Original Woodstock Stage Found Deep in the Woods
Steve Gold was just 15 years old when he heard the news that a free music festival was making its way to Sullivan County, New York, the area in which he lived at the time. The year was 1969. The location was referred to as Max’s (later to be known as Woodstock). And Max Yasgur’s Dairy Farm in Bethel, New York, was where he and some 400,000-plus people headed for three and a half days of music and memories.
It’s an event that changed his life and something that has fueled his creative side to this day. Gold has taken a portion of the original 8,000-square-foot stage and turned it into a new kind of magic. Today, Gold operates Peace of Stage, an online collectible store offering groovy items made from the actual Woodstock stage. From pendants, lockets and key chains to frames, guitar pick trays, wooden trays, peace pipes (go figure, those are currently sold out) and more.
Credit: Peace of Stage
What Happened to the Original Woodstock Stage?
About three weeks after Woodstock — around Labor Day — the event promotors started selling everything associated with the event from the stage to light poles. If it had anything to do with the event, you can guess it was pretty much up for sale.
Gold wasn’t even aware of the sale until his girlfriend’s father made mention.
“I was at my girlfriend’s parent’s bungalow colony — about 15 miles from Woodstock. Right after Labor Day, bungalow colonies tend to start building for the following season, and I’m there and he asks me to help unload this wood he has on his truck. And he says, ‘I just bought this wood at Bethel, this is the stage that they were selling,’” Gold shares.
He stored that bit of memorabilia in his brain for years.
Fast forward almost 50 years later, in 2017, Gold was lying in his bed when he had an epiphany as the Woodstock 50th anniversary was nearing. He remembered how his former girlfriend’s father built a paddle board court with the stage from Woodstock for their Robi-Lane Bungalow Colony.
Gold headed to the area to see if the court was still there and found it “way, way deep into the woods.” The court was still intact, weathered, but still had the Robi-Lane white painting on it. When he and his friends pried it apart, they could see the logos, coloring and markings from the stage and later would officially authenticate it.
“I was like ‘Oh my god, I can’t believe this is still here.’ This is the stage that the greatest acts performed on. This was the focal point of what Woodstock was — everything congregated to the stage. … Everything emanated from that stage.”
Credit: Peace of Stage
Who Owns the Woodstock Stage Today?
Gold went forward with officially obtaining the wood panels, and from there, discussed ways the “holy grail” of Woodstock could be used to commemorate the event. We worked with two of his friends — Dave Marks and Randy Garcia — and the three became partners and formed Peace of Stage LLC.
Peace of Stage has donated some of the planks to various museums, including the Smithsonian and Long Island Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame.
For Gold, preserving the past and providing a keepsake that people can touch and reflect on the peace and love that was shared that weekend never gets old.