Flocking to Woodstock

WOODSTOCK, N.Y. -- Woodstock NY --- "Spare change for a cold beer?" asks a 20-year-old who calls himself "Swilly Dog" as he strums his guitar on the Village Green.

For months, Swilly's been getting by on his wits, charm and chords, hopping freight trains and camping in the woods. Now he's paused in Woodstock, NY, a place that, ever since Bob Dylan crashed here to write "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Subterranean Homesick Blues," has been friendly to itinerant, folk singer wannabes.

This is the village unjustly famous for the music festival that never happened here: in 1969, a half-million hippies descended on Bethel, about an hour away, not Woodstock. But as radicals and urban refugees lingered in the area, the town's anti-establishment reputation also stuck around. The word "Woodstock" came to mean more than just a place, but an emblem of a by-gone era, even a marketing tool that stood for a whole generation's system of beliefs.

Today, American, German and Brazilian pilgrims take the bus up from New York City, disembark on the Village Green, and wander the town's white-clapboard buildings now converted into boutiques, restaurants, and cafes, eager to absorb what's left of the Woodstock aura.

They won't be entirely disappointed, thanks to folks like Swilly --- even if he and his band of Village Green loiterers occasionally complain about outrageous real estate prices, speeding cars and too many people. "But a lot of people understand the tourists keep the place going," pipes up a 26-year Woodstock native named Dragonfly. Like American towns everywhere struggling to find their financial niche, the tourist/resident mix is difficult to balance, if not a Catch 22.

Is it true, then, as some locals complain, that "the real Woodstock" is gone?

Yes and no. Because, for every gourmet deli there's an old-school hippie craft shop still clinging to an Aquarian, tie-dyed past. For every Mercedes SUV and designer clothing store there's a ratty Ford station wagon and a gallery called "Love."

Besides, spirit departed or not, this 6,241-person strong town has more going on than most cities ten times its size. Stop by any time of year and you'll stumble upon a blues festival, yoga conference, art studio tour, drumming circle or impromptu party in a place called the Magic Meadow. Hence, the Chamber of Commerce's apt slogan, "The Colony of the Arts."

Amusingly, worries that bucolic Woodstock would be spoiled by tourism are nothing new. "Woodstock is today being threatened by its own popularity," reported the Boston Transcript, back in the summer of 1924.

A look at Woodstock history shows that "locals" have always braced themselves against the invasion of outsiders, be they turn of the 18th century Dutch settlers imposing themselves on Algonkian-speaking Esopus natives, or Victorian-era New Yorkers taking boats up the Hudson to summer alongside working class farmers, tannery workers and quarries. Somehow, everyone has mostly gotten along.

By the early 20th century, institutions like the Art Students League of New York and the Byrdcliffe Arts Colony attracted the first wave of "counter-culture" artists. In the 1920s and 30s came the Woodstock Artists Association (for visual artists), the Woodstock Guild (craftspeople), and the Maverick Art Colony (actors and playwrights).

"There's been a long tradition in this area for crafts, arts, music," says Paula Nelson, president of the Woodstock School of Art, which offers classes in its studios just east of town. Behind the School is an enchanting (and little known) park of stone creations by visiting Irish, Japanese and Dominican sculptors, scattered among the pine trees.

The hippie invasion of the 70s only cemented Woodstock's reputation as a hub of idealism and cultural tourism. Since then, the town --- which has three bookstores, four photography galleries, and more than a dozen other galleries --- has been a retreat for artists of all persuasions. Pat Metheny, Steely Dan's Donald Fagen, and The Band's Levon Helm are among the prominent musicians with homes tucked among and near Woodstock's seven hamlets; Kate Pierson, of The B-52s fame, even runs a retro-kitsch lodging called Lazy Meadow Motel.

Looming over the town are the wooded slopes of the Catskills. West on Glasco Turnpike is the campus of Byrdcliffe, overlooking Woodstock from its perch half way up Guardian Mountain. A 10-minute's drive up Meads Mountain Road leads to the Overlook Mountain trailhead and a one hour hike to a fire tower. Also here, next to a 19th century farmhouse, gleams the red and gold temple of the Karma Triyana Dharmachakra Tibetan Buddhist monastery and retreat center. Incongruous, yes, but somehow not surprising for Woodstock.

