In August 1969, masses of people flocked to the famous Woodstock festival, often stopping by a towering red maple tree a little ways off from the main stage. Known to many as the Message Tree, it became a pivotal spot for festival-goers to leave handwritten notes on scraps of paper or cardboard attached to the old tree’s trunk.
One note poignantly read, “SUSAN, MEET YOU HERE SATURDAY 11 A.M., 3 P.M. or 7 P.M.” Another directed Candi Cohen to meet the girls back at the hotel. Dan wrote his apology on a paper plate to Cindy, with a lament that he was “too untogether” to ask for her address, but left his number anyway.
Fifty-five years after Woodstock, the historic Message Tree was cut down under rainy skies on Wednesday due to deteriorating health and safety hazards. The owners of the iconic concert site were reluctant to part with this living symbol, forged in the spirit of the 1969 community at Bethel, New York, from August 15-18. However, the operators of the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts feared the tree, aged over 100 years and situated in a publicly accessible area, posed too great a risk of falling. Plans are now in place to honor its legacy.
“It’s like watching a loved one pass,” expressed Neal Hitch, senior curator at The Museum At Bethel Woods.
In an era devoid of cellphones, this 60-foot (18-meter) tree, located near the information booth, provided a vital means for connecting people amidst the festival’s sea of humanity. Hitch noted that the tree has stood as a tangible link to the historic event, which drew over 400,000 people to Max Yasgur’s dairy farm, located roughly 80 miles (130 kilometers) northwest of New York City, during a rainy and chaotic weekend.
Woodstock’s legend was defined not just by the illustrious performers like Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin but by the massive throngs of blissed-out attendees tightly packed on the muddy hillside before the stage.
“This tree, literally, is in almost every picture that someone took of the stage – looking down from the top of the hill, the tree’s in the bottom corner. So it is like the thing that has stood the test of time,” Hitch remarked. “So to see that loss is both nostalgic and melancholy.”
Hitch shared on Tuesday that remnants such as nails and pins were still embedded in the trunk from notes attached over time. The on-site museum retains some of these surviving messages.
Although the tree is now gone, its legacy is far from forgotten. Bethel Woods, which has managed the site for many years, is soliciting proposals for creating works of art from the tree’s salvageable wood. These artworks will be showcased at the museum next year. Additionally, the site nurtures several saplings created from grafts of the Message Tree.
In the future, Bethel Woods plans to host a regenerative planting ceremony, with the possibility of planting one of these saplings at the original site. While plans remain tentative, Hitch hopes to see the ceremony come to fruition.
“There’s this symbolism of planting something that will be the Message Tree for the next generation,” he said.
