There should be some oases in this country where the love of tradition is fostered. Avon shall be one of these oases where, when Avonians return, they will find at least a semblance of permanence.
Apparently, I have not posted to this blog in over two years! It is fitting that the last post concerned the first Intersession, because I tend to blame my Day Job for the crickets emanating from this space for so long. It is time to change that, and I will begin with what I fear is the first of many: a tribute to a pillar of the Avon community who has retired/is retiring after many decades at school. There is a cohort of "lifers" that has been slowly moving toward retirement, and the leading edge has arrived at the door. When he retired at the end of last (school) year, Peter Evans took a plunge that more than half a dozen others are likely to take in the next several years, beginning with Ken LaRocque at the end of this school year.
Peter Evans, H '18
Peter Evans was the first faculty member I met when I moved onto campus in the fall of '82. The night before the opening faculty meetings, as the new faculty were moving into our quarters, Pete and Sue made the rounds to greet us and welcome us to Avon. That was typical of Pete and Sue. Pete had a lot of titles at school; master teacher of history, athletic director, director of college counseling, assistant headmaster, and director of development is not an exhaustive list. One of the reasons he excelled in all those roles was that he was a people person, and he was attentive to the little things. Greeting new faculty was not explicitly part of his job description, but he and Sue wanted to be sure we felt welcome.
Pete is brilliant, he is eloquent, and he is meticulous; beyond that, he truly cares. To talk to Pete is to be convinced that you are the only thing in his world in that instant and that your happiness and success are foremost on his mind. That is what colleagues felt when he spoke with us, and that is what students felt. It is easy to listen to a man who clearly genuinely cares about you. If all that is not enough, Pete is relentlessly optimistic. No matter what the situation, count on Pete to identify the positive, or at very least the potential for positive, that comes from it. For almost half a century, Pete applied that signature combination intelligence, planning, optimism and care to All Things Avon Old Farms, and we as a school - and we as people - are infinitely better off because of it.
I will stop there, because, try as I might, I am not really able to capture what Pete (and Sue!) Evans have meant to Avon Old Farms; fortunately, this video does:
