Peace, love, and a red maple tree. A Witness Tree.
Let me tell you a quick historical story about a concert weekend held in upstate New York, in the United States, in August of 1969, that became famous in a lot of the world. I hope my non-U.S. readers enjoy this post.
52 long years ago, the world of rock and roll changed forever on the grounds of a dairy farm in Swan Lake, in the town of Bethel, New York, owned by one Max Yasgur.
No one could have dreamed of what happened on the weekend of August 15-18, 1969, when some 450,000 people (way more than expected) gathered to listen to a rock concert. Overcrowding, drugs, mud. Also, incredible acts of generosity, patience, and love. And yes, music. This concert, and the happenings during it, have gone down in history for so many reasons.
Sadly, Max Yasgur died in 1973, at the age of 53, from a heart attack, in Florida.
I have blogged about Woodstock before, and have told a couple of its stories. Today, my topic for Thursday Tree Love is a tree that witnessed Woodstock and, in a way, participated in it.
During the four days when unimaginable crowds descended on this small dairy farm in a rural town in Sullivan County, New York, people got lost. They got separated from people they came to the concert with, or they tried to find people they had met and then lost. So what did they do? There were no cell phones back then.
They wrote notes and posted them on a red maple tree. I suspect the rocks with messages came later.
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| Photos taken June, 2021 |
The tree is now known as the Message Tree, and is still on the grounds, although it is old and ailing. However, it is being cloned and will live on as new trees through its cloned cells. That's the hope, anyway. Strangely, I never took a picture of the top part of the tree.
Here are my plans to commemorate Woodstock this year: I plan to have music of the 1960's (mainly artists who played at Woodstock) on Monday, then another Woodstock story, an eyewitness (sort of) story, Tuesday. If life doesn't intervene, that is.
I hope you will join me.
Joining with Parul at Happiness and Food and other tree loving bloggers for #ThursdayTreeLove.
Interesting!! Glad to see the Maple tree becoming messenger!! Hope to see the full tree with leaves and branches.
ReplyDelete...I've never been there.
ReplyDeleteCool idea, I look forward to the posts.
ReplyDeleteI've SO enjoyed your Woodstock posts of the past and now I shall add this one to them. The Message Tree. Doesn't it just conjure up all sorts of possibilities?
ReplyDeleteI had not heard this story before. I've seen lots about Woodstock, enough to know I would have never wanted to attend. Interesting how festivals have become commonplace nowadays (well, in the before times).
ReplyDeleteI've always been fascinated by Woodstock. I was just a hair too young.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize Max Yasgur died so soon after Woodstock. I was only 12 years old at the time of Woodstock but I remember reading about it in the papers.
ReplyDeleteIntersting with this tree! I had not heard the story before!
Betty
Interesting and a nice tribute.
ReplyDeleteWow what an interesting post something that I never heard of; love the messaging tree:) thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThats great! The tree took up an important role of the messenger! Great post Alana!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you shared. I had never heard of this story and it is one of hope to me. The name of Messenger Tree is also something that sticks. Thank you and I hope to see you around on the 26!
ReplyDeleteThis is great! I never knew about the message tree, and I'm glad it's still haingin in there, plus being cloned! Wish I'd been at Woodstock but I was only 12.
ReplyDeleteLovely article but if I may? The tree you are showing is not the Message Tree. It is two trees near the Monument that people have adopted as Memorial Trees. One is Charlie's Tree, which is for folks who knew Charlie Maloney, the "Mayor of Woodstock" who was a beloved volunteer at Woodstock and an original '69 Woodstocker. The other, sitting close by, is becoming a spot for others with Woodstock connections, and the festival itself, to be remembered.
ReplyDeleteThe Message Tree is actually across the road from the Monument. There are no signs or memorials to mark it but it was the spot where concertgoers gathered and left messages for each other in the days before, during, and after the mud and the music.
This image is of the actual Message Tree in recent years.
https://duendebymadamzozo.com/woodstock-festival-site/
This is the Message Tree in 1969. The image is fuzzy but you can clearly see the tree to the right of the stage in the image. There are a flock of hippies surrounding it.
https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_892590
Just wanted to set the record straight for historical purposes.
Thanks!
Thank you so much for correcting me. I will need to rework my post a bit and point people to your comment. I will do that in the next couple of days.Alana ramblinwitham
Deletehttps://www.facebook.com/groups/themessagetree
ReplyDelete