NathanThe Aftermath
For any big event that takes place in public, we all know that there is bound to be some after-effects that follow. For the case of the Summer Jam, the 600,000 attendees who swarmed out of the location on the Sunday of July 29 indeed left something behind. An attendee decided to go back to the venue and see what damages and mess the huge concert had left behind.
Going Back
Mark Spaulding went back to the venue and he had to say a few things: “Sunday was the day that everyone left. I drove up there Monday morning just to see what it looked like. What a mess. I couldn’t believe what I saw. There were clothes, tents, sleeping bags, umbrellas, shoes, chairs, coolers and anything else you could imagine laying in that field that 48 hours earlier held 600,000 people! A weekend I will never forget!”
More About The Mess
If there is a crowd that amounts to about 600,000, then there is bound to be a few residues left right? New York Times reporter Judy Klemesrud, who had voiced her negative impression of this even had a lot to say about the mess that the concert goers left: “You’ve all seen pictures by now showing the site the day after—90 acres of rolling meadow turned into the world’s largest garbage dump.”
Litter Before The Show
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She was obviously very observant of the mess that the people made and claimed,”Even before the Grateful Dead struck their first chord at precisely 12 noon on Saturday to open the festival at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix racetrack, the main streets of Watkins Glen, three miles away, were disaster areas, littered with beer cans, broken beer bottles, fast‐food wrappings, and vomit.”
Mitchell and Bonnie
There is another tragic incident that took place during the Summer Jam festival. There was an account of a mysterious disappearance during the concert. A couple, Mitchel Weiser, 16, and Bonita “Bonnie” Bickwit, 15 were very excited to join in on the action of the blockbuster concert. The Brooklyn teenagers who were madly in love decided to hitchhike to the venue. But they were in for a sad turn of events.
No Trace At All
The couple had about $25 when they decided to embark on their journey. Since they so excited, the two took their sleeping bags, rucksack, and a sign that had “Watkins Glen” written on it. There was a truck driver who was kind enough to give them a ride. However, the two were last seen holding up their signs at State Route 97. Mitchell and Bonnie have both gone missing ever since that day and not a trace of them has been found.