20 STORIES FOR 20 YEARS

After 35 years with IBM, Rick retired and became a Bethel Woods volunteer. 

 

“My wife's from Sullivan County, and we just love the venue, starting before it even became Bethel Woods. We used to go every year when they had the unofficial anniversary concerts.  

 

I've been volunteering for about 14 years, my wife's been volunteering longer, and we've been members for at least 10 years. I also worked there as a security guard. 

 

One of the things I’ve done the most is box office support. I'd go there the day of a show and get the overflow of phone calls for the box office, and I would help people and answer questions. One time I was talking to a lady for like an hour. I just couldn't get off the phone because she went to Woodstock in 1969 and she was just going on and on and on about how she loved it up there and she lived in the city and she wanted to go to a show and I just let her talk. I said, ’All right, I guess we're going to be here for a while.’ It was a lot of fun. She didn't drive and I was talking to her about taking a bus, just listening to her stories and going with it.

 

When I was working security for a couple of years and working backstage, I got to interact with the bands a little bit. The guys from Cheap Trick were very social, they were coming for a couple of years in a row and were like, ‘Hey guys, hopefully it's not going to rain this year.” And Bret Michaels was amazing, he brought his mountain bike and he wanted to know which way he could take his bike and go.  

 

It's just a happy place to be. I love to get up there a few hours early and tailgate and relax with my wife or my friends, and we're just BS-ing about the show. Tailgating is by far the best. We'll talk to people we don't even know. Because we work there, we would see people there for the first time walking up with their chairs and I'm like, ‘Excuse me. Do not bring your chair. Please bring it back to the car.’ So many times I've done that. I'm like, ‘You can bring a blanket and a couple of things in a bag, but please bring that back to your car because you're not going to be able to get it in with it.’ 

 

We saw Furthur one year, and this one guy who was with a group was trying to get in, and he was trying to trade his turtle for a ticket. I couldn't believe it. The guy said, ‘This is my turtle, Terrapin, and I'm willing to give him up for a ticket,’ and I'm like, oh my God, this is crazy. 

 

Then the people I was there with had one extra lawn ticket. They're like, ‘Listen, keep your turtle, and we'll get you in.’ 

 

I took one of my friends to see The Who and to see the Woodstock monument. It's like Yankee Stadium. It's like going to West Point for a football game. It's just one of those places you just have to go. At least for me, it's one of the best places, one of my happy places. I love going there.”