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ONE CAN NOT LIVE ON PEANUT BUTTER AND WINE ALONE: ADVENTURES AT A CANCELED ROCK FESTIVAL copyright 1996-2006 Robb Strycharz part 8 FRIDAY, JULY 10, 1970 continued I watched as they drove off to Springfield. They said they'd be back in 20 minutes. We should have questioned that figure; it would have spared us a lot of worry. My gut feeling was they would never be seen again. But then, given our lifestyle, such paranoia was commonplace. While we waited we had a mumblety-peg tournament on the front lawn. We had no idea the knife game went back to the 1600s. We'd just learned the game it a few months before and we were hooked. About 30 minutes later there was still no sign of Bill. We were beginning to get concerned. Was he MIA or was the 20-minute figure highly unrealistic? Springfield was a large city. Depending on what section they were heading to, they could still be on their way there. About 45 minutes later we were beginning to believe the worst. "Shit, man. I bet Billy's been busted." "Ya. It's those two guys, they stood out too much." "Shit man... and he's got our money." An hour later we finally spied the Sporty Car roaring down the road. WHEW! Bill came by to drop off the stuff but still needed to drop our friends back at Szots. The rest of us rushed inside to check out the quality of this alleged Michuocan. Billy held up the baggie to his hand. The dope was a “three-finger” ounce. We all nodded our approval. The lids were quite righteous. We sat around the kitchen table breaking down the flower tops and removing the seeds and tiny twigs. Then began preparing some joints and small stashes of primo flowertops for the road. At the time I was still the Master Roller... with several apprentices. I had earned this dubious reputation by being able to roll nearly an entire nickel bag into one joint. Part of my method required the use of two papers instead of one. But, then we all used two papers else the joints burned unevenly and threatened to fall apart. At the time we had discovered these rather heavy "El Pino" wheat-straw papers which we joked were half cardboard. My secret for over-packing involved the El Pinos and a patented compression technique. The results were often referred to as "pencil joints"... not just because they were yellow, but because they were nearly as dense as wood. I looked at Davy. The joint he was rolling was already becoming loose and unwieldy, being a 1/2-inch thick with tiny twigs breaking through the layers of paper. “Ah fuck” he muttered as it self-destructed. While Greg was off cashing his paycheck, Nelson finally called. His friend and hitchhiking companion Tom had finally made it in from Worcester. That was good news, but there was not much we could do until Greg made it back with the Bus. It seemed we would be leaving closer to 5:00 than 4p. No matter. We had thought it through. At Nelson's his entire family was assembled on the driveway to say goodbye. I was totally unprepared for their emotional sendoff. His mom cried the whole time, admonishing him to be careful and to come back in one piece. Of all of us, Nelson probably had the closest ties with his parents. As the tearful goodbyes and hugs continued we finished stuffing Nelson and Tom's gear in the back of Devil Bus. Since there would be four people in the rear passenger compartment most of our gear had to fit in the section over the engine in the rear... home of the infamous spare tire that none of us knew was absolutely worthless because it had a rim that would not fit the Bus. Soon the gear was piled near the ceiling, blocking the view out the rear window. With six people and all their gear the poor Bus would be toting a heavy load indeed. With its 72 mighty horsepower meant we were allocated a meager 12 HP apiece. Hardly reassuring. Curious about just how long a drive it would be, I jotted down the odometer reading on the sleeve of my Army Jacket. In another part of the world: MOUNTAINDALE FETE IS IS BLOCKED BY COURT MONTICELLO, N, Y., July 10 (AP) — Justice Russell Hunt of the State Supreme Court served decision today on an injunction motion, effectively blocking plans for a rock music festival this weekend at Mountaindale, in the Catskills. The move leaves in effect a restraining order granted in Albany against a series of musical events scheduled by Orwell Ventures, Inc., for the Mountaindale site. A concert by Van Cliburn scheduled for last weekend was precluded by the order. This weekend's program was to include several rock music bands. Justice Hunt reserved decision on a motion by Attorney General Louis J. Lefkowitz to have the festival brought under the new mass-gathering law. The statute requires promoters to make special arrangements for events expected to attract more than 5,000 people for more than 24 hours. A Health Department spokesman expressed concern that prospective festival-goers were moving into the Mountaindale area despite the ruling barring the festival. The justice gave no indication of when he would rule on the injunction motion and the Attorney General's motion.
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