Music Lovers 'Beautiful

by NAOMI ROCK

WHITE LAKE, N.Y. - The great rock festival ended today in the same spirit of peace and sharing that enabled 400,000 young people to gather for three days of music, marijuana and mod living without a major incident.

"There has been no violence whatever, which is remarkable for a crowd of this size," said Dr. William Abruzzi, the festival's chief medical officer. "These people are really beautiful."

As the great exodus of tired, thirsty, hungry, youths began Sunday, security officials reported three deaths and close to 5,000 persons treated for injuries, illness or adverse drug reactions during the three-day span.

A later afternoon thunder storm speeded departure. But thousands of determined fans remained and huddled around flickering campfires throuh the chill night to hear the final concert.

Despite the rain that turned the farm fields of the festival site into seas of mud again, despite the shortage of water and food and the lack of sanitary facilities, the spirits of the audience remained high.

Everything from drugs, to rides to sandwiches donated by local residents and merchants was being shared. Volunteer doctors and nurses were treating the site in hurriedly set up clinics to keep the hospitals free for emergencies.

"Today," said Michael Lang, 24 one of the festival organizes, "is a time to think about what happened here - the youth culture came out of the alleys and streets. This generation was brought together and showed it was beautiful.

"The peace they were screaming about is what they really want - they're living it. They value each other more than material things," said Lang.

There were traffic jams, health problems and material shortages beyond anyone's expectation.

One man who worked to alleviate the problems was Max Yasgur the dairy farmer who rented his 600-acre spread to the festival for a reported $50,000. He sold or gave away milk, butter and cheese.

He also put up a big sign saying "Free Water" on his barn after he heard that some residents were selling water to the youths. "How can anyone ask money for water?" he asked angrily.

Copyright � 1999 The Beacon Journal Publishing Company Primary content and graphics � 1999 Knight Ridder New Media, Inc. Technology and portions of the content and graphics � 1999 Zip2 Corp. Information deemed reliable but is not guaranteed. Just Go is a registered trademark of Knight-Ridder New Media Inc.