TRR photo by Chris Conroy The only physical monument to the historic 1969 Woodstock concert wasn’t erected until 1984 when Wayne Saward and then property owner Louis Nicky built the concrete and cast iron marker that thousands visit every year. (Click for larger image)

It all started one day in 1969…

By CHRIS CONROY

BETHEL, NY — Before the hullabaloo of Lollapalooza and the shock rock of Ozzfest, there was one massive musical event. Even today, its impact is considered by many to be far-reaching than most others.

It is Woodstock.

And it happened here.

Thirty-four years ago this weekend, four unlikely partners and a local farmer made the Town of Bethel the center of counterculture music for three days. About 500,000 people showed up, causing traffic jams that have yet to be rivaled, for the music and arts festival that quickly went from being an event for ticket holders only to a complete free-for-all.

John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, Artie Kornfeld and Michael Lang were the men behind the idea of the concert. Originally, it was going to be a much smaller event, held to raise money for the opening of a recording studio in Woodstock, NY, about an hour and a half from Bethel which wasn’t their first choice for a concert venue. But as their ideas grew, other locations denied them permission to even begin setting up the concert.

It wasn’t until they came to Max Yasgur, a dairy farmer with a very large farm and larger sense of adventure, that they settled on Bethel.

The rest, as they say, is history.

	TRR photo by Chris Conroy At Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum in New York City there is a room dedicated to the icons of the 1960s. Holding a place of prominence is this display featuring performers from the 1969 Woodstock concert. (Click for larger image)

It is precisely that history that has influenced more than just the generation that attended the original event. All one need do is stop at the Woodstock monument at the Hurd Road site and wait around for a few hours. On a good day, you’ll meet at least a couple of people who are stopping by to see “where it all happened.” On an anniversary weekend, you may meet hundreds.

For more than three decades, others have tried to recreate the impact of the Woodstock concert; none have quite succeeded. The 20th and 25th anniversaries brought with them strong opposition from the administration of the town and many residents. Many a promoter, famous and infamous, tried to convince the town a concert was again possible.

It wasn’t until 1998 that “officially sanctioned” music returned to the natural amphitheater that once served as home for hundreds of thousands. The Day in the Garden concerts of 1998 and 1999, presented by the Gerry Foundation, which had by then purchased the land, stirred as many hopes as they did fears.

The concerts, which ran virtually problem free from the public’s point of view, registered as a threat to some who still held tightly to the anti-establishment ideals of the 1960s counterculture. Cries of “Keep the land free!” and “No fences!” spread across the Internet and through the crowds that still gathered to commemorate the original concert (though they were forced by circumstances to relocate to another, more distant, part of what once was the Yasgur Farm).

Soon after the concerts, plans for a future performing arts center were announced. The town leadership has continued to express its favor for the project, as have many residents. In fact, very few, if any, are against the idea of a performing arts center in the town.

	TRR photo by Chris Conroy Sid Bernstein, a concert promoter who brought the Beatles to the U.S. and tried unsuccessfully to bring a Woodstock reunion concert to Bethel, signs copies of his book at the Woodstock Museum. (Click for larger image)

Bethel Supervisor Allan Scott, once considered second to none in the rancor he showed toward anything Woodstock, has repeatedly called the proposed Bethel Woods Center for the Arts a “perfect fit” for the town.

The only complaints, barely audible to most over the metaphorical applause exuded by advocates, come from the Woodstock Preservation Alliance (WPA). Their goal is to prevent permanent structures from being erected on the original site. “There is plenty of other land,” their argument goes. “Why must it be built right there?”

No shovel has hit the ground yet in the construction of Bethel Woods, and the Gerry Foundation shows no worry when it comes to the efforts of the WPA. As such, the possibilities are still open.

One thing is a certainty. Just one week after the anniversary weekend, music will again ring strong across the historic field. Ben and Jerry’s, the Vermont-based ice cream company, is bringing its annual One World, One Heart concert to the site.

What will history ultimately say about the once nondescript field that has become holy land for some, a source of irritation for others and a cultural center for others still?

Only time will tell.