25 years ago: The First Congregational Church of Portland met needs and looked to the future as it began a $205,000 expansion program. The church renovated due to the need for additional space for school activities as well as for improved office and storage space, according to Donald W. Goodrich, chairman of the Building/Renovation Fund Drive Committee.

25 years ago: It was announced that the Pratt House Museum in Essex would open its doors for the summer season to allow a chance for visitors to feel what life might have been like during the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries. The architecture featured hand-hewn beams, carved fireplaces pillasters, bolection molding and feather-edge sheathing with beaded edges consistent with the domestic architectural flavor of the Connecticut River Valley and the blacksmith enterprise run by ten generations of Pratts who lived in the house for over 250 years.

25 years ago: Cromwell town government sought bids to equip the tax collector, assessor, sewer department and finance department with microcomputers in an effort to enter the computer age.

25 years ago: It was announced that the Essex Township Board of Trade would reopen its information booth at the Valley Railroad for the summer season. An attendant was set to be paid by funds raised by businesses who wished to be promoted at the booth.

25 years ago: In a unanimous vote, townspeople of Deep River agreed to a new ordinance shortening the Deep River Elementary School Board of Educaiton members’ terms from six years to four years. The effort was done to help attract more people to the board and to offer voters more control over the education policy through frequent elections.

25 years ago: The Essex Historical Society announced the opening of a photographic display of the works of Anson Dickinson, Connecticut’s celebrated 19th century miniature artist. The exhibit appeared at the society’s Hill’s Academy Museum.

25 years ago: Selectmen in Killingworth voted to implement a fee structure for commercial garbage collectors based on $5 per cubic yard of trash dumped at the collection site on Route 80. The decision came as a way to act on reducing out-of-town trash, long Saturday lines and sloppiness by commercial haulers at the site.

25 years ago: The East Haddam town budget narrowly escaped defeat, passing by a 10-vote margin despite the efforts of residents seeking to include funds in the budget for a community center.

25 years ago: Sidney J. Holbrook announced that he wanted to be the state representative for Essex, Westbrook and Clinton for another two years. He announced his candidacy for re-election during a Republican Town Committee meeting in his hometown of Westbrook.

25 years ago: The Parks and Recreation Commission of Clinton asked the Board of Education for it’s endorsement of an idea to see if a nighttime sports event at the Peter’s Complex would interest the community. The commission had been looking into the idea of portable lights for the complex.

25 years ago: Barbara Talmadge, community relations liason for the Canon Sammy Davis Jr. Greater Hartford Open, was the guest speaker at a meeting of the Portland Division of the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce. Talmadge was a member of the 1986 GHO Executive Committee of the Greater Hartford Jaycees, managers of the Greater Hartford Open.

25 years ago: The Water Pollution Control Authority in Cromwell asked the town to undertake the entire Coles Road sewer line, from Route 72 to Shunpike Road, at an estimated cost of $3.1 million. The part of the line went through Route 9 and through the right-of-way for the Central Connecticut Expressway.

25 years ago: It was announced that children in Killingworth who had participated in the American Heart Association’s “jump rope for heart” marathon had raised more than $4,000. The money was used to fund the group’s cardiovascular research as well as professional education and community programs.

25 years ago: Superintendent of Schools Dr. Joseph J. Cirasuolo and Board of Education Chairwoman Alice C. Crosby of Clinton appeared on Storer Cable Channel 2 in an effort to answer any remaining questions about the school budget.

25 years ago: A public antique appraisal day and used book sale was held at the Middle Haddam Library. A charge of $3 was set for each item examined for identification and estimate of value.

25 years ago: Guilio and Betsy Maestro of Madison published “Ferryboat,” a children’s book in color about the ride across the Connecticut River on the Chester-Hadlyme ferry boat. Guilio had illustrated over 80 books at that point and had collaborated on 20 of them with his author wife, Betsy.

25 years ago: Repairs began on the sea wall along Middle and West beaches in Westbrook. The sea walls had been partially destroyed by pounding surf whipped up by Hurricane Gloria in September of 1985.

25 years ago: To commemorate National Nursing Home Week, residents and staff of the Cromwell Crest Convalescent Home on Main Street buried a time capsule to be unearthed in five years. The capsule was the idea of Sister Teresa Linicki, a staff member, and it was carried through by Recreation Supervisor Grace Rowe and her staff, Paule D’Aquila and Margot Murtha.

25 years ago: Old Saybrook’s Garden Club held their annual sale of herbs, shrubs, and flowers on the town green next to the firehouse. The sale included flowering annuals such as petunias, impatients and marigolds, as well as tomatoes and peppers.

25 years ago: The town of Middlefield elected Claire Piddock and Catherine Moss to three-year terms on the Board of Educaiton for Regional School District 13. Piddock had already been serving on the board and Moss replaced John Williams who chose not to run.

25 years ago: A program aimed at providing a specially designed curriculum for 5-year-olds developmentally unprepared for kindergarten was approved by the Board of Education of Regional District 13. The program was set to begin the fall of 1986, and was set up to provide a learning framework for children who had previously been held out of kindergarten based on test results given by the board.

