Richard Sadis

Richard Sadis, 55, Woodbury. Owner of an early intervention agency for children with disabilities.

As we walked into the concert we noticed things inside were different than they were outside. There were very few signs of police presence; buses and vans with people on the rooftops smoking and passing marijuana were everywhere. We checked out the stage and decided on a location for our tent. So we set up house on a small hill to the left of the stage facing a small lake. We drank inside our tent. After a few, it was time to explore our new surroundings, so we poked our heads out of the tent and to our amazement saw people bathing and dancing naked in the lake. We knew then we had arrived at the Promised Land. Remember we were only 15 and 16 at the time.

We never knew who was to perform. I just wanted to be there and have fun. Who ever knew it was history in the making? It was a true love and peace concert. Everyone just taking it all in. It was a paradise, except for the few announcements being made over the PA about some bad drugs.

Late Saturday night and into the early Sunday morning the rains came, and along with the rains, mud everywhere, red clay mud. My gray bell-bottom jeans now dragged six inches under my bare feet. But being the perfect weekend, nothing was going to prevent this event from diminishing the love-in and peace it had become. Although food and water were in short supply, everyone shared whatever they had. When the music finally stopped, everyone knew it was more than just a concert. It was a life-altering and changing time for us all.