Five Things To Know Today: Aug 15

Weather: It will be cloudy all day with chance of showers and temperatures will hover around the mid-70s. As night falls, rain will become likely and there is a chance of thunderstorms, according to the National Weather Service.

1. The Tiverton GOP Town Committee will hold its regular monthly meeting at the Sakonnet Bay Manor on Wednesday, Aug. 15 at 7:30 p.m. Items to be discussed include the upcoming elections and fundraising.

All interested voters are welcome. Refreshments will be served.  For more information call DeEtta Moran at 625-5262.

2. Head over to Sandywoods and kick up your heels at the Contra Dance. All dances taught and beginners welcome! Beginners of all ages, singles, couples, and families are welcome to attend. Partners are not necessary. 

The dance goes from 7 - 10 p.m. and general admission costs $6, for ages 16 & under the cost is $3, families with children under 16 pay $14.

3. Find your inner peace at the today. Yoga with David starts at 9:30 a.m. and costs $15.

4. Swing through between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. for office hours with your local editor, Erin Tiernan. Dish some news or just come by to acquainted.

5. On this day in 1969, the Woodstock Music Festival opens on a patch of farmland in White Lake, a hamlet in the upstate New York town of Bethel.

Promoters John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, Artie Kornfield and Michael Lang originally envisioned the festival as a way to raise funds to build a recording studio and rock-and-roll retreat near the town of Woodstock, New York. The longtime artists' colony was already a home base for Bob Dylan and other musicians. Despite their relative inexperience, the young promoters managed to sign a roster of top acts, including the Jefferson Airplane, the Who, the Grateful Dead, Sly and the Family Stone, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Creedence Clearwater Revival and many more. Plans for the festival were on the verge of foundering, however, after both Woodstock and the nearby town of Wallkill denied permission to hold the event. Dairy farmer Max Yasgur came to the rescue at the last minute, giving the promoters access to his 600 acres of land in Bethel, some 50 miles from Woodstock.

Early estimates of attendance increased from 50,000 to around 200,000, but by the time the gates opened on Friday, August 15, more than 400,000 people were clamoring to get in. Those without tickets simply walked through gaps in the fences, and the organizers were eventually forced to make the event free of charge. Folk singer and guitarist Richie Havens kicked off the event with a long set, and Joan Baez and Arlo Guthrie also performed on Friday night, according to History.com.