers~ I have a little blog post today about "Woodstock"...loved your story, I feel like I've met someone FAMOUS!!!!!
    www.cherryhillcottage.typepad.com

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  32. i read your post like a suspense thriller. i couldn't wait to read what was coming next! what neat memories.
    blessings,
    aimee

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  33. What nice memories you have of Woodstock. I was just a baby when Woodstock occured so it's nice to hear stories like yours. What a nice post. I'm sure for a lot of folks, your post brought back a lot of memories for them as well.

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  34. What a great story! I didn't go to Woodstock, but I did go to the pop festival at Devonshire Downs in California. Same thing on a smaller scale. It was June 1969, I graduated from high school that week and my parents thought I was going to Grad Night at Disneyland. When they found out, they made me take my little sis for the rest of the weekend. We were just talking about the other night. We still have a program in one of our scrapbooks. I'm with you, I would go again in a heartbeat!

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