Woodstock: Richard Schwarz

Richard Schwarz, 60, Old Brookville.

Director of products for company that primarily provides products for medically supervised weight programs.    As the sky turned to dusk, there was an illuminating panoramic view of campfires coupled with tents and vans. It was like a refugee camp for hippies.

I was so tired that I wound up slipping into my sleeping bag in some stranger's Ryder truck. They were very hospitable. People were like that then. 

For lunch there was a yoga and meditation class from the stage between the music of Santana, Country Joe and the Fish, The Band and many others. For dinner, my favorite dish was The Who.

The next morning I woke up and had the quintessential '60s California rock band, The Jefferson Airplane, for breakfast. 

Later in the afternoon, my friends and I walked up to the front of the stage and watched Joe Cocker and his band put on an amazing show. That was the time that Elliott Landy, a photographer for Life magazine, took the shot that my friends and I were in for the special Woodstock edition.  

It began to rain, but no one seemed to mind that either. Instead of complaining, many started to dance and the drummer on the stage joined in with a rain dance kind of beat.  

The last day I finally got my dessert. I was watching the legendary Jimi Hendrix and the Band of Gypsys perform. Though Hendrix's guitar playing is almost not of this Earth, many tend not to realize that Hendrix was such a brilliant songwriter. 

In the end, I have to admit that what impressed me the most, even more than the music and the beautiful grounds, was how nearly a half million individuals stood together in copacetic bliss in what was not always such perfect conditions.

Despite the rain, the mud, the overflowing Porta Pottys and the not always working sound equipment, people respected and supported one another.   I truly believe that the Woodstock Festival worked . . . because of the attitude of sharing a once-in-a lifetime experience.