8feature wingspan • october 26, 2009

Carpentry teacher found important lessons in Woodstock

Former band director found concert chaotic experience

Katie KingJunior Editor

Catherine SwiftFeature Writer

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s the day drew to a close and darkness en-veloped the field in Bethel, N.Y., hundreds of thousands of people, Richard Colgan

among them, listened and watched as Carlos Santana took the stage and began his hit song, “Soul Sacrifice.” Members of the massive crowd raised their hands almost simultaneously with lighters and matches glowing. To Colgan, then a 21-year-old college student, it seemed for a moment as though dawn had come early. “This was done by half a million people out-doors. I don’t know that it had ever been done be-fore. Maybe it had, and I just hadn’t seen it, but it lit up the sky just like daylight,” Colgan said. “It was an incredible moment to see. The messages that people were trying to deliver were ones of peace and harmony.” In the summer of 1969, executive producer Michael Lang made plans for an outdoor music festival originally intended to generate revenue. The popularity of the festival turned it into a free concert by the time it began. The Woodstock Mu-sic and Art Fair turned out to be one of the most historic festivals in American history. Colgan, currently West’s construction tech-nology teacher, was attending New York State University when he heard about Woodstock, planned at a farm located about two hours away. He and his girlfriend at that time borrowed a small wooden camper and drove to the location, bringing with them food, water and a few ameni-ties. This proved to be a beneficial move because the overwhelming number of people in atten-dance could not all find the concessions.

“We had a warm, dry place to be, which I think was an exception. A lot of people wound up just sticking in the mud. It was pretty terrible,” Colgan said. “People just tied into a little chunk of real estate on the hillside and stayed there. There were times when it would rain really hard and they would cut the music down and we would trot back to our little camper and be in a dry place, be in dry clothes. We had pretty much everything that we needed.” Despite the rain and lack of supplies, the overall mood of Woodstock was a positive one, Colgan says. His reaction to one band in particular, Sly and the Family Stone, had a lasting im-pact on his outlook on life. “I would say some of the songs by Sly and the Family Stone were the most intense. They were an African-American group that just really lit the place up and took it to another level. Their song ‘Let Me Take You Higher’ was big at the time,” Colgan said. “It was a consciousness expan-sion that was taking place, too. For me it signaled an overall paradigm shift in how I perceived the world. I don’t know that I’ve ever quite been able to get back to that moment in time, and I prob-ably never will. It signaled a definite shift in the consciousness of at least a fairly sizable segment of our population and this country.” Part of this shift can be accredited to the po-litical opposition of many things specific to that time period. Woodstock took place during the counterculture movement. The movement intro-duced ideas such as organic farming and more rural living and repudiated such events as the

Vietnam War and the assassination of Martin Lu-ther King Jr. Also in this time period, the Civil Rights Act was passed and Apollo 11 landed on the moon. Woodstock helped a divided country unite peace-fully for four days. “It was amazing that in a time in America when there was tremendous dissension there was racial harmony and no fights. I never even saw any disagreements,” Colgan said. “It was in-

teresting. It opened up for me the possibility that we as human be-ings actually could get along with each other if we just tried.” The music of Woodstock had both a cultural and political im-pact. Even today, many people enjoy the music of the ’60s and the legacy it left. “A lot of the music of that time period will remain classic rock. It will remain relevant and be enjoyed by future generations as well as today’s generation,” Col-gan said. “Some of the music from today will meet that standard, but

I don’t think it’s going to be nearly as high in per-centage. There is probably some great rap music, but I don’t see an oldies station 20 years from now that’s going to feature rap music. I don’t think that the level of anger that I hear in rap music will be able to be sustained by people in their 30s and 40s. It’s easy to feel that level of anger when you’re young and disenfranchised, and you don’t quite understand why the world is the way it is.” Over the past 40 years, there have been at-tempts at Woodstock reunions. “It’s never going to be the same. It was just an extraordinary time. I’m really grateful I got to be a part of it,” Colgan said.

40 years of. . .

I don’t know that I’ve ever quite been able to get back to that moment in time, and I probably never will.

“”Richard Colgan

construction technology teacher

Do you know your‘60s music?Match these Woodstock musicians with their hit songs

1. Janis Joplin2. The Who3. Jimi Hendrix4. Santana5. Joe Cocker6. Jefferson Airplane7. Creedence Clear Water Revival

a. With a Little Help from My Friendsb. Purple Hazec. Somebody to Loved. Suzy Qe. Summertime Bluesf. Soul Sacrificeg. Piece of my Heart

1. g 2. e 3. b 4. f 5. a 6. c 7. d

• Out of 500,000 attendees, only 200 were arrested for drug offenses.

• The most documented injuries were lacerations and punc-ture wounds to the feet.

• There were two documented deaths: one person overdosed on drugs and another person was hit by a tractor while sleeping in a field.

