18 August 15 • 2019
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oodstock — the name alone 
conjures something groovy, 
gigantic and groundbreak-
ing. In American culture, Woodstock 
was monumentally historical for the 
music and so much more. 
Fifty years ago, on Aug.15, 1969, 
about half a million people — 10 times 
the anticipated number — descended 
upon the town of Bethel in upstate 
New York to be part of the peaceful, 
life-altering three-day music fest forever 
known as Woodstock. The anniversary 
is bittersweet, however. Just a few weeks 
before the 50th anniversary concert 
planned for Aug. 16-18, it was canceled 
after countless setbacks.
But 50 years ago, they came from all 
over the country to experience some of 
the most talented musicians of all time 
— 31 acts ranging from the famous to 
the relatively unknown. Richie Havens 
took the stage first at 5 p.m. that Friday. 
Jimi Hendrix concluded the festival at 
9 a.m. Monday with his blazing “Star-
Spangled Banner.” 
“When Jimi Hendrix played the 
‘
Star Spangled Banner’
 at the end, I 
was floored. I could hear the bombs 
and devastation in his interpretation. 
I cried,” recalls Ann Abrams, who last 
year moved to Ann Arbor, “where there 
are still people who hold the values of 
Woodstock close to their hearts and live 
them daily.”

Woodstock was spearheaded by four 
Jewish promoters — Michael Lang, 
Artie Kornfield, Joel Rosenman and 
John Roberts. But it was Max Yasgur 
who literally saved the day after the 
town of Woodstock, N.Y., declined to 
host the event. He offered his 600-acre 
dairy farm about 50 miles away. The 
neighbors started protesting and boy-
cotting his milk, but Yasgur, the son of 
Russian Jewish immigrants, leased his 
farm out anyway and became an instant 
counterculture hero. 
Legend has it that four years after 
Woodstock, and two years before his 
untimely death at age 53, Yasgur visited 
Israel and announced to retired Prime 
Minister David Ben-Gurion: “I’
m Max 
Yasgur of Bethel.” Ben-Gurion replied, 
“Oh, yeah, that’
s where Woodstock was, 
wasn’
t it?”
Here’
s what local Detroiters had to 
say about the iconic, legendary music 
event that forever shaped their lives.

ANN ABRAMS
Abrams was 17 and about to graduate 
from high school in Mount Vernon, 
N.Y. Her boyfriend then, Jay Grossman, 

had just finished his 
freshman year at C.W
. 
Post College and bought 
them tickets, which she 
still has framed.
“It was extraor-
dinary. A peaceful, 
huge crowd of tie-
dyed, bandana-clad, 
blue jean-wearing contemporaries, all 
joyfully arriving together. It felt like 
heaven,” says Abrams, who has lived in 
Michigan for more than 25 years. “The 
sound of the music was incredible. As 
Richie Havens played ‘
Freedom,’
 it was 
more than inspiring. I remember think-
ing, ‘
I’
ll never forget this. And I still 
haven’
t.’
”
Everyone shared food with each 
other — and marijuana, long before it 
was legal. “It was legal there, it seemed,” 
she says.
So much music. So much talent. So 
much rain. 
“Luckily, I brought two pairs of san-
dals because I left one buried in the 
mud,” she says. “There were no fights, 
no arguments and it truly was like a 
dream. It was so powerful. We were all 

so against the war in Vietnam, 
and it felt like we were communicating 
a message to those in charge.
“I consider Woodstock one of 
the pivotal moments of my life,” she 
says. “It was transformative.”
On the 20th anniversary of the sec-
ond day of Woodstock, Aug. 16, 1989, 
Abrams’
 son was born. “I kept calling 
him Woody — for Woodstock. His 
name is Isaac, but Woodstock was still 
on my mind.”

MARK KELLER
Keller was a sophomore at Wayne 
State University when he flew to 
Rochester, N.Y., and 
then hitchhiked to 
Bethel. And like the 
thousands who got 
caught in the 10-mile 
traffic backup — 
deemed the largest traf-
fic jam in the history of 
the Catskills — Keller 
got out of the car and walked the last 

JULIE SMITH YOLLES SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

jews d
in 
the

Locals share indelible memories of three days of peace, love and music.

“I remember thinking, ‘
I’
ll never forget 
this. And I still haven’
t.”

— ANN ABRAMS

c

t 

so against the war in Vietnam,
and it felt like we were communicating

c.
c.

Main photo: Day 3 of Woodstock, Bethel, 

N.Y., Aug. 17, 1969.

 Bottom photos: These are from Ann 

Abrams of Ann Arbor, including the 

pup tent she shared with her 

boyfriend at Woodstock.. 

WOODSTOCK WHISPERER/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Ann Abrams

COURTESY ANN ABRAMS

Mark Keller

COURTESY MARK KELLER

Woodstock’s50th