25 years ago: Selectmen from Haddam opened bids for three bridge replacement projects that were to be funded through the town’s participation in the state Local Bridge Program. Bridges in line for work included the Jail Hill Road bridge, the Boulder Dell Road bridge and the Depot Road bridge.

25 years ago: The Music Department at Cromwell High School offered an afternoon concert at the school that featured music and dance and invited the senior citizens from town as special guests in an effort to strengthen the school’s links with the community.

25 years ago: Regional School District 17’s Board of Education sought bids for the replacement of an aging oil boiler and removal of asbestos at Haddam Elementary School. The design specifications for the project had been approved by the state Department of Education.

25 years ago: Westbrook announced that an additional $6,000 to $10,000 would be added to the next year’s proposed school budget for a full-time special education teacher for junior high school students, according to Superintendent of Schools Dr. Robert J. Schreck.

25 years ago: The town of Portland welcomed their new resident state trooper, Locksley McGregor, 34, of Windsor. McGregor was assigned to replace Howard Lineberry who retired from the state police.

25 years ago: East Hampton officials announced that the town received the largest number of building permits in the town’s history during the month of April 1986, and that the town was experiencing a building boom.

25 years ago: The new girl’s softball field behind Korn School in Durham was set to be dedicated to Edmund T. Parmalee, a popular custodian at Korn Elementary School who had passed away the previous fall.

25 years ago: Organizers of the Early Bird Tag Sale to benefit the book fund at Levi Coe. Library in Middlefield, asked for donations of items to sell.

25 years ago: The Cromwell Boy Scouts looked for volunteers to help them get their scouting headquarters located next to Pierson Park back in shape.

25 years ago: A torn-up wooden grate covering a spillway between Edwards Road and the Royal Oak development in Durham was replaced by a permanent structure.

25 years ago: The Haddam Board of Selectman sought to organize a new committee that would be charged with directing maintenance of several historic local cemeteries that weren’t supervised by an active cemetery association.

25 years ago: The Portland High School Concert Band and Wind Ensemble traveled to Carisle, Pa. to participate in a music festival that attracted bands from throughout the eastern region. In 1985 the band placed third with a “good” rating at a festival that took place in Newport, R.I.

25 years ago: Approximately 80 concerned Clinton residents turned out at a public hearing on Port Clinton Marina’s request to be exempted from a town ordinance on harbor building lines.

25 years ago: Juniors and their parents were invited to a program at the Senior High School in Old Saybrook to lean about the college and technical school selection process. The guest speaker was Manuel Oliviera, the director of admissions at Greater New Haven State Technical College. He outlines a successful program to help choose a school.

25 years ago: The Cromwell American Legion Auxiliary began its door to door sale of poppies.

25 years ago: It was announced that after 61 years in Middletown the J.C. Penny store would close its doors come July 26, 1986. The reason for the closure was “unsatisfactory levels” of sales according to E.T. Howard, the company’s district manager for New England.

25 years ago: The District 13 budget for 1986-87 was approved by taxpayers by a margin of 60-11. The budget represented an 8.27 percent increase over the operating year for 1985-86. The largest net increase went to teacher’s salaries which rose an average of 10.6 percent.

25 years ago: The East Haddam Parent-Teacher Organization announced it would present a series of three workshops entitled “Alcoholism: A Family Affair” during the month of May. The workshops were set to take place at the town’s elementary and high schools.

25 years ago: The Connecticut River Museum offered a program on shad fishing in Essex, aboard a 66’ schooner. The fee was $15 per person and each of the two programs offered were limited to 22 participants. The program was part of the annual shad run up the Connecticut River.

25 years ago: The Rev. Michael Matthews, pastor of the Nazarene Church in Cromwell shared his story of addiction at an assembly on the topic at Cromwell High School. Matthews was also the co-president of the Drug and Alcohol Task Force and hosted a panel presentation by teenagers and a staff member from Survival, Inc., a Mass. drug rehab program.

25 years ago: The Durham Fire House hosted a 50s style dance for couples with DJ Rockin’ Richard. Tickets were $20 a couple and all proceeds from the dance went to the Durham Women’s Club Scholarship Fund.

25 years ago: The Park and Recreation Department in East Hampton announced that stickers for admittance into Sears Park would be available today. Each sticker cost $8 instead of $5 in previous years in order to offset increasing costs of operating the park.

25 years ago: Ellie Lawton was elected president of the Killingworth Volunteer Fire Co. Auxiliary on a slate to serve for the ensuing year.

25 years ago: Charles Wiltsie lifted the first shovel of soil at Mallard Cove on the shore of Lake Pocotopaug in East Hampton where 61 condominiums were to be built.

25 years ago: Construction on the Old Clinton Road Bridge in Westbrook got underway. Carlin Contracting Co. of Waterford was in charge of the construction. There were concerns about the safety of the bridge’s wooden deck span.

25 years ago: The Sound Steppers Square Dance Club held an apple blossom time dance at Main Street Middle School in Old Saybrook.

25 years ago: State canine control officers in Westbrook began checking local dogs as part of a state wide campaign to make sure all dogs were licensed.