40 years ago this month, tens of thousands of people converged on a dairy farm in Bethel, NY, for a three-day-long festival of music, love and peace. The times were turbulent: an unpopular—and too long—war was raging, and the country was in the midst of a social upheaval that divided a nation.

As we approach the anniversary of the 1969 Woodstock Festival, rather than get caught up in the nostalgia of the whole thing, I’ve been contemplating how the world has changed—well, actually, how it has not. Sure we can draw some obvious parallels: we’re enmired in a war that’s gone on for way too long, and it sometimes feels as if we’re more divided than ever.

And we can find some differences, too: in the past 40 years, the Internet alone has changed how we interact and communicate with each other. With MySpace, Facebook and Twitter, we can communicate instantly with people we’ve never met, thousands of miles away.

But even though we communicate differently, what remains is the longing for community and for mutual understanding that underlies our humanity. Certain breaches in netiquette notwithstanding, I’m positive that the free flow of ideas and communication allowed by these new technologies is just one more path along which we’re headed toward a more just and peaceful world.

As I watched a live Facebook stream of President Obama’s last news conference, I marveled not only at the vision of a new community that was being presented, but also at the immediacy of the posts that appeared every few seconds by viewers. It was as if I was in the same room as thousands of people: the posters may not have agreed on everything, but it felt like a free and open forum in which to express yourself. OK, so no freak flags were flying, but the dream for a new world, combined with an unrestrained environment of self-expression, that defined the 1969 Woodstock Festival is still alive and kicking.

Let’s not forget, though, that the Catskill Mountains have been providing a free environment for self-expression for a long time. The painters who flocked here in the 19th century used it to found the first uniquely American school of art. In the early 20th century, Hervey White co-founded the Maverick, a music and art colony near Woodstock that became known for its festivals without which the idea for Woodstock 1969 may never have been formed.

This issue of the Guide celebrates not only the 40th anniversary of the Woodstock Festival, but also the free-spirited love of the arts that makes the Catskills so special. Michael Boyajian has contributed his own memories of growing up in the Woodstock generation. We have also included a section on one of my favorite Catskill Region towns, Andes. Andes is a haven for the arts, combined with good old fashioned Americana, and made truly special by the men and women who now call it their home. And we’ve included a profile of Opus 40, a physical example of what happens when a free spirit like Harvey Fite combines his talents and produces a truly stunning artistic environment that we can all enjoy to this day.

There’s a lot more, from an interview with Ed Sanders of The Fugs, to profiles of composer Joseph Bertolozzi and farmer Adrianne Picciano. And we cap it all off with Roxbury resident Bonnie Walker’s favorite place, Woodchuck Lodge, the home of the Catskills’ own favorite son and original free spirit, John Burroughs.

Yours sincerely,


Sarah Taft
Managing Editor
tafts@catskillmtn.org