Duke Devlin, site interpreter for The Museum at Bethel Woods, came for the Woodstock concert in 1969 and never left. Forty years later, Duke is a prominent figure at the museum and arts center, which are located on the site of the original event.  Car & Travel spoke with him about his experiences at the show and with the museum:

C&T: How did you hear of the Woodstock concert?
DD: I was living on a commune in West Amarillo, Tex., when a friend asked me to go with him to visit his girlfriend in New Hope, Penn. I said no, but ended up going when he asked a few more times. In Penn., I saw a flyer for the concert with a list of performers, and there was also word-of-mouth buzz, so I decided to go.

C&T: Did your friend go to the concert with you?
DD: Yes, but I lost track of him on the first day and have never seen him since.

C&T: What made the concert special?
DD: The concert organizers were smart. Instead of hiring off-duty police officers to work as security, they hired hippies. It was hippies watching hippies. I was part of the security team called the Hog Farm—we wore red bandanas with a picture of a pig with wings. It was the only thing that made us different from everyone else there. The weekend was peaceful. Do you know Wavy Gravy? He was head of the Hog Farm.

C&T: Why did you stay?
DD: I stayed as part of the clean-up crew. When you have 500,000 people at a show, the entire county becomes a campground. There were sleeping bags and debris in the woods, everywhere. It took a good two weeks to clean up after. It wasn’t just the 37.5 acres of the concert site that needed to be cleaned. Then, I stayed—I liked the people, the atmosphere and the attitude of the place. I got married, built a farmers market in Jeffersonville, and my wife and I ran it for 25 years.

C&T: How did you get involved with the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts?
DD: The concert was held on Max Yasgur’s farm. After the event, people used to come to the farm to see where it had taken place. There were no signs, but they would still find it. Max would take the time to stop and talk to folks about the event. He passed away in 1973. After that, when I saw people on the farm, I would stop and talk to them. When the museum opened, I was hired on as site interpreter. I love the job.

C&T: What is the best part about working for the museum?
DD: I like giving talks to school groups. I give some history and recount my own experiences of being there. Some of the older kids really get into it—they come dressed in sixties outfits and know about the musicians of the time. They have an appreciation for it.

C&T: What is your favorite museum exhibit?
DD: It’s impossible for me to pick one. The entire museum is great. Woodstock was the cap on the end of the sixties. It wouldn’t have happened without the events of the fifties and early sixties. The museum does such a good job of putting that all together.