Jim Lenfestey is a Hill & Lake Press founder and notorious Urban Coyote. He lives in Lowry Hill.
Unlike the fabled Woodstock, visitors needed only to walk a few city blocks to experience the delights of Woodystock, held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 6, to celebrate the completion of Kenwood School’s “outdoor classroom” between the school and Kenwood Park.
Organized by Kenwood parents Marstal Aamodt, Elyse Colpitts, Michelle Kemp and Natalie Quinn, along with beloved kindergarten teacher Cathy Sullivan, the event more than fulfilled its goal of “three hours of peace, love and community.” About 400 visitors admired eight new raised-bed gardens — one for each classroom — already sprouting with beans and herbs, as monarch butterflies swarmed the dill. Children picked produce, showed off their classroom gardens and scrambled across rocks, trees and walls.
A cover band, the MTVs, kept things lively without being too loud. Food trucks OG ZaZa and Tin Fish filled plates, while art-making stations by Highpoint Center for Printmaking and ARTrageous kept hands busy.
The longest line formed at Sebastian Joe’s ice cream booth, which offered a custom flavor mixed for the occasion — “Just Woodchucking Around.” A much-petted stuffed woodchuck, Kenwood School’s mascot, stood beside the stand. “Hard to find a stuffed woodchuck,” said Mike Pellizzer, proprietor of Sebastian Joe’s. “Had to track one down in Europe!”
Like the Kenwood PTA, he left no stone unturned to make Woodystock a rocking, green and hopeful afternoon for the community.
