This concerns Article 17 in the Avon town report: “to see if the town will authorize the Selectmen to sell the old town house, land and building.”

I will vote no.

That building is the only one of any historical interest left in Avon. It started out as a schoolhouse. Richard Caton I, father of Richard Caton II, former selectman and town moderator, went to school there as a boy. Old Dick would be in his 90s if living. Plus, it’s been the town house for how many years? I’d guess 75 or more.

People are working on a grant so it can be preserved. It should become our “historical house.” If those old walls could talk. If the building could replay town meetings of the past. The irregularities that would raise their ugly heads at elections. I wish I’d kept track of them during the 50-odd years I’ve worked on elections in Avon, seven of those years as registrar and notary.

Yes, it’s up to the voters. Are they interested in preserving any of Avon’s history or not? Once it’s gone, there is no chance of it being preserved. Like the Avon Valley Schoolhouse or the schoolhouse on Miles Square, they are lost to history and as historical sites.

Interested people should speak up before it’s too late.

Marylyn Bachelder, Avon

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