Straight from the digital files of The Evening Sentinel, courtesy of The Lower Naugatuck Valley History Archives, this week we go back to 1988 when everyone was asking “was Die Hard a Christmas movie?” Nike launched its “Just Do It” slogan that became one of the most recognized in advertising history, and Jessica Rabbit of the “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” cartoon movie, uttered the phrase, “I’m not bad – I’m just drawn that way.”
Here is what was happening in our Valley!
Wednesday, Aug. 3, 1988
Ex-Derbyite Chosen As Chief Of College
DERBY – A Derby native who was asked for a second opinion four years ago on President Reagan’s first colon polyp has been selected as the chief of the Medical College of Georgia.
Dr. Francis J. Tedesco, 44, was the unanimous choice recently from more than 100 candidates to assume the duties as the sixth president of the school located in Augusta, Ga. He had been serving there as interim dean of the School of Medicine since June 1986 before being selected by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents.
Tedesco graduated from St. Mary’s School before moving up to Fairfield Prep and Fairfield University.
Graduates With Honors
SEYMOUR – Robert Thomas Potash of Seymour graduated recently from Holy Cross High School, Waterbury, with honors.
An honor roll student for four years, he was recipient of the Presidential Academic Fitness Award and the Spanish Medal.
Potash, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert G. Potash, has been accepted at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, where he will continue his studies in mechanical engineering.
Backhoe Stolen
SHELTON – A backhoe loader weighing approximately 300 pounds was reported stolen from a construction site on Kneen Street Tuesday. The loader is worth $2,500.
Academy Graduate
SHELTON – William B. Miller, Jr., of Shelton, recently graduated from the Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo., with a bachelor’s degree. He was commissioned a second lieutenant. Miller, a graduate of Shelton High School, is the son of Mr. and Mrs. William B. Miller.
Thursday, Aug. 4, 1988
Church Gets New Rector
ANSONIA – The Rev. Albert W. Majkrzak, the new rector of Christ Episcopal Church, said he felt that God wanted him to be a priest since high school and he finally fulfilled this calling when he entered the seminary at age 30.
“I put off the priesthood for many years,” he says. “I worked in the business world selling insurance and designing office systems.”
Majkrzak was ordained in 1979. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of the State of New York and his master divinity degree from the Episcopal Theological Seminary in Kentucky.
Derby Patrolman Cops Promotion
DERBY – The Board of Police Commissioners has promoted Patrolman David Manley to detective.
Manley finished first in written and oral tests for the post, which has been vacant since Thomas DeGennaro resigned to become an investigator in the office of the Chief State’s Attorney John J. Kelly.
First Selectman Urges Revaluation Be Thrown Out
SEYMOUR – First Selectman Robert J. Koskelowski has asked the Board of Assessors to reject a revaluation completed last year by a Georgetown firm, claiming the assessments did not reflect current values and were discriminatory.
Homeowners, many of whom had seen assessments on their houses increase three to four times over the values established 10 years ago, were expected to be pleased with the first selectman’s action.
“They (the firm) did their work according to state statutes governing revaluation and I do not fault them,” Koskelowski said. “The problem is with the law which in my opinion favors commercial businesses and industry.”
$6.2 Million School Conversion Headed For November Vote
SHELTON – The long-debated idea of turning Huntington School into a community center with a pool and branch library would cost the city $6,298,500.
That became clear last when the Huntington School Task Force voted unanimously to accept a basic design and cost estimate of the project, developed by the Hamden engineering firm of DeCarlo and Doll. They will now send the proposal to the Board of Aldermen, which will decide whether to put the project before the voters in a November referendum.
Friday, Aug. 5, 1988
Restaurant Closed
ANSONIA – Whispers Restaurant has been closed, and sources told The Sentinel this morning that a sale of the restaurant is pending. Frank Drewelus is listed as the current owner of the building at 44 Bridge St., according to the Assessor’s Office. He could not be reached for comment this morning.
Bandits Hit Ansonia Store A Second Time
ANSONIA – Two unidentified men robbed the X-tra Mart on Wakelee Avenue at gunpoint early today, police reported.
The robbery was the second at the store in the past week.
Police said the men entered the store at about 6:15 a.m. They waited for a few customers to leave and then threatened the clerk with what police described as a large caliber handgun. Police said the men got less than $50 from the cash register.
Owners Rule Out New Supermarket
DERBY – The new owners of the Orange-Derby Shopping Center have no plans to add a food store to the complex, an official of the company said Thursday.
