“Oh My God, Becky, Look at her butt! This week we head back to 1992 when Sir Mix-A-Lot topped the U.S. music charts when he couldn’t stop rapping about big butts with his “Baby Got Back” single. Also playing on the radio this week, snagging the number 2-5 spots, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100 chart were:

2. “This Used To Be My Playground” – Madonna

3. “Baby-Baby-Baby” – TLC

4. “Achy Breaky Heart” – Billy Ray Cyrus

5. “I’ll Be There” – Mariah Carey

George W. Bush, Sr. was the President and Americans were tuned into their TVs watching popular shows like “Married… with Children,” “Roseanne” and “Seinfeld.”

Here is what was happening in our Valley, as stolen from the microfilm edition of The Evening Sentinel!

Tuesday, July 28, 1992

Sidewalk Sale A Great Success
ANSONIA – The Downtown Ansonia Sidewalk Sale Friday and Saturday kept to its 36-year sunny tradition.

“Since we started the sale in 1956, we have never had rain,” said Charles Seccombe, first vice president of the Ansonia Downtown Business Association. “Friday and Saturday were a great success.”

Seccombe added “We had very good traffic, volume and promotion. About 17 merchants participated in the sale. I offered a half-priced sale, and it was very successful.”

Town Votes A 4th Time
OXFORD – Taxpayers have until 8 p.m. today to cast votes in a referendum at Town Hall on a fourth budget proposal.

The $15,079,914 spending package would increase taxes 2.64 mills over the current rate of 21.73 mills.

Officials said further reductions could mean reduced hours at Town Hall, which currently is on a four-day week, and at the Public Works Department, where two employees have been laid off.

Stuban Petitions
SEYMOUR – “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” could be the motto of Frank F. Stuban, a former Democratic selectman who has run unsuccessfully for the 105th District seat twice.

Stuban is getting the necessary documents in order should he decide to try again for the post as a petitioning candidate in the November election.

He submitted petitions to the office of Town Clerk Norma E. Drummer at Town Hall Tuesday signed by 240 Seymour voters. He needed 129 signatures to qualify as a petitioning candidate.

Four Apartments Declared A Danger
SHELTON – City welfare officials are working to find homes for two tenants of a Bridge Street building deemed unsuitable for living by the fire marshal and building inspector.

On Friday, Fire Marshal James Tortora and Building Inspector Frank Kullberg inspected four apartments at 42 Bridge St., the building which houses the Kazmir Pulaski club on the first floor.

While the club is not considered a danger to the public, health or safety, the apartments above are, Kullberg said. Officials found broken windows that do not provide adequate protection for inhabitants. Electricity was also absent in one apartment, and an extension cord was used to carry power from unit to another.

Wednesday, July 29, 1992

Teacher Gets Fellowship
ANSONIA – A former city resident has been awarded a fellowship from the National Endowment for Humanities to participate in the Summer Seminars for school teachers.

Louis Sorrentino will be an NEH Fellow in a seminar entitled “Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics.”

The six-week seminar will be held at the State University of New York College at New Paltz.

Teachers selected will receive a stipend of $3,200 to cover travel, study and living expenses.

Pop Warner
DERBY – The Derby Pop Warner program will have physicals for boys and girls who have registered for the 1992 season from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Derby Little League fieldhouse. The cost is $10 per child.

Budget Down For 4th Count
OXFORD – Town financial officers admit they don’t know which way to turn after round four of the continuing saga of the budget found the proposal defeated again.

Taxpayers turned thumbs down last night on the budget proposal by a vote of 600 to 344. The defeat forces the Board of Finance to go back to the drawing board today at 7:30 p.m. in a fifth attempt to come up with a budget taxpayers will accept.

Seymour Advances To Finals
SEYMOUR –The George J. Hummel Little League junior girls team shut out Coginchaug of Durham 9-0 last night at the Union City Little League Complex to advance to the finals of the state tournament.

Allison Schultz pitched a two-hitter for Seymour and set 11 Coginchaug batters down on strikes.

Scinto Hosting Reception Today
SHELTON – Robert D. Scinto, president of R.D. Scinto, Inc., is hosting an informal reception for corporate business executives today at 4 p.m. which will feature a talk by Gov. Lowell P. Weicker. The governor will speak about the economy in Connecticut.

Thursday, July 30, 1992

Office Moves
DERBY – Physical Therapy of Southern Connecticut has expanded and moved to a larger facility at 111 New Haven Ave.

