Thursday Nostalgia

Woodstock, Hippies and Pet Rocks

It was August 1969.  I was almost ten years old.  

I rarely called my mom while she was working at the Horton Hospital in Middletown, New York.  But this was serious. “Mommy, there are a bunch of hippies sleeping and hanging out on our front lawn,” I said. My mom didn’t get alarmed easily.  She told me not to worry about it as long as they don’t go in the backyard.

About 8 or 9 motley dressed big kids were resting between our front fence and grove of lilac trees.  It was shady enough for them to take a nap.  As I remember that weekend, straggly looking guys and girls in halters and cut-offs walked or hitchhiked to Bethel, New York where some concert was happening. They called it Woodstock. I am sure you’ve heard of it. Artists like Jimi Hendrix, Richie Havens, and many famous rock bands performed to droves of young fans on Yasgur’s Farm.  I didn’t know that the singer/songwriter who made the theme song for the concert did not attend the event.  Joni Mitchell, stayed in Manhattan, but the song wrote Woodstock (which was performed by Crosby, Stills and Nash) still pulls me back to the time of free love, psychedelics, bell bottoms, and Purple Passion.

I always thought hippies were cool.  But even at ten, I was too conservative to be one. 

I remember little Deedee Booth and Kerry Freeman, two blonde inseparable girls, wearing headbands, blue sunglasses, and midrift blouses with puffy sleeves. They were the first girls I saw with pet rocks.  It was more of a trendy fashion for them. 

Real hippies had no fashion.  They just wore whatever.  It was a lifestyle without restriction.  Sex, drugs and rock and roll.  Not necessarily in that order.

There weren’t too many hippie families in Bloomingburg.  But the one family that really lived the lifestyle of true hippies was the Hallecks.

The father, Mahlon Halleck, was a musician and very laid back.   I took guitar and piano lessons from him for some time.  Charlie Helms, who passed away, took guitar lessons as well.  He was pretty good at playing too.  

Deedee Halleck was the mom and a filmmaker.  I remember seeing a film she made in the library next door to my house.  It was about Mr. Story, an old man who was a craftsman who caned chairs.  It was a black-and-white film and I think maybe one of her first films.  Deedee had long black hair and was so open.  

They had all boys, Ezra, Peter and Tovey.  

Their house was out on Burlingham Road near Mr. and Mrs. Godwey’s house.

I never in my life called the Halleck’s by Mr. or Mrs.  They were Deedee Halleck and Mahlon Halleck.  If I think about it, their own kids never called them mommy or daddy. 

Behind their house was a large barn in which they kept chickens, goats and sheep.  When you walked into the house, you were met by a wall full of art with the pictures of each the Beatles --, Paul, Ringo, John, and George – staring back at you.  Lots of art, and colors in contrast to the white walls and wooden flooring.   A set of glass doors separated you from the room where we took music lesson.  

I remember a day that my mom and my sister and I went over to help the Hallecks slaughter chickens. It was quite a process and I didn’t know my mom knew how to do such things.  She gave all the chickens a good swallow of vinegar to start the cleaning process. We chopped their heads off with an ax and that was first time I understood running around like chicken without a head.

Me and the boys were having fun with the chicken legs.  After they were cut from the chicken, we would pull a tendon and make them open and close into a fist.   

All of the toys in Halleck’s house were designed for learning.  I don’t remenber seeing a Matchbox cars or Rock’em Sock’em Robots.  Most of the games were made of wood and designed to make you think. Sesame Street was the only show playing on the sqwauk box.

Deedee Halleck would milk the goats by hand. All of us kids got a chance to milk the goat too. It was always fun going to the Halleck’s house.

For a short spell, Mahlon Halleck was the organist/music director at the church.  He was a nice guy, great musician, but he did not seem to fit in at church.  But he tried.

I have always wanted to see how the Halleck family ended up.  I know that Deedee and Mahlon parted ways.  Ezra is probably a scientist. I am sure Peter and Tovey are accomplished at whatever they decided to do in life.  I think they may have had another child before leaving Bloomingburg.

Occasionally, there was an older girl at the house.  She was stunningly beautiful, very lithe and graceful in her movements. And yes, I was watching. Unlike the rest of the family, she had light, almost blond hair.    I think her name was Adrienne.  I later learned that she was Mahlon’s daughter from a previous relationship or marriage.  Adrienne was a ballet dancer and very beautiful. Oh. I think I said that already.

A few years ago, I reached out to Deedee Halleck. She is still a well-known filmmaker. I even sent her emails just to say hello.  I also reached out to Ezra Halleck who is a professor in the Mathematics department at New York City College of Technology.  They never responded. 

I was surprised to learn when I got older that my friend Wayne Seward was deeply involved with the music festival.  He was not much older than me.  Thirteen at the time maybe. But he sculpted the Woodstock Monument which is still a marker of the site. When I became a teenager, me and Wayne would have jam sessions together.  He played drums and because his house was too small, his trap stayed in my living room for several week.  Cool guy.

Thank you to the Halleck family.  Such good memories.