THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 15, 1994 TAG: 9406150026
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Larry Maddry
DATELINE: 940615 LENGTH: Medium
Are you ready for this? The 25th anniversary of Woodstock!
{REST} Yep, only in America would it be possible to follow the day no one will forget with one most of us would like to.
Plans for ``Woodstock '94'' are already under way with a gathering of 250,000 expected - including young people and the flower children who have aged into parenthood - for the rock, metal and pop concerts at Saugerties, N.Y., two months from now.
Gosh, it seems like only yesterday that an entire generation was smoking pot, wearing peace symbols that looked suspiciously like Mercedes Benz hood ornaments, mooning the police and singing ``Puff the Magic Dragon.''
Ah, the good old days. Those anti-establishment dropouts from the Great Society must be about 50 now. And if you're wondering what happened to them just look around. You'll find a lot of them at the PTA meeting complaining about children's loss of values.
Even more can be found wearing pinstripes and button-downs in the corporate board rooms or wielding a gavel at the Rotary Club luncheon. And, of course, their voices are heard in other places too:
``Attention K-mart shoppers. Today's only home value is a special of 20 percent off all backyard barbecue equipment. Aisle eight.''
Given the media's usual strong focus on anniversary events, there's certain to be heavy coverage, with lots of where-are-they-now interviews with people like Joan Baez and Crosby, Stills and Nash.
But while those who were once there have every right to celebrate their part in Woodstock, I suspect those interviews won't be very gripping. Certainly they will pale by comparison with the World War II veterans who, as President Clinton said, changed our lives forever.
When a child asks granddad what he did during D-Day, the answer is likely to be compelling.
But what does an aging former hippie say when his child asks: What did you do at Woodstock daddy?'' Maybe:
``Me and your mammma - who was known as Princess Passionata back then - passed a bottle of cheap wine back and forth until we puked. Then we went skinny-dipping.''
One of the fascinating questions concerning Woodstock is whether Clinton will be invited. And if so, will he attend? You remember that the D-Day anniversary posed special problems for the president because he had ducked military service in Vietnam - along with Dan Quayle and many others.
I can almost hear Gordon Liddy, the lock-and-load, take-no-prisoners radio show host salivating at the thought of Clinton and Woodstock:
``Yes, madam, I think the draft-dodging coward should definitely go to Woodstock. Maybe he could bring a marijuana wreath and lay it on the stage while a band played `Inhale to the Chief.' ''
Incidentally, if you are planning to attend Woodstock '94, make sure you take along lots of money before you unpack your roach clip and glow-in-the-dark love beads for the Aug. 13-14 concerts.
The price of admission is a whopping $125 a head. Talk about big bucks. In the old days, that kind of money would have supplied our commune (The Ghent Granola and Snoopy in the Sky Sect of Oracular Vision) with bean sprouts and musk-scented candles for a year.
by CNB