Straight from the digital files of The Evening Sentinel, courtesy of The Lower Naugatuck Valley History Archives, this week we go back to 1980.
Here’s what was happening in our Valley!
Sunday, Nov. 2, 1980
The Evening Sentinel didn’t publish on Sundays
Monday, Nov. 3, 1980
City Official Backs Revision Of Charter
ANSONIA – Stephen Blume, president of the Board of Aldermen and acting mayor all last has publicly endorsed a charter revision proposed for the police department.
Question 5 on Tuesday’s ballot would eliminate the automatic succession of police lieutenant to chief and would add a fourth member to the Board of Police Commissioners.
There are two questions on the ballot. Question 6 calls for changes in the fiscal organization and creates a department of fiscal affairs.
There has been no public opposition to either question.
DHS Students Pick Reagan
DERBY – Ronald Reagan is the choice for president among Derby High School students.
An ‘election’ sponsored by the Student Council was held this morning at DHS with the following results: Reagan, 283, President Carter, 167, John Anderson, 119 and others, nine.
Whether the results are an indication of which way Derby will go Tuesday remains to be seen. Derby was the only Valley community Carter won in 1976.
250 Absentee Ballots Issued In Seymour
SEYMOUR – Voter interest in the presidential election Tuesday is running high in Seymour, Town Clerk Norma E. Drummer said today.
She noted that more than 250 absentee ballots, an unusually high number, have been issued to people who will not be able to go to the polls Tuesday to cast a ballot.
Forty-six ballots were issued to military personnel and more than 200 civilians, she said.
Vandals Throw Eggs
SHELTON – Vandals threw eggs Saturday at houses on Hull Street. There was no other damage reported, police said.
Tuesday, Nov. 4, 1980
School Commission Signs AHS Pact
ANSONIA – A two-story addition to Ansonia High School is expected to be completed this time next year, according to a timetable presented Monday night by the project’s architect, Val Carlson.
The School Building Commission met at City Hall and Joseph Davidson, chairman, signed a $111,000 contract with Carlson.
The Shelton architect is in charge of the $1.25 million AHS renovation project, approved by voters at an Aug. 9 referendum.
The addition to the high school on Howard Avenue will house science laboratories and a library.
State Takes Control Of Hull Dye Plant
DERBY – The loss of Hull Dye and Print Works Inc. as a taxpayer “will put the city in a very precarious financial position in the ensuring year,” Mayor Edward J. Cecarelli said today.
On Friday, the city was informed that the Connecticut Development Authority has taken over the textile plant on Roosevelt Drive. The company’s assets are being liquidated.
At one time, Hull Dye was Derby’s top taxpayer and one of its largest employers.
“It will be a tremendous blow to the city,” Cecarelli said. “We could lose up to $170,000 a year in taxes.”
Students Back Reagan
SEYMOUR – Seymour Middle School students, in a mock election today, threw their support to Republicans Ronald Reagan for president and Warren G. Sarasin for re-election as state representative from the 105th district.
But in the other contests that will be decided in today’s balloting, the students gave overwhelming support to three Democrats, Christopher J. Dodd for U.S. Senate, the incumbent U.S. Rep. William R. Rachford for a second term and State Sen. Eugene A. Skowronski for re-election to the General Assembly.
City Approves Plans For Motel
SHELTON – The Sheraton-Valley Inn is almost a reality.
Monday night, the Planning and Zoning Commission met in City Hall and granted conditional approval to site plans for the $8.5 million project.
Anthony DeLeon, project spokesman, said December has been targeted for beginning of construction. If everything goes smoothly, the inn should be completed by June 1982. It will be the Valley’s first motel.
Wednesday, Nov. 5, 1980
Reagan Sweeps Valley
VALLEY – “It was inflation that did him in,” one longtime Valley Democrat who voted for Ronald Reagan said Tuesday after hearing of President Carter’s defeat.
“People can’t live on what they make with the dollar constantly shrinking,” he added.
Whether it was inflation, or the hostages or the war in Afghanistan, Carter lost by a landslide nationally to the former actor and California governor.
And Reagan made a clean sweep by resounding margins in each of the Valley communities as area voters turned out in droves.
Carter took only 17,563 voters in the Valley towns, while Reagan garnered some 30,436 votes.
