Bobbi and Nick Ercoline in the seminal photo from the 1969 Woodstock festival. © Burk Uzzle/Courtesy Laurence Miller Gallery, New York.

While attending the Awards for Excellence banquet for Mid-Hudson Valley (NY) school system teachers, staff, and administrators last night – where my mother received a career achievement award for her work as a Reading Recover teacher and trainer- I had the opportunity to meet Nick and Bobbi Ercoline, the “undercover lovers” of the 1969 Woodstock festival who were captured in the iconic image that appeared on the cover of the original soundtrack album. The Ercolines married two years after the festival and still live in the area, and the image of their embrace amid the peopled landscape in Bethel, New York, that momentous weekend stands as one of the more poignant images to come out of the summer of ‘69.  Here’s a link to a Daily News story about the couple from this past summer:

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/2009/07/07/2009-07-07_woodstocks_undercover_lovers_.html

When I was introduced to the Ercolines, I feared that they would be annoyed by yet another person wanting to talk to them because of a moment that occurred 40 years ago.  As seminal a photograph as it is, it was 40 years ago, after all, and people go on to live their own lives.  (Case in point: Bobbi was also honored at the ceremony for her work as a nurse in the Pine Bush school district.)  I asked Nick if he ever gets tired of being asked about the photo, but he smiled and spoke of welcoming a sense of responsibility for talking about the photograph and the moment it was taken, as he and his wife realize how much the photo represents for the Woodstock generation and those that have followed. And Bobbi even flashed a peace sign at my mother – how cool is that?  My sincere thanks to the Ercolines for graciously humoring my curiosity – and congratulations to her and to my mother for their awards.

And on the subject of my mother’s award…Earlier in the day, my 1969 book surpassed the sales goal I’d set for it on BookScan.  But you can sell thousands of copies of a book, yet the one thing that gets you truly emotional is seeing your mother receive some long overdue recognition.

- Rob

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