Foreward by Mary Ann Mellor Hansen

How did this project come about?

It all started when looking at a collection of photos, a very common experience of family members who inherit family stuff. As I spent more time looking at the photos, I began to realize I needed to tell their story. This is my attempt to document what I remember of this transitional time during the late 19th century through the early-mid 20th century before it is lost for good.

I’m the fourth generation living on this land that was once the Avery Farm in Coventry, Connecticut. This is a story of the women and men who came before me. It is a story of a fifty-year transition from farmland to residential development from 1896 to 1946, as the country and the world changed around them. I knew many of the people who lived here myself, and others from family stories and artifacts. They were farmers, entrepreneurs, artists, educators, engineers, builders, soldiers, scientists, and just everyday folks who made an impact far beyond their small community.

I have been associated with this land since 1952. My first summer days were spent with family and friends at my grandparents’ cottage overlooking Lake Wangumbaug at 65 Avery Shores, in Coventry, Connecticut, across the street from the home of my great aunt and uncle, Ethel and Arnold Avery, at 74 Avery Shores. Ethel and Arnold were already well into their retirement by the lake when I came into their lives. The memories included here are from family photos and stories over four generations, along with some research and a few artifacts. The narratives are available both as text and AI enhancements with Notebook LM. 

My gratitude goes to the many people who helped inspire this project. Debby Zeppa, fellow lake resident, connected me several years ago to UConn’s Center for Learning in Retirement (CLIR); Cathy Belanger and CLIR Memoir Group encouraged me to write my family’s stories. Cousins Sarah and Phil Malinoski provided the technical and editorial support and insight that made this project possible. We made use of old school techniques of sifting through old dusty photos, letters and artifacts, connecting the dots and putting them in some organizational structure. We then digitized what we could and leveraged AI tools to help with the story telling. We hope this project will help bring a better understanding of how seemingly ordinary people have subtle yet profound enduring impact on our culture and community.