“We have no intention of bringing a food store to the center,” said Charles Kanzer of Eastland Properties Development in Newtown, Mass. “We will be filling the vacant space with a very interesting and well-known tenant or tenants, but nothing is settled yet.”
Parents Push For Free Playgrounds
SEYMOUR – A group of Seymour parents who are unhappy with a summer recreation program that children must pay to attend have asked for the return of free neighborhood playgrounds.
A petition has been presented to the Recreation Commission signed by 76 residents who say that not all families can afford to pay to have their children take part in the Summer Fun Club based at the Seymour High School recreation complex.
The Recreation Commission, in order to offset the cost of the Fun Club, charged a fee of $100 for the first child in a family, and $80 for each additional child.
Shop Burglarized
SHELTON – A burglary was reported at the Sunnyside Spirit Shop on River Road Thursday. Entry was gained by breaking the front glass door. Several six-packs of beer and an undetermined number of bottles of vodka were reported missing.
Saturday, Aug. 6, 1988
Baptist Church Plans Family Day
ANSONIA – Macedonia Baptist Church on Pershing Drive will conduct its Annual Family Day on Sunday.
Morning worship service at 10 will feature the Rev. Arthur Bracy, associate minister of First Baptist Church, Milford. The afternoon program will consist of a 12:30 dinner and a 3:30 musical program featuring the combined choirs of the churches.
Chief Says Budget Issue Exaggerated
SEYMOUR – Police Chief John Olenechuk said today he was upset with allegations of mismanagement of the police department’s $1 million budget that surfaced in recent weeks.
Complaints about control of the budget were the focus of a two-hour executive session of the Board of Police Commissioners with Olenechuk Wednesday. Participants in the closed-door session declined to disclose what took place during the meeting.
Pool Could Scuttle Plan For Ex-School
SHELTON – The addition of a pool onto the former Huntington School could kill the plans to convert it into a community center in a referendum, GOP Town Committee Chairman Sandra Nesteriak said today.
“I think the pool would be a great asset to the building, but I just think about the plans to put one at the high school that were voted down in a referendum years ago because of the cost,” she said. “I want to see that school rehabilitated no matter what. I would hate to see the whole thing fail in November’s referendum because people think the cost is too high. I would like to see the pool and the conversion project put up on separate ballots.”
Sunday, Aug. 7, 1988
The Evening Sentinel didn’t publish on Sundays
Monday, Aug. 8. 1988
Heat, Humidity Fail To Slow Down 8,000 Polka Fans At Warsaw Park
ANSONIA – Maybe their feet hurt and maybe they’re a little worn out, but Valley polka dancers agreed this morning the last three days have been one-of-a-kind.
Forget the heat. Ignore the humidity. Tried and true polka dancers, 8,000 of them, from as far away as Chicago, Virginia, Maryland, New York, New Jersey and the New England states, and as close as the Valley, jammed Warsaw Park from Friday through Sunday for the Third Annual New England Polka Fest.
They hopped and skipped and twirled to the lively music of the Grammy-award winning Jimmy Sturr Band, to Happy Louie, and the sensational Polka Family of California.
“It was great,” exclaimed Sophie Soldra of Seymour, an enthused polka dancer who has been in step to the times for the last 30 years.
Griffin Campaign Tops 25 Percent Of Goal
DERBY – The chairman of the Griffin Hospital Development Fund’s 1988 Annual Appeal fundraising campaign reported today the drive has raised more than 25 percent of its goal in just three months’ time.
The committee is hoping to raise $213,000, which would be used to purchase a variety of medical equipment including personal emergency response Lifeline units, cholesterol screening machines, an anesthesia machine and wheelchairs.
Seymour PZC To Air Zone Change Request
SEYMOUR – The Planning and Zoning Commission will reconvene a hearing at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Town Hall meeting room on a request from a Woodbury developer for a zone change on property on Woodside Avenue.
Edward Fenn has asked the commission to reclassify a .7-acre parcel from R-15 (residential) to TH (townhouse.) Fenn wants the Woodside Avenue property to conform to the zoning of an adjacent 26-acre tract he recently purchased from the Klarides family on which he wants to construct 120 condominiums.
Two Bomb Scares
SHELTON – Two bomb scares were reported at Shelton Square Sunday.
At noon, a caller told employees at the Super Stop and Shop that a bomb located in the store would explode at 12:30 p.m. Fire officials were called and found no bomb.
At 6:41 p.m., employees at Bradlees reported someone called the store saying a bomb had been placed in the stock room and would detonate at 7 p.m. The store was evacuated but no bomb was found.