• Members of The Grateful Dead were struck by lightning while playing in the rain.

(Based on a survey of 411 students)

46% of students have ’60s music on their iPod or mp3 player

11% know someone who attended Woodstock

Top 5 Favorite ‘60s Artists

1) The Beatles2) Elvis Presley3) Jimi Hendrix4) Rolling Stones5) Johnny Cash

Woodstock Facts

(The Museum at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts)

ometimes the essence of peace to one person can look like chaos to another. John Dickson, former band director at West, feels that in the

case of the Woodstock Music and Arts Fair, it was all a matter of perspective. “I watched a commemoration of Woodstock and it talked about how great it was and I thought, ‘Were you at the same place I was?’ and maybe it’s because of why or how they were there. But to me it was awful,” Dickson said. Dickson attended the event with his two roommates from Brevard Music Camp, where he was spending the summer preceding his senior year at East Henderson. His roommates, who were from New York, had heard of a music and art fair taking place in Bethel, a small town in the south of New York. The three decided to take the weekend to drive up to the event. “Parents would never know about it. What’s the harm; it’s 14 hours on the road. Let’s get on the road! Biggest mistake I ever made,” Dickson said. His father, a Marine Corps drill sergeant-turned-minister, was not the sort to readily give permission for his son to attend an event like Woodstock, so Dickson was careful to keep it qui-et. However, when he was back in Brevard at the end of the weekend, he felt the adventure was not worth its trouble and secrecy.

“To be honest, I didn’t enjoy one second. I was in survival mode. If I lost those two guys I was with, what was I going to do?” Dickson said. Dickson was concerned by an unexpected element of chaos at the Woodstock festival. Pro-jected attendance numbers of 30,000 rose to an estimate 1 mil-lion attempted festival-goers, though only roughly half of that number made it to the event be-cause of backed up traffic trying to reach Bethel. With such an un-anticipated gathering, water and food shortages soon developed. “When we got about half-way there, we found out that the crowds had started to pour in. We didn’t even need a ticket be-cause they’d cut the fences down. There was no property, there were no boundaries,” he said. The massive influx of peo-ple forced the organizers of the event to make the concert free, creating debt of approximately $1 million. However, this was only one of the conflicts in the story of Woodstock. It was originally planned to take place in Wallkill, N.Y., but the concert had to make a last minute move to a dairy farm in Bethel after Wallkill resi-dents passed a law banning the festival. The rain that hit Woodstock and the manure fields

of the dairy farm combined over the weekend to create an acre-wide mud puddle, the smell of which was stirred up by the thousands of people treading its surface, Dickson said. Despite the chaotic atmosphere, there was an

element of peace to Woodstock. “It made the statement that the youth of the country could get big numbers of people together, and do it in a nonviolent, accept-able, peaceable way,” he said. This element of harmony was especially rare in a time when America was experiencing in-tense conflict. Protests of the Vietnam War had begun to grow violent. According to the Western Political Quarterly, in October 1969, two thirds of Americans believed that America’s involve-ment in the Vietnam War was a mistake. The nation’s men were being faced with a draft for a war

many of them could not vote on, and that many opposed with a fierce passion. Woodstock was itself a kind of protest, one of many more peaceful demonstrations. “As for it being glamorous, I guess there are plenty of people that found it that way. That’s what makes the world what it is. I personally was

just glad to get home,” Dickson said.

Has ’60s music had influenceon your tastes?

“Music from the ’60s is very influential to me, and it is also original and catchy. I think it’s great to listen to, and it’s much different than what the music is like now. I’m more into old school mu-sic like ’60s music.

Of all the bands from that era, I would have to say that October is my favorite.”

Amy Castelluccisophomore

“I like ’60s music because it is differ-ent from everything now. It all sounds the same to me and a lot of what people sing about is nega-tive or has to do with violence. My parents didn’t influence me at all in my music

taste. I love Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, the Grateful Dead and the Doobie Brothers.”

Morgan Ray senior

“Music from the 1960s was part of a different era. It tried to bring about peace, love and equality for all. It represented a generation of things that actually mat-tered; the music had meaning and it was

important to a lot of people. Personally, I think Jimi Hendrix was the most revolu-tionary artist from the ’60s.”

Donovan Turnerjunior

“I like ’60s music be-cause of the way the artists made it. They tried to get every sound possible out of the microphone. The beat in the music was unique for that time period and people still listen to it today. Their music really

brings across a message that everyone can relate to, no matter their age.”

Sara Plemmonsfreshman

“I think ’60s music just soothes the soul. It is so relaxing and such a different style than today’s music. All the classics like Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles and Bob Dylan were revolu-tionaries through their music. It was

just all about peace, love, doing your own thing and swinging to your own beat.”

Matt Chastainsenior

”

As for it being glamorous, I guess there are plenty of people that found it that way. I personally was just glad to get home.

“

John Dicksonformer band director

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