But most of what's to see and do is down in the village and accessible by foot (so do park at one of the satellite lots in town, not right off the Village Green). Each of the four main roads --- Tinker Street, Rock City Road, Tannery Brook Road and Mill Hill Road --- are lined with diversions. Sidewalks sales and flea markets occur throughout the summer. The Colony Cafe and Joyous Lake are the two main venues for rock and folk shows, open mikes and poetry readings.

The trick is to decide when to come. Unless you don't have a preference, pick a weekend that coincides with your area of interest. Festivals come and go, but this year, highlights include the Woodstock Fringe Festival of Theatre and Song (Aug. 8-Sept. 3), Woodstock Guitar Festival and Fireworks (Aug. 20, rain date Aug 27), Woodstock Film Festival (Sept. 28-Oct. 2), and Artists Studio Tours (Oct. 8-9). The Woodstock Arts Consortium has organized an on-going "second Saturdays" festival (June-Oct.), including Woodstock Poetry Festival readings.

Every year the Woodstock Playhouse and Bird on a Cliff Theater Co host theater performances, Maverick Concerts feature classical recitals, and the Woodstock Chamber Orchestra plays in the area. Halloween means a parade, downtown trick-or-treating and a block party. In December, the Holiday Open House (Dec 2) has included belly dancers and fire eaters. (Woodstock being Woodstock, things can change, so contact the Chamber of Commerce Info Booth to confirm.)

With such a colorful tradition of defying the status quo, the question posed by the town isn't so much "Is it dead?" --- because of course isn't. Each painter and poet still aim for universal truths. Songs of love and protest are sung and strummed by Swilly Dog for the same immortal reasons.

Rather, it's worth questioning whether the trappings of radicals --- the scraggly hair, the tied-dyed shirts, the multiple piercings --- have lost their significance.

Consider this year's Memorial Day parade. Lining the Village Green were Woodstockers sporting various looks as obvious as any Baseball-Capped Frat Boy's: Grizzled Hippie, Tattooed Neo-Tribal, Safety-Pinned Post-Punk, the Harley Davidson Biker Dude/Dudette. When the parade climbed Mill Hill and made the turn onto Rock City Road, it was the firemen and marching bands, in their button-down uniforms and hats, who seemed like the iconoclasts, not the throngs of well-meaning, alternatively dressed locals.

After a century of non-conformists loitering in Woodstock, it's hard to stand out anymore.

 

Where to Dine in Woodstock, NY: The Bear Café

by Ethan Gilsdorf

Woodstock, NY --- Like just about everything else in Woodstock, NY, The Bear Cafe has its roots in the local arts scene.

The restaurant began in 1971, not long after the influx of hippies into the area. Founded by Albert Grossman, a music industry veteran who managed artists like Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, The Band and Peter, Paul and Mary, it was operated by Bernard and Mary Lou Paturel, thrived until 1980 and then went into decline.

Woodstock locals Peter Cantine and Eric Mann decided to refurbished and reopen the place in 1988. As teenagers, Cantine had been a busboy and Mann a dishwasher at the old Bear Cafe. After stints, Canine says, "climbing the ladders in the kitchen and the dining room" of New York restaurants, they returned home in more ways than one, Mann as chef and Cantine as manager. A year ago, Cantine and Mann joined with a third partner, Andy Cooper, who helped them purchased the property which they had been renting for the past 16 years from Sally Grossman, Albert's widow.

Magazines like Saveur, Gourmet and Wine Spectator have gradually discovered Mann's winning cuisine, a blend of American and French, and singled the Bear as a top Catskills dining spot. His signature dishes include an endive and watercress salad (with warm polenta croutons, gorgonzola cheese, pears and cranberry vinaigrette) and filet mignon (with port garlic sauce and stilton blue cheese). Cantine says the menu has changed considerably in the 17 years since they opened. No longer relying on butter and cream, dishes have evolved with diners' growing sophistication.

But remarkably, Mann has never had any formal training. "Eric learned the trade the European way, dishwasher on up," says Cantine, dressed in a salmon-colored linen shirt and white pants. He sat at one of his tables overlooking the rocky bed of the Sawkill river to reminisce about his place's origins. "He's tortured like any good artist is. The pressure from him is 100 percent internal, to please people, to improve."

The Bear Cafe building dates to at least 1905; Cantine hypothesizes the space was a storage barn for a general store across the street. Today, the rustic wood interior has been furnished with harmonizing wooden tables, a bright bar, ceiling fans and soft lighting. Paintings of tropical locales by Cantine's grandmother, Jo (Arosemena) Cantine, are the only splash of color. The place manages to feel both classy and romantic, while also welcoming to casual diners and families with children.

