20 STORIES FOR 20 YEARS

John Conway

John Conway is the Sullivan County Historian. 

 

“In the summer of 1969, I was pumping gas in Monticello and preoccupied with other things. Fairly early in the summer, we had an awful lot of people stop in and ask for directions to Woodstock. I wasn't really a music fan, and I wasn't aware of the concert, so I was sending people to Woodstock, New York. I guess at some point I read in the paper that there was a concert or maybe someone mentioned it, and I said, ‘oh, no.’ But such is life, I guess. I'm sure they found their way back.  

 

Almost immediately after Woodstock, local governments, responding to much of the populace who had a very dim view of what went on in Bethel that summer, began to pass very onerous laws to prevent a Woodstock-type event from ever happening again. And then it became public knowledge that Alan Gerry was purchasing the Woodstock property and that he had a plan. The attitude of not just local government, but the local population began to change. I'm sure that all along there were some people who thought Woodstock was great and was a key to our financial future, if we just learned how to capitalize on it, but they were in the distinct minority.

 

But once the news came out that it's Alan Gerry who's putting this plan together to capitalize on it, the attitude of the public and the attitude of the government changed 180 degrees almost immediately, and we began to see the potential in the Woodstock name and capitalizing on that cachet. So that was something to really behold. 

 

He had that gravitas, and people trusted him, and people believed that he would only have Sullivan County's best interest in mind. You have to also remember that the county had fallen on very hard economic times in the aftermath of the demise of the hotels. It was desperately searching for something, and here was this gold mine that no one wanted to enter. You know, Joseph Campbell, the great philosopher, said ‘The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure that you seek.’ And that was Woodstock for Sullivan County for decades. We didn't want any part of it, but there was the treasure, and Alan made that all come true.

 

By virtue of being the county historian and having a fairly substantial institutional memory, I was asked to be part [of planning for Bethel Woods]. Alan Gerry had put together a very accomplished team of professional consultants from Canada and elsewhere and he spared no expense in planning this thing. I think that was a big part of the ultimate success about it, which is that he was very meticulous in the planning stage. I remember vividly sitting in on one of the meetings and one of the high-priced consultants actually made a comment. I don't remember specifically what the subject matter was, but he said ‘Some of these things are going to work themselves out as we move forward. We just have to be patient, and wait and see how they happen.’ Alan was rather taken aback by that comment and he said, very emphatically, ‘I didn't get where I am today by sitting back and waiting and seeing and hoping that something's going to happen. I want to deal with these contingencies right now.’ And that sort of set the tone for the rest of the planning stage. 

 

I don't want to overstate the role I played in the planning stages. I was just there and I answered questions about our history, but it was gratifying to have [been] even a little part of that. Then once the museum was established, I did serve on the acquisitions committee for the first few years. So I cherish those memories of having a bit to do with the early days, and getting this thing off the ground. 

 

It was just amazing to see what had become a very bleak environment here because of the economic hard times, to see this thing sort of rise from the ashes.

 

What Alan Gerry always said to me was that his intention with Bethel Woods was to keep the lights on until things change, until the right thing came along. It probably was a lot longer wait than he anticipated, but thank God that we had Bethel Woods because it refocused attention on the area, it rekindled some interest in coming here, and it gave them a reason to come. And I think it was instrumental in what would come later. Listen, we're never going to replace what we had, that golden age. If you didn't live through it, an old timer once said to me, there's no way anyone could ever describe it to you. It was just grander than anyone would ever imagine. We're not recreating that, no matter what happens here, but it seems like we have turned the corner now, although there are economic troubles again... But we're light years ahead of where we were, 15, 20 years ago, and I think a lot of that has to do with what Bethel Woods started. 

It was just something that was unexpected in Sullivan County. We had just learned to settle, I think, for so long, that to see something like this come along was just indescribable. My impression in conversations with Alan Gerry was that he never saw Bethel Woods as the savior. He just saw that as a step toward economic revitalization. And as it turned out, it was a vital step.

 

I was impressed by the acts that they were able to bring to Sullivan County, although we always had a rich tradition of entertainment here. During the heyday of the hotels, virtually everybody who was anybody played here. In earlier days of the hotels, many of these later-famous entertainers, who were at that time nobodies, actually honed their craft, learned, and in many ways created their personas here in the mountains. So it wasn't so unusual to see these celebrities come, but to see them in the venue that's in your own backyard, you know, you're not having to travel to Saratoga or to Tanglewood to see these great acts. It was just something very new and different and refreshing, and I think it led to a sense of optimism that was instrumental in what was to come. I think it gave people hope that we weren't shutting down, all wasn't lost, and it did in fact keep the lights on and then some.”