Joyous Traditions

“Santa is coming!”, the carolers announce through the ear-shattering speakers.  Echoes of the same ripple out through the crowd of almost 3000.  Kids of all sizes are hoisted onto a parent’s shoulders as they move as a flock, away from the Reformed Church to the other side of the Green.  “How will he come this year?’ “Do you see him?”, the kids keenly wonder aloud.  Bright lights and a crescendo of jolly music and suddenly… 

Santa has come to Woodstock!                   

This is a Christmas eve tradition since 1932.  Coming up on its 92^nd year.  The crowds have been swelling in more recent years, discovered by loads of out-of-towners.  Santa always arrives in a different way from the year before: A horse drawn sleigh, riding an elephant, in a hot air balloon, or driving a flying Volkswagen bus! The best ones are unexpected and come over the roof tops.   

The Joyous Lake- a now gone Woodstock tradition- was a bar and music venue since before I was born and closed in 2006. If you knew Woodstock during that time, you knew this place.  Joyous Lake has hosted major music stars- The Rolling Stones, Levon Helm, and Phish for example, often without warning and sometimes under a fake name.

The name of the place- Joyous Lake, reportedly comes from a section of the I Ching hexagrams- A Chinese spiritual divination guide.  Sections of the hexagram are referred to as family members- The youngest daughter is symbolized by the smiling lake; it’s attribute is joyousness.   [Side note as I look into this fun factoid: The I Ching divinations, in my opinion, sometimes struggle to fully translate across the language and the centuries, instead sounding a bit like a drunken fortune cookie- such as “Deliver yourself from your great toe. Then the companion comes, And him you can trust”, and “One kills three foxes in the field And receives a yellow arrow. Perseverance brings good fortune”.]  
(https://www.hvmusic.com/article/alexander/merians.htm)

One winter night I found myself drinking a screwdriver, sitting at a table in The Lake, with a mix of friends and old acquaintances, and one former primary school sweetheart.  Danny Slade.  I still remember his defense of his crush on me when he was teased about it- “She is really nice!” and his face would go full beet red for a quarter of an hour.  This night he seemed ready to rekindle his childhood crush and flaming face, if only my silly heart were not full of ice. Also blocking this amorous attempt was this thing I have about musicians, and there were 3 distracting me from my conversation with Danny, about 10 feet away on the little platform.   

The band 3, another Woodstock Tradition, was the draw for our little group this night at the Joyous Lake. The drummer, Josh, was a another former schoolmate and his older bother Joey was lead guitar and singer.   Joey deserves mad fame.  Josh is infamous from his years with the band Coheed and Cambria and the subsequent time spent in rehab, etc. The band 3 still has many devoted followers, and Joey has a Wikipedia page, but I think they deserve more.  Joey is the quintessential guitar player, singer, and song writer; and he used to send shocky tingles through my chest.  He sings with his whole body and emotes with his eyebrows.  A fact I felt compelled to go up and mention after the set.   An action I felt some regret and yet pride in for years afterward. Perhaps he never forgot the random blondish girl who cocked her own eyebrow and said what he did with his was “pretty cool”, turned, and walked away.  Deliver us from our great toes!  I did leave The Lake with Danny’s number that night, though I never used it.  

Last year at Christmas on the Green, Santa arrived looking green and malevolent.  The kids weren’t fooled though.  The real Santa was revealed as a hostage in a large present, and the imposter Grinch was taken away by the Woodstock police department.  The holidays were saved!  

Joey was on the lead truck when they arrived, a one-man band, singing holiday songs instead of his own.   It was impossible to get close enough or see over the people, but I would like to think he was still using those eyebrows and could still make me tingle- As tradition would dictate.