“A tradition of serving Leechburg Area High School since 1918”
TrottyVeck history
The Trotty Veck began in 1918 as Leechburg’s literary magazine filled with students’ poems, short stories, jokes and gossip, with just a little news. Published four times per school year, the original Trotty Veck also served as the high school yearbook until the Minetas made its debut in time for the 1925-26 school year. At that time the Trotty Veck became a “real” newspaper published twice a month.
Since its first issue in 1918, the Trotty Veck published consistently with the exception of five years during the Depression in the 1930s when a lack of financial means suspended publication.
Most people wonder where and why “Trotty Veck” became the name of Leechburg’s newspaper. In 1918, Jean Hill, Class of 1919, won a contest to name the new student literary magazine. She found her inspiration in a Charles Dickens’ story, “The Chimes,” in which a character named Toby “Trotty” Veck, who lives in a church and listens to its chimes, delivers messages to the townspeople no matter how difficult the errand or complicated the route.
In Jean Hill’s own words from the December 1919 Trotty Veck, she describes her inspiration:
Toby Veck was an old messenger who carried the news of his village from house to house. On account of his walk, he was nicknamed “Trotty,” and by that name he was known for the remainder of his days. He had an optimistic outlook on life, and one of the best things about him was his sense of humor. On account of his lameness he was of no use so far as his physical  power was concerned, but his intentions were good. So he started out to earn his way in the world by telling people of all the good things that were being done around them. Nothing bad was reported, however, for as Trotty himself said, “Even a tombstone will say something good about a fellow.”
He was a friend of all the people, and his idea of a friend was one who “knows all about you and still likes you.” His messages of good cheer were heard eagerly by all the people although some were not what might be called the most comforting. Such a one was “The next time you have a sore throat, be glad you are not a giraffe.”The aim of our paper is somehow like the aim of “Trotty” Veck. We desire it to carry to everyone the news of our school. We will strive to have it entertaining and at the same time instructive; we will make it optimistic and wish it to be like Trotty – well liked everywhere.
Trotty Veck became trottyveck in 1990 when the staff upgraded from by-hand layout to desktop publishing. Aiming for an updated look, the staff chose to lower case the name of the paper and to write the paper’s name as one word. With the advent of the new online format, TrottyVeck will now be written as one word to accommodate the TrottyVeck.com domain, but with retention of the capital letters of its origins and reference to the character who lends his name to our school newspaper.
TrottyVeck Through The Years
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1919 |
1923 |
1925 |
1939 |
1941 |
1942 |
1956 |
1969 |
1977 |
1978 |
1986-1987 |
1987-1988 |
1988-1989 |
1989-1990 |
1990-1991 |
1991-1992 |
1993-1994 |
1994-1995 |
1995-1996 |
1996-1997 |
1997-1998 |
1998-1999 |
1999-2000 |
2003-2004 |
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