This week we take a look back at 1975. Gerald Ford is the President of the United States. “The Godfather Part II” is still the most popular movie in the U.S., even though it had been released more than three months prior.
Mood rings and flare leg jumpsuits are dominating the fashion scene.
Here is what was happening in our Valley!
Monday, March 31, 1975
Shredder Motor Grinding It Out
ANSONIA – A new bulk-refuse shredder motor has been operating flawlessly for a week, public works officials said today.
Built by the Westinghouse Co. of Buffalo, NY, the unit replaces one that has been plagued with mechanical difficulties for about a year.
The shredder has been grinding out refuse for about six hours a day at the rate of 35 tons an hour.
Grand Union To Close Store
DERBY – The Grand Union Store at the Orange-Derby Shopping Center will close at the end of business Saturday.
A spokesman for the company at its headquarters in New Jersey told The Evening Sentinel that the store would be closed because it was unprofitable. Grand Union opened the store about two years ago.
Efforts to find jobs for the about 13 employees were being made, the spokesman said.
Saltmarsh Takes New Post in N.Y.
SEYMOUR – Donald W. Saltmarsh, former superintendent of schools in Seymour, has been appointed superintendent in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., beginning July 1.
Saltmarsh had served as superintendent in Seymour from 1965 through 1971 when he resigned to accept a similar position in New Jersey.
9 Handguns Stolen In Shelton
SHELTON – Nine handguns valued at about $900 were stolen yesterday from the Hunter’s Corner on Howe Avenue.
Police said they found the front door open at 3:20 p.m. Sunday. The nine weapons were missing from a glass case.
Police said a burglar alarm connected to the police station failed to operate, though store officials said it was turned on.
Tuesday, April 1, 1975
Grand List In Ansonia Not So Large
ANSONIA – What had been regarded as a stagnating Grand List became a shrinking Grand List yesterday when city officials revealed that taxable property declined last year by about $100,000.
Samuel DiStasi, clerk of the Board of Assessors, said that the Grand List was $88,596,564 rather than $88,726,534 as reported by the Board of Apportionment and Taxation. The difference was attributed to a machine error that occurred when the assessor’s office computed the list of taxable property, DiStasi said.
Falcons To Mark 65th Anniversary
DERBY – The 65th anniversary committee of the Polish Falcons will meet at 7:30 p.m. today.
The anniversary dinner will be held Saturday at Falcon Hall, Main Street.
Members have been asked to help set up tables and clean the hall at 6 p.m. tomorrow and Thursday.
Bevacqua In Hospital
SEYMOUR – Louis C. Bevacqua, principal of Seymour Junior High School, is a patient in a Boston hospital after becoming ill while visiting relatives in that city over the weekend.
Police Pact Expires In Seymour
SEYMOUR –Seymour police are working without a contract. Three months of negotiations between the town and Police Union Local 564 have failed to produce a new agreement to replace the two-year pact, which expired at midnight.
Both sides have indicated that no talks will be scheduled until after the State Board of Labor Relations ruled on two union grievances filed a week ago. The grievances charged the town with unfair labor practices.
Wednesday, April 2, 1975
Annual Festival At Center
ANSONIA – The Ansonia Senior Center Chorus will present its annual song festival at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the center on Water Street.
Mrs. Nancy Murray will direct the chorus in presenting selections from Broadway musicals, including from the Sound of Music, Man of LaMancha, Kiss Me Kate and State Fair. The public has been invited to the free concert and refreshments will be served.
Lumber Taken
ANSONIA – Variety Home Corp. of Newington told police yesterday that some lumber had been stolen from a house being built on LoPresti Court. No value was placed on the lumber. According to police, the lumber had been placed in the basement of a house being built on the dead-end street.
Derby Plans Spring Cleanup
DERBY – James R. Robinson, public works commissioner, said a spring cleanup would begin next week.
Pickup on the West side will be Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The East side pickup will be April 14, 15 and 16.
Items to be picked up should be put at the curb neatly, Robinson said.
Judge Fines Beard Co.
SEYMOUR – A Waterbury Court of Common Pleas judge has ruled that the B.N. Beard Co. of Seymour was in contempt of a 1973 court order restraining it from excavating sand or gravel from its property on Derby Avenue during the summer and fall of 1973 and fined the company $500 for the offense.
