Top billing (the front page) in the March 24, 1936 issue of
The Avon Weekly News-letter is split between that spring's production of
Hamlet and impending wedding of school store (not yet the Hawk's Nest) employee Oscar Bohman.
Hamlet, despite keeping its audience of "nearly 190" in the Refectory for four and half hours, won rave reviews, with everyone from Mr. Whiting, who payed Hamlet, to Owre, who played (offstage) a rooster, earning plaudits. It seems Ben Custer '10 was not the first of his family to take center stage at Avon. Tom Custer '36 played Polonius, and his father (Ben's great-grandfather) Dr. Custer played the Ghost. Actors and stagehands will note that some things do not change - the dress rehearsal for
Hamlet lasted until 4:30 AM - and some things do - actors were allowed to sleep through the first four classes the next day!
In other news, Dr. Kammerer had announced a change in the way students would do farm work. It seems work and school conflicted, with students on farm duty constantly racing from one place to the other, with the result that they ended up doing busywork at the farm and not learning anything about agriculture. Under the new plan, boys were to spend "all 24 hours" at the farm on their appointed days. Philip Schenck '30, who had been to Connecticut Agricultural College, would be on hand to "coach them in the scientific application of modern agricultural knowledge."
There was a flood on the estate that week, and according to Verne it was every bit as high as the flood of '27. It also caused Verne to remember the sight of Mr. Iverson chasing a trout - on horseback (Mr. Iverson was riding a horse, not the trout) during the flood of '27.
Modern Avonians will wonder at this: in the Founder's Era, there were Effort Grades in addition to the academic ones. It seems that students who were on the Avon List (the top scholars) and had an A Effort Rating for the past several months were able to leave for spring break two days early! If one had only one of those two distinctions - or was on the Council - one could leave a day early...
