Musicians reflect on culture, community

The day after the “chickens came to roost” at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, social activists, peace lovers and folk musicians from the community and from afar reunited in Third Street Park to participate in an all-day hippie hometown reunion Sunday.

“When the Chickens Come Home to Roost,” a concert Saturday featuring local singer-songwriters from the ’60s and the ’70s, returned feelings of nostalgia to longtime residents.

Students may come and go, but the artistic tradition of Bloomington, rich in social events and music, is here to stay. The summer once again ushers in a reclaiming of the land by the people who have watched Bloomington evolve.

“There was a time when young activists of the ’70s represented the majority, instead of a small minority,” Bloomington resident Joe Loop said. “The music and culture was reflective of the times and there was a lot of peace and love going on. There still is.”

Activist and musician Marc Haggerty said the concert Saturday, which brought back local music legends like Dillon Bustin, Bob Lucas, Mark Bingham and Caroline Peyton, among others, brought the idea of Bloomington’s lasting cultural history back home as well.

“It’s like we as a community with fond memories sent these talented people out into the world to create art for 40 years and they came right back to where they all began,” Haggerty said.

Bloomington resident Dave Cole said many songs performed at the concert from the ’60s and ’70s were “guideposts for how to live.” He said the music was reflective of the times, which promoted self-sufficiency and doing for oneself with the bare essentials of survival.

“Politics of those times came and went,” Cole said. “We took a vow of voluntary poverty, doing whatever it took to create music that was important to us.”

At Sunday’s reunion, Cole stood by as Bob Lucas, one of Saturday night’s performers, sang and played acoustic guitar. People crowded around to listen to the impromptu jam session.

“This is what we did 30 years ago today, back when I grew up on a small farm in rural Indiana,” he said. “The clocks didn’t rule our days and people would just play music for as long as they felt necessary.”

Linda Ball has been living in Bloomington since 1971. She came from Cloverdale, Ind., where she said she had a graduating class of 35. She chose Bloomington as a place to settle and raise her five children because of the promise of cultural diversity in a progressive college town.

“I really wanted to enjoy all the beauty the town had to offer,” Ball said. “Back in Cloverdale, we didn’t even have a theater.”

Her favorite memory of the ’70s involved her occupation as head cook, a job earning her $2.25 an hour at an organic vegetarian restaurant called Earth Kitchen on Kirkwood Avenue.

At the reunion Sunday, she looked to the makeshift stage overlooking the lawn, where blankets were sprawled about and people enjoyed conversation about the good and bad times in Bloomington’s history.

“At the restaurant, we listened to people like Joni Mitchell,” Ball recalled, “because it was all about taking in the good things of life, being happy and wanting peace for then and for the future.”