Update

As predicted, it is extremely difficult to carve out time for this project during school, especially these last few weeks of exams, comment-writing, etc.  The approaching Long Weekend does not offer much solace, inasmuch as I have a conference in Boston and need to prep about five weeks of A.P. World.
Still, there is news.  At its winter meeting, the Board approved the project, which means it is now "official."  I believe The History Press will be offering a formal contract, which would make things really official, but I have no idea at present what the nature of that contract will be.  I will be moving ahead prior to Spring Break in March; I simply cannot wait that long to get back to the Weekly News-Letter, and it may be that I'll be able to conduct an interview or two in February.  I do hope so.

The Avon Weekly News-Letter

When Pete Seeger '36 found supplementing his allowance by shining shoes to be "slow going," he discovered that the school would let him use the mimeograph machine, and The Avon Weekly News-Letter was born.  Pete produced the News-Letter from January of '34 through his graduation in '36, and the school archives contains bound copies of every issue.  In a hand-written note at the start of the first volume, he explains that he has since heard the News-Letter was the reason TPR kept renewing his scholarship, "Mrs. Riddle liked my little paper, giving her informal news of the boys at school - whereas she probably only got formal reports from Dr. Kammerer."
There was a lot going on at school in the '30s, and none of it escaped Pete's attention.  The second paragraph of the first issue lists the five students, both Custer brothers among them, who came down with chicken pox during the Christmas holiday; he goes on to observe that Kunau is in the infirmary with a twisted knee.  The most striking aspect of the first few issues is the number of animals on campus; Pete reports on a hog the biology department is planning to slaughter, a bunch of pheasants, a flying squirrel, ten ducks and an unspecified number of rabbits.  A student who could not return - John Ferry - arranged for agents - Peters and Burns - to sell his goat, pheasants, guinea hens, tropical fishes, chickens, and ducks, "and at surprisingly low prices."
In three weeks, Pete mentions two trips into Hartford to hear speakers, the county farm bureau's annual field day, the school's maple sugaring operation, the presence of the Civilian Conservation Corps, the literary club, the music club, the Glee Club, a polo match against the Yale freshmen (an excellent team, they spotted Avon ten points and won anyway), and intra-mural sports such as fencing and jiu-jitsu.  There was even a student - Jack Downing - who supplemented his allowance by providing a later breakfast on Sunday mornings in the science lab.  "Coffee, waffles, and maple syrup or honey for .25 at ten-thirty in the morning.”
As the last of the January, 1934 issues ends, Pete reports a certain amount of trepidation about February 1st, when a new rule mandating hand-tied bow ties at dinner was to take effect.

Twilight Zone

Among my Christmas gifts was a beautiful, somewhat antique desk with lots of drawers and cubby holes and a tall cabinet.  So I decided the shelves in the cabinet would be an appropriate place for some of our elderly books, especially Dad's many volumes of the Yale Shakespeare.  As I was putting them on the shelves, I noticed that several of them were edited by Robert French of Yale's English department.  It struck me that this same Robert French was once offered the position of Provost at Avon Old Farms.  He was working at Yale, was offered and tentatively accepted the position at Avon, then changed his mind and accepted a promotion at Yale.  As so many had, he cited the existence of the Aide to the Provost/Master of Detail in explaining his reluctance to come to Avon.  It is hardly surprising that something in our house would be connected in some way to the history of the school, but now I wonder if there is anything here that isn't.