Grateful Dead’s 1972 Oregon Concert Saved Kesey's Family Dairy

Grateful Dead Perform Famous ‘Sunshine Daydream’ Concert in Veneta, OR, in August 27th, 1972

The Springfield Creamery Inc. survived

By 1972, there was no denying the sheer force of the Grateful Dead, their fanbase, and their music. The Deadhead community was firmly established, filled with peace-and-love seekers eager to chase the music around the country.

The Dead, in turn, toured relentlessly, and by the fate of bad luck, ended up at the Old Renaissance Faire Grounds in Veneta, OR to perform what would go on to become one of their most beloved performances, on this day 49 years ago on August 27th, 1972.

The performance was actually a benefit concert to raise money for a local yogurt eatery owned by members of the Kesey family–the same family belonging to the acclaimed writer, Merry Prankster, and original Deadhead, Ken Kesey.

When Ken’s brother, Chuck, needed some financial after a bout of bad publicity led to the loss of the Springfield Public Schools milk account, he asked his old friends in the Grateful Dead to come to Veneta and throw a benefit concert to help out the cause of keeping the eatery open.

Running a small family dairy was fun, but it wasn’t easy. “We were running on optimism,” Chuck and Sue Kesey the owner of the Springfield Creamery, Inc.

Lost its contract with the Springfield schools – its lifeblood, as the company fell deeper into the red, someone came up with the idea of the Grateful Dead putting on a benefit concert for the dairy. After all, Chuck and Sue knew Jerry Garcia and the other band members through Ken, who had hosted them at the farm. They were all so harmonious.

Chuck drove down to San Francisco and pitched the idea. “We should do it,” one of the Dead’s roadies declared. “They’re good people.”

That was that. The Dead were doing it.

Now Chuck and Sue realized they had to put on a show – and they had only three weeks to pull it together.

They secured nearby fairgrounds for a day and recruited volunteers to build a primitive wooden stage. To save money, they printed the tickets on unused yogurt labels.

As soon as the music started – New Riders of the Purple Sage opened for the Dead – the volunteers taking tickets abandoned their posts and headed toward the sound. Not that they could have stopped the hordes of music lovers heading for the scene.

People just kept showing up, all day long. The free yogurt disappeared quickly. And it turned out to be hot. Brutally hot – almost 100 degrees.

Dead bass player Phil Lesh, shuffling onstage with his fellow band members, thanked Chuck and Sue “for setting it up so we could play out here.”

He added: “This is where we get off the best.”

Almost forgotten in all this: the original point of the concert.

Because of the sheer number of fans who descended on the Veneta field, with no discernible way to buy tickets on-site, the proceeds proved somewhat underwhelming. Springfield Creamery inc. survived, allowing it eventually to thrive.

The reason: The Grateful Dead. “They gave us $12,000 at the end of it,” Sue Kesey said. “The compassion of Jerry Garcia.”

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