Couple in iconic Woodstock photo still happy together
Bobby and Nick Ercoline pose for a photo outside their home in Pine Bush, N.Y. The Ercolines, wrapped in a muddy blanket, were captured in an iconic photo (right) from the 1969 Woodstock festival in Bethel, NY. (AP) August 15, 2009 - For many Americans of a certain age, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair is a hazy memory. Not for Bobbi and Nick Ercoline -- the "hugging couple" whose photo ended up on the cover of the Woodstock soundtrack album. Forty years ago, they were girlfriend and boyfriend. She lived in Pine Bush, N.Y., and worked at a bank. He lived in Middletown, N.Y., and worked two jobs while going to college. When they heard about the huge musical festival, "We just had to go," Bobbi Ercoline told the Albany Times Union. They stayed only one night, and never saw the stage. "Woodstock was a sign of the times," Bobbi told the paper. "So many things were churning around in our world at that time: civil rights, the Vietnam War, women's rights. It was our generation," she said. They married two years after Woodstock and have children ages 28 and 30. They live in Pine Bush. Bobbi Ercoline is a school nurse who started a food pantry. Her husband is a house inspector. "I think the further we get from the original event the more meaningful it becomes, the more we realize how phenomenal it was: all those people coming together with no violence, just peace, love and sharing," Bobbi Ercoline said. "Forty years later, it's just remarkable that it could have occurred." http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/music/1717865,CST-NWS-woodcouple15\ .article