The action against the Beard Co., brought by the town in Jan. 1974, contended the company had violated a court injunction prohibiting the removal of sand and gravel.
During testimony, the plaintiff contended that there had been no excavation or removal of gravel but maintained that they were only removing material that had been stockpiled on the site, which was permitted under the terms of the injunction.
Brainard May Run For Mayor
SHELTON – Leroy H. Brainard, Shelton fire chief, said today that he was considering seeking the Republican nomination form mayor but had made no decision.
Fire chief for six years, Brainard is a lifelong Shelton resident and president of Brainard’s Inc., a plumbing and heating concern on Oak Avenue.
Casting about for a candidate to run against Mayor Francis Kelley, Republicans have been saying privately that Brainard would be the strongest candidate.
Thursday, April 3, 1975
$75,000 Ansonia Fire Leaves 20 Homeless
ANSONIA – Twenty persons were made homeless by a fire that swept a six-family apartment house at 175 North Main St. yesterday afternoon.
Fire Marshall Norman Smith, Jr. estimated damage at $75,000.
Firemen from the Eagle Hose, Hook and Ladder Company and the Charters Hose Company battled the blaze for almost two hours.
222 Larcenies In Ansonia During 1974
ANSONIA – There were no reports of murder or rape last year, according to a report submitted to the FBI by the police department. But there were hundreds of larcenies and burglaries reported.
The breakdown was larceny, 222; burglary; 111; assault, 62; motor vehicle theft, 53 and robbery, 7.
Seymour Band Off To Parade In Washington
SEYMOUR – Rain this morning failed to dampen the spirits and enthusiasm of two groups of Seymour students who left by bus for a weekend in Washington, D.C.
Leaving from Seymour High School at 8 a.m. were 150 members of the Seymour High School marching band, color guard, majorettes and pompon girls, along with chaperones.
The band will participate in the 1975 Cherry Blossom Festival parade which will be held Saturday in the nation’s capital.
Sponge, City Officials To Discuss Demolition
SHELTON – Grand Sheet Metal Co. representatives will meet with Mayor Frances X. Kelley at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at City Hall to discuss plans for demolition and removal of debris at the site of the burned-out Sponge Rubber Products plant on Canal Street.
Friday, April 4, 1975
Dirienzo Gets Contract For 3 Years
DERBY – The Board of Education last night at Derby Middle School unanimously approved a three-year contract for Superintendent of Schools Angelo E. Dirienzo.
The contract includes a $750 annual raise to bring his salary to $26,750.
The only other change in the contract is a stipulation that requires the superintendent to give six months’ notice before resigning. The old contract required three months’ notice before resignation.
Coin Collection Taken In Seymour
SEYMOUR – Chief of Police Kenneth Connors said today that between eight and nine hundred Indian head pennies were taken in a recent break at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Klanko of Terrace Road.
The Detective Bureau is investigating the theft.
Alarm At Store Off Before Robbery
SHELTON – Louis J. Lichti of Shelton, president of Shelton Alarms Systems, said today an alarm his company had installed at the Hunter’s Corner on Howe Avenue was not turned on Sunday when nine handguns were stolen.
The Sentinel previously reported that the system had failed to operate.
“That isn’t true,” Lichti said. “The alarm would have operated if it was on.”
Quilt To Depict Shelton History
SHELTON – Members of the Bicentennial Commission and Friends of the Library are working on a quilt that will depict the history of Shelton.
The quilt is one of many activities the commission is involved in as it prepares for the nation’s 200th birthday celebration.
“In the center of the quilt is the Shelton Bicentennial seal designed by Richard Lanaro of North Street,” said Mrs. Evelyn Terenzi, secretary of the commission.
Each patch surrounding the seal will tie into important events and places in Shelton. Some of the patches appliqued on the quilt include the Brownson House, a one-room schoolhouse, a salt-box house, the Plumb Memorial Library, the old Shelton-Derby bridge and a mill house.
There will be scenes of peach brandy making, ice skating and shipbuilding, which was one of the major industries in Shelton in the 18th century.