10-4 Magazine March 2022

Trucker Talk: By John & Kim Jaikes Sometimes life takes us down all different types of roads. Some of these roads are dirt that turn to mud when it rains, others are narrow city streets, some are country back roads, and some, of course, are interstates, where you can really get out and stretch your legs. Our friend Dave Sweetman has been down many of them and then some, during his driving career, while living a colorful and interesting life on the road. Growing up north of Newark, on a farm in the country, at 7 or 8 years old, Dave remembers sitting under the oldest oak tree in Delaware, along with his grandfather, and waving at the traffic as it passed. Dave would arm pump the trucks that passed for them to blow their air horn. There was a Chrysler plant down the road, so there were plenty of trucks passing by every day. Taking a ride with his uncle Dick one day, who hauled steel, Dave got to go with him to Pennsylvania to deliver a load, and then they reloaded bags going back to Delaware. At the start of the trip, he had Dave put a tomato in the glove box. Uncle Dick told him just to leave it in there loose. At the end of the day, when they got back to Delaware, he had Dave get the tomato out. What had been a nice tomato was now bruised, split, and inedible. The lesson that day: this is what your body will look like on the inside if you drive trucks long enough. But that lesson didn’t stop Dave from pursuing his dream of going places and using a truck as his means to go. In August 1969, Dave and four friends had tickets for Woodstock. On their way there, going up Route 17 in New York, Dave’s 1964 Falcon station wagon was fast on the downhill, but not so much on the uphill. They had been following a truck, and when the semi pulled off, they continued. Going down a good-sized grade with a fair amount of speed, a trooper was hiding behind a bridge, and he pulled out with his lights on. Dave was waiting for the “fun” to begin when he got out of the car. Telling the trooper that they were on their way to Woodstock, the officer told them they should just turn around and go home, because the roads were backed up with traffic and the Thruway was closed. Dave insisted that they had tickets and were going. Getting out his briefcase, the officer got out a New York state map and penciled out a route for them to take. Yes, Dave got his very first speeding ticket, but he also got a map and route to Woodstock along Yasgur Road. Looking back, this was probably money well spent, because this route put them just 200 yards behind the stage. The three friends that came with Dave – Mike, Bob and Eric – took off when they got parked and said, “We’ll see you inside.” He didn’t see his friends for the entire three days, and on Monday, after the event, the three friends rode a Greyhound bus back home. Dave and his “then high school girlfriend Lee” enjoyed the show and all the activities. It rained on Saturday, so a friend farther down the hillside trimmed branches off a tree and put a parachute over it, making a huge tent, that kept them all dry. Coming to the event prepared, they brought coolers, camping gear, food, and drinks. On the second day, an Army helicopter flew in food to feed the music lovers. Lee was working with commune members of the Hog Farm where people were helping to feed the people. They made homemade granola and handed it out. Dave and Lee stayed until Monday, for the Grand Finale, which was when Jimmy Hendrix played the Star-Spangled Banner. I can’t imagine how cool it had to be just to be there, but what’s even crazier is that it all happened over 52 years ago! Dave, his Lady Karen, and Lee are still all friends to this day. On November 22, 1969, Dave joined the Army. He was only 17 years 82 10-4 Magazine / March 2022 THE STORYTELLER