Weekenders from New York, who "go soup to nuts" with multi-course meals and bottles of wine, may be his bread and butter. "But we also feed some of the town highway workers," he says, listing dishes like his burgers with fresh-cut fries and chicken with green peppercorn sauce and garlic mashed potatoes that have a wide appeal across age and class. "You go to other places and they're pigeonholed."

Above all, Cantine is most proud of his place in the community. "People are emotionally invested in your restaurant and menu items," he says, describing the "local uprisings" each time he tried to take the filet mignon and chicken off the menu. "Over the years we've seen babies born and raised on our food."

Peter Cantine points to a busboy who, once upon a time, was a three-year-old regular client, eating steak and brown sauce at the Bear Cafe. Almost wistfully he adds, "And look at him today."

The Bear Café, Bearsville Theater Complex, Route 212, Bearsville, NY; 845-679-5555; www.bearcafe.com. Open for dinner from 5-10 p.m. Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday; till 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Closed Tuesdays. Appetizers $7.95-$13.50, salads $5.95-$16.50, entrees $17.95-$28.95.

 

Woodstock, NY, itinerary

>Friday

4 p.m. Check in
Getaway on the Falls Tinker Village, 5 Waterfall Way, Woodstock, NY 845-679-2568 www.tinkervillagewoodstock.com
"Real Woodstock" lodging in a funky collection of efficiency cabins set among trees and gardens, alongside the Tannery Brook. Hosts Liza Szarejko and Joe Fassino offer plenty of helpful advice and Woodstock lore. Private swimming hole for guests under the waterfall. Apts and studios: $125, cottages $140.

5 p.m. Get Oriented
Woodstock Chamber of Commerce Information Booth just off the Village Green on Rock City Road 845-679-6234 www.woodstockchamber.com
Let information specialist Pam Biesele advise you on festivals, events, entertainment, dining and lodging. Open Thurs 3-6 p.m., Fri and Sat 11 a.m.-6 p.m., Sun 11 a.m.-5 p.m., May 1-Oct 31.

7 p.m. Dinner Joshua's Café and Caterers 51 Tinker St, Woodstock 845-679-5533
Middle Eastern specialties like stuffed artichokes and salmon-wrapped asparagus spears. With internet cafe and espresso bar. Entrees $12 and up.

>Saturday

10 a.m. Brunch
Heaven 17 Tinker Street 845-679-0011 www.woodstockheaven.com
Have a coffee and pastry, or a more elaborate meal like La Dolce Vita, French toast stuffed with sausage, two eggs and goat cheese or a Portobello mushroom sandwich. Entrees $5.50-$9.75

noon Art stop
Woodstock School of Art 2470 Route 212, Woodstock, www.woodstockschoolofart.com
Lectures with artists Saturdays at noon through August 13 ($2). Visit their gallery and explore the sculpture park in the woods.

3 p.m. Strolling town
Wander the galleries and boutiques of Tinker Street, Rock City Road, Tannery Brook Road and Mill Hill Road

6 p.m. Dinner
The Bear Cafe, Bearsville Theater Complex, Route 212, Bearsville 845-679-5555 www.bearcafe.com Entrees $17.95-$28.95

9 p.m. Rock out
Joyous Lake 42 Mill Hill Road, Woodstock, 888-679-1969, www.joyouslake.net or: The Colony Café 22 Rock City Road, Woodstock, 845-679-5342, www.colonycafe.com
Try either club, depending on what's on, for blues, rock, reggae and folk concerts. The Colony Café has open mike music and poetry nights; At Joyous Lake, the kitchen is open until 1 a.m.

>Sunday

9 a.m. Quick snack
Bread Alone, 22 Mill Hill Road, Woodstock, 845-679-2108, www.breadalone.com. Grab an espresso and European style, organic baked good.

10 a.m. Drive and hike
Take the Glasco Turnpike from town and wander the 300-acre campus of the Byrdcliffe Arts Colony on Guardian Mountain (self-guided tour maps available), then head up Meads Mountain Road to the KTD Buddhist Monastery and take the trail to Overlook Mountain.

Contact Ethan Gilsdorf, a poet and writer from Somerville, at egilsdorf@yahoo.com.