Alumni Registry

My friends left on Friday night to go back to the inn. I would not leave because Joan Baez was coming on. She sounded fantastic. I didn't see my friends again because they took a different road to get where we were to meet. I wasn't lonely because everyone was so friendly including the bungalow residents. I hitched to get to Monticello to where my parents were staying. I never hitched before in my life. Everyone were so friendly. I feel I changed after the festival. I gained more confidence.

From arriving on the hill and within minutes you've sat down 5 people away from friends from your hometown. The full range of music new acquaintance's the love and kindness of everyone present. Wow

We naively did not bring a tent or food. Planned on meeting other friends there that did have both. However, because of the overwhelming crowd it was not easy finding them. No problem...a group of people we had just met welcomed us into their camp site and provided us with both. Everyone we came in contact with was generous and welcoming even the police that were there for crowd control. Someone I was with had epilepsy and had an attack. None of us knew to address the situation and two policemen rushed over and stayed with him until the episode was over. It truly was a magical experience to be with such a large group and share nothing but good vibes and great music.

I drove up with my sister and a friend on Thursday aEernoon [sic]. We slowed to a crawl as we approached the parking areas and were grateful to get the last parking spot in a field even though the car was on a steep hill which slopped to the right. When  my friend opened the door to get out of the car, she fell out of the car and rolled down the hill. We all laughed hysterically."

Woodstock was the portal between adolescence and adulthood for my best friend and me, who had graduated from high school in June and were about to start college in September. Everyone there could feel they were a part of something historic early on, and that feeling has only been magnified -- exponentially -- over the years. I wound up in a corporate job and felt constantly, and over many years, that Woodstock and everything it meant to me had instilled me with certain core values that guided me in many ways: an aversion to the extreme capitalism that has enslaved the world since, a reverence for the spiritual, a commitment to fairness and equity, a deep sense of honesty, integrity and principle.

When we left the festival, we felt that anything was possible when people work together. That feeling has never left me.

We were driven as far as possible coming in, but we thought we'd give our hosts a break on Sunday, and we hitchhiked all the way back to Accord. It was a challenge, as we didn't know the way, and we did rely a bit on the kindness of the people who picked us up.