Store Vandalized
ANSONIA – Virzi’s Package Store at 115 North State St. was the target of vandals.
The owners reported Tuesday the plate glass was broken. A pellet gun is believed to have been used.
Skowronski Re-Elected To Senate
DERBY – Eugene A. Skowronski of Derby was the lone Democratic winner in the area’s state Senate races.
Skowronski defeated Alyce Samuelson of Ansonia in one of the few Democratic victories in the Valley.
Firefighters Called To Diner
SEYMOUR – Great Hill Hose Company was called to Route 34 Diner, 379 Roosevelt Dr., at midnight Tuesday when a microwave oven malfunctioned, causing a fire in the diner kitchen.
Fire Marshal Louis. M. Andrews. Sr. said the fire was contained to the kitchen. Damage was minor, Andrews said.
Belden Wins 4th Term
SHELTON – State Rep. Richard O. Belden of Shelton, a Republican, celebrated his re-election Tuesday to a 4th term in the 113th District. Belden celebrated the win with his wife Barbara.
Thursday, Nov. 6, 1980
Ansonia Thefts
ANSONIA – Two thefts at East Main Street businesses were reported Tuesday morning.
Banko’s Music Shop at 360 East Main St. reported that a $75 drum was taken from a stairway of a stockroom.
An employee of the law office at 350 East Main St. reported that two men came in the office and inquired about hiring a lawyer. The woman left the room and when she returned the men and her watch that had been on her desk were gone.
Police had no value of the watch.
Area Actor Broadway-Bound
DERBY – Next week a 23-year-old Derby man will begin rehearsing lines with Katharine Hepburn on a Broadway stage.
His part is to understudy two male roles in a five-character play called “Westside Waltz,” which stars Miss Hepburn.
If you ask Pat Santino (formerly Derby’s Pat DeNigris) how he landed the understudy role in the Broadway production, he’ll throw up his hands and tell you he’s just “a lucky guy.”
Three years ago, he recalled he was pushing hospital carts down the hall at St. Raphael’s in New Haven where he was an orderly.
“Bothered by my lack of creativity, I finally asked myself, ‘what do I want to do with my life,’” Santino said. “My answer was to be on the stage.”
Work Starts On Library
DERBY – Work has begun on the leaking roof of the 75-year-old Derby Public Library.
Scaffoldings have been erected in front of the granite landmark and workers from the New England Masonry Co. of Naugatuck have already started removing damaged tiles on the roof.
The building’s architecture will be respected, city officials said.
The total cost of the project is $24,754 and is being paid for by federal revenue sharing funds
Health Unit To Investigate Brook Pollution
SHELTON – Local health officials have called in the state Department of Environmental Protection to pinpoint the source of alleged pollution in a brook at the intersection of Bridgeport and Long Hill avenues.
The problem was reported by the Valley Citizen Action Group, which has started a campaign to clean up the brook.
“Sometimes the smell of gasoline is so strong it makes us nauseous,” said Floris Farris, a member of VCAG.
Friday, Nov. 7, 1980
Valleyites May Seek Fuel-Oil Funds
VALLEY – Valleyites struggling to meet their ever-increasing heating bills may be able to get help at Training, Education and Manpower, Inc., Derby.
The agency has received about $40,000 in state funds and will begin a limited energy assistance program today for “extreme emergencies.”
This is just the beginning of fuel-aid funds expected for the agency, Joan Saffo, energy coordinator, said. Roughly $390,000 in federal funds are expected to arrive by the end of the month.
Break Probed At Residence Of Ex-Detective
ANSONIA – Police today are investigating a burglary at the apartment of a former city detective sergeant.
The break at Avon Street occurred between 3:15 and 5:45 p.m. Thursday, police said. Jewelry, figurines and cash were taken.
Entry was gained by forcing a hallway door open, police said.
Seven Bid High On Firetrucks
SEYMOUR – An apparent low bid for a contract for three firetrucks was almost $41,000 over a $350,000 bond issue approved for the equipment when bids were opened Thursday in Center School.
American LaFrance of Elmira, NY, offered to provide a 100-foot aerial ladder truck and two 1,000 gallon-a-minute pumpers to the town for $390,746.
The company was one of seven that submitted proposals for the vehicles. Only four of the companies bid on the complete package.
Officials of the fire department said they were disappointed that the bids were so high.