My first time at Woodstock

My former colleague at the big daily Bill LaRue dug up a golden oldie from his files the other day and sent me into flurry of memories. That’s me, arms covered with muck, working hard on the old-fashioned laptop at Woodstock ’94 in Saugerties, N.Y. LaRue and I were the two reporters from the Syracuse…

Remembering Woodstock on the Ridge

For a certain generation in America, many things changed 46 years ago this month. In their music, and thus in their life. The Woodstock Music & Art Fair took root on Max Yasgur’s farm in Bethel, N.Y., Aug. 14 to 18, 1969. Hundreds of thousands of young music fans descended upon the land. The New…

A Valentine’s Day story about a dog and a bird

My Valentine’s Day started with an Ellie B aka Dogamous Pyle clamor. Bed to floor to French doors to bed to my face. Get. Up. Da! I know the language of our beloved 4-year-old rescue mutt well. The 7:30 a.m. door-open resulted in a quicker exit than usual, and Ellie B scampered haphazardly around the…

Carlos Santana soars, with no obstructions

It had been while since my dear wife Karen and I had gone to a concert in the Turning Stone Resort and Casino Event Center, but when I heard the word that Carlos Santana was bringing his guitar to the 5,000-seat room just 30 miles east of Syracuse, I knew that would make one heckuva…