A Museum On Woodstock, With a Haircut

This summer, the arts center held a concert called "Hippiefest," the promotional material for which ("gather your groovy beads and we'll see you on the lawn for a trip down memory lane") was read into the Congressional Record by Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) as he spoke against the museum earmark.

Gerry and his family contributed $20,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, headed by Schumer, and $9,200 to Clinton's presidential campaign after the earmark was inserted into legislation.

Coburn, the Republican who led the effort to block the earmark, said in an interview that he doesn't object to the museum. In 1969, he said, he was a junior in college and, though not a hippie, was very much part of that generation: "If you saw pictures, you'd laugh. . . . I was a mophead." Coburn said his complaint is that earmarks, special spending for pet projects, are the "gateway drug" to congressional overspending.

Phil Singer, a spokesman for Clinton's presidential campaign, said the arts center is an "economic development" opportunity for Upstate New York, and he slammed McCain's criticism.

"Senator McCain should focus more on explaining to New Hampshire voters why he supported the fiscally irresponsible Bush policies that squandered a federal surplus and left us with the largest deficit in American history," Singer wrote in an e-mail. "As President, Senator Clinton will reverse those policies and restore the nation to fiscal responsibility."

Schumer told his Senate colleagues that the state of New York has put $15 million into the arts center and that the Gerry Foundation has paid for the bulk of the rest of the $100 million project. In a committee hearing on the earmark, Schumer said: "It was a tumultuous decade, and it is a good idea to study it. Museums and libraries are a very important part of our history and education, as well as a job magnet."

But a tourist magnet? That remains a marketing challenge. The Woodstock name is trademarked.

"There is debate about whether it should be called Woodstock," said Supak, the former colonel. "I don't think it's necessary. I think you can do just about anything with marketing and branding."