Haunted And Happy

Near the end of the Woodstock/1960s exhibit at the Bethel Center For The Arts, anyone who wants to can record their thoughts about that tumultuous decade or tell a story about where they were when the concert took place. Though I passed on that opportunity when visiting the exhibit recently, the summer of '69 has been playing in my head ever since. Which summer of your life do you recall most vividly?

My location that summer? The Windsor Hotel in South Fallsburg, NY, about 15 miles from Yasgur's farm in nearby Bethel. My job? Playing drums with my college quartet called "Sky". My companions? Bob (Farfisa organ), Sandy (Gibson guitar), Bruce (Fender bass). We were there all summer, including the weekend of the legendary concert, playing top 40 cover tunes to entertain the teenage children of hotel guests at this past-its-prime Borscht belt hotel. My pay? I do not recollect. I do remember the snarled traffic on the road leading past the Windsor and I remember it was a great summer, notwithstanding our abysmal living quarters. If you're old enough, what is your summer of '69 story?

Walking through the exhibit, I wondered what might be going through the mind of the teenage attendant I kept running into who worked there. Day in and day out he gets to watch us geezers and geezettes peer at hippie artifacts, wipe away tears, gaze at Carlos, Sly & Jimi doing their magic. What does he make of this codger spectacle? And which event (summer or otherwise) of his life will someday be codified in an exhibit? When he's walking through it will he also feel haunted and happy at the same time?