Annals of Former Times: Summer of 1969

Out of the foggy mists of my many wild and wooly memories a few events stand out.  The events of the summer of ’69, my seventeenth on the planet was one such classic. Among the highlights of that summer was my fortuitous participation in Woodstock Music and Art Fair in White Lake , NY with my prep school pals Andy Rockefeller and Ridgely Evers.

Just as most of all of those who made the trek to the festival site, we had no clue what we were getting ourselves into as we set out from New Haven on the morning of August 15, 1969.

I had taken a few days leave from my summer job at the Old Mill Boatyard in Chatham where I worked as a sailboat rigger and general grunt laborer rigging and readying boats for the summer vacationers of the era. That week I was visiting colleges in the Northeast looking at a few places where I would apply in the coming fall of my senior year at St. George’s School.

I had been hooked by the number and quality of bands that were lined up to attend, a few of which were already favorites. And note the pitch in the literature that accompanied the tickets. "Music and Art Fair" and "An Aquarian Expositions" sure painted an alluring weekend experience.

Note this helpful insert to steer the Music and Art fair crowd to a tent rental option!

Strategically my pals and I , each coming from different places consolidated into one car. It was Andy’s prized 1949 Jeepster Wagon which way outclassed my ’64 VW bug and had much more room. We made some basic camping provisions carrying sleeping bags, non perishable food, and some other things that you might find in a basic camping kit for two nights and began the trek up the New York Throughway late in the morning . We jumped off at Exit #18 at Harriman and got in line on Rte 17. In classic irony the festival materials noted this route as the “Quickway” to get to the site.

We made the exit at about 1:00 PM and got into the line headed to White Lake which was literally inching its way west in brutal bumper to bumper traffic that eventually came to a standstill and loca police spread the word that all cars should pull over to the side of the road. There was absolutely no more room ahead to accommodate anyone. We were exhausted and bewildered. By this time having no idea how far we had to go we decided to sleep. It was 10:00PM Friday evening. Woodstock was underway and we were late.

At St George's May 1969

With Michael Bevilaqua, Shelter Island - Comet Territorials

More to follow........