The firm will continue to provide physical therapy to adults and children with neurological or orthopedic problems. In addition, two therapists will be available.

Pumpkin Festival Planned Sept. 20
SEYMOUR – While plans for summer fun occupy the thoughts of most Valley residents, the Pumpkin Festival Association has been busy arranging the details of the 27th annual Pumpkin Festival set for Sept. 20 at French Memorial Park.

The festival is based on a unique theme which sees the park transformed into a Halloween Hideaway with sections of the spacious grounds designated as Pumpkin Patch, Goblins Gulch, Witches Walks, Cinderella Lane and Scarecrow Alley.

Last year about 30,000 people turned out for the one-day, semi-juried craft show. This year’s crowd is expected to be no exception.

Grandma Saves Infant
SHELTON – A grandmother’s quick reflexes averted what some are calling a near fatal disaster on Hillside Avenue Wednesday.

At about 2 p.m., as Ann Marie Jordan sat in her daughter’s backyard on Hillside Avenue watching her four-month-old granddaughter, she looked up and saw a massive concrete manhole section – 5 feet in diameter, 12 inches thick, and weighing about a ton – rolling toward her.

Jordan picked up the infant and within seconds, the concrete ring crashed into an outdoor barbecue chimney, destroying it.

“She’s still shaking,” said Jacqueline Gonzalez of her mother’s condition today. However, neither the grandmother nor the child was hurt in the incident.

Friday, July 31, 1992

Ansonia Sees Increase In Drug Activity Since Cutbacks
ANSONIA –The Valley Street Crime Unit is concerned about what it termed the “increased drug activity” in two areas of the city and wants the police department to replace the officer it withdrew from the unit in February.

Det. Lt. Samuel Haurilak said Thursday the unit had noticed an increase in crime in the city’s North End and the Olson Drive area. He said the layoffs in the police department were affecting the unit’s ability to function in the city.

Koskelowski Optimistic About Town Finances
SEYMOUR – In spite of a tight budget for fiscal year 1992-93, First Selectman Robert J. Koskelowski is optimistic that the town will continue to move forward.

“It will take sound financial decisions and planning, but my administration will continue to stretch every tax dollar to the maximum, just as it has in the past,” he said.

Koskelowski said the Board of Selectmen recently took action to reduce the amount of the town’s indebtedness that was on the books by about $1 million.

Officials Probing Arson House Fire
SHELTON – Police and local fire officials are investigating an abandoned house nearly destroyed Wednesday by a fire which they believe was set.

At about 3:34 p.m., firefighters from Echo Hose Hook and Ladder Co. and Pine Rock Park Co. responded to a report of a house fire at 50 Blacks Hill Road.

Upon arrival they found the first floor of the two-and-a-half story wood frame house engulfed in flames. It took 35 firefighters about 30 minutes to bring the fire under control.

Saturday, August 1, 1992

White Sparkles
ANSONIA – Ansonia High School’s Vicky White, an All-State pitcher, hurled her Shoreline Sharks to a 2-2 record recently in the Amateur Softball Association’s New England Regional championship.

The senior-to-be tossed 15 innings of work on Saturday, including a four-hit, 7-2 victory over Maine V and a two-hit performance in a six-inning, 12-2 thumping of Metro 1 of Massachusetts.

Seymour Teen Represents In National Chess Tournament
SEYMOUR – Jim Wilken, a sophomore at Emmett O’Brien Tech, will represent the state at the National Chess Championships Aug. 11-14 in Dearborn, Mich.

The 15-year-old Seymour native qualified for the event in May by winning the Connecticut Chess Championship held at Mattatuck Community College.

“I’ve been playing since I was really young,” Wilken said. “I can’t even remember when I started. My brother Frank taught me how to play.”

Bus Safety Program
SHELTON – All aboard for bus safety.

The Junior Women’s Club of Shelton, in cooperation with the Board of Education, Laidlaw Transit, Inc. and local elementary school principals is sponsoring its annual bus safety day for kindergarten students. Children participating in the program will learn the importance of proper behavior on and around a school bus.

Concerts Slated
SHELTON – Two concerts are coming up next week for the “Music Under the Stars 1992” free concert series on the Huntington Green.

Black Rock Allstars, who play jazz, are featured Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Twarog Brothers polka concert has been rescheduled for Aug. 6 at 7 p.m.