25 Years Ago: Westbrook school officials were still trying to determine whether the results of a mastery test given to fourth, sixth and eighth graders warranted a change in class curriculums.
25 Years Ago: A bicyclist suffered multiple injuries after being hit by a car on Route 154 in Old Saybrook, police reported. Raymond B. Dunn, 40, of 21Fenwood St, was struck near Bridge Street on Christmas Eve by a car driven by 22-year-old Steben DesJardins, of 4 Nibang Ave.

25 Years Ago: An East Haddam educator’s dream was fulfilled when a school for talented and gifted youngsters opened in Old Saybrook. Called the Hollingworth School of Connecticut, Dr. Angela Speck’s school was named after a pioneer educator for the gifted and talented, Leta Hollingworth, who ran a school in New York City in conjunction with Columbia University.
25 Years Ago: A land transaction filed at the Portland town clerk’s office brought to mind the second anniversary of the employee buyout of Standard-Knapp, Inc. from its Illinois-based corporate owner. And that decision by workers and management to go it alone proved to be a good one, the company’s president believed.

25 Years Ago: Beginning this week, Shoreline residents were able to take evening courses leading to an associate degree in business administration or marketing at Old Saybrook High School, as Middlesex Community College began its spring semester in town.

25 Years Ago: Westbrook school officials tried to determine whether the results of a mastery test given to fourth, sixth and eighth graders warranted a change in class curriculums.

25 Years Ago: Middlefield town officials considered “lending” the Water Pollution Control Authority $13,000 to pay interest charges owed to Middletown on back fees for sewer use, according to the town planner.

25 Years Ago: The Board of Selectmen of East Hampton authorized the sale of the old library in the Village Center to William Devine for $90,000. The vote by the selectmen was 4 to1, with Selectmen Richard Knotek in opposition

25 Years Ago: East Haddam’s Committee on Ageing reviewed its regulations and schedules concerning senior citizens’ use of the town-owned van and car and met with the Board of Selectmen to dispel “rumors and innuendoes” about the issue.

25 Years Ago: Killingworth’s Board of Selectmen approved a request from Tax Collector Ruth Patrick for appointment of the tax office clerk as assistant tax collector.

25 Years Ago: The attorney for the East Haddam’s Planning and Zoning Commission prepared an injunction to stop a local sports car distributor from violating town regulations concerning the number unregistered cars that can be parked outside.

25 Years Ago: The Sibley Co. in East Haddam did not resume the manufacturing of printed electronic circuits when the reconstruction of the factory building was completed.

25 Years Ago: An unusually high number of students at the John Lyman Elementary School in Middlefield were out during a 10-day period with the flu, according to the school’s principal. Of the school’s 200 students, 30 were registered as absent one day and even two teachers were out.

25 Years Ago: The owner of Killingworth Inn sought approval to reopen a bar in the historic building that was the former Winkel’s Kenilworth Inn. Diane Dennen, who reopened the building on Route 80- Route 81, sought a special permit from the Planning and Zoning Commission to open a café in the ground-floor location of the earlier Winkel’s café.

25 Years Ago: The Board of Education, of Old Saybrook, granted permission for the high school Spanish class to travel to Mexico during their April vacation, but stopped short of taking liability for the safety of participants

25 Years Ago: A proposal aired several months prior to build 150 homes in the riverfront area located off Middlesex Avenue was still very much alive, and the developers brought the Portland Planning and Zoning Commission up-to-date at its last meeting.

25 Years Ago: Santa Claus and kids: they simply belong together. And the combination brought the Christmas spirit to the Cromwell Town Hall when Santa stopped by to deliver presents to some specially invited guests.

25 Years ago: East Haddam residents, many of whom adopted U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd as their neighbor, were proud of his successful attempt to secure the release of Eugene Hassenfus from a Nicaraguan prison and the national recognition the act had given Dodd.

25 Years Ago: A report from the surgeon general stating that even secondary smoke could cause cancer prompted the Old Saybrook Board of Education to move forward with a proposal to ban all smoking, by students as well as staff and visitors, in the town’s three public school buildings.

25 Years Ago: Middlefield residents of Harvest Woods Road — who were likely to have to pay as much as $240 a year to use the same sewer that Middletown residents paid $60 for — wanted the town to assume some of the technical and administrative costs for running the system.

25 years ago: The Board of Selectmen in Portland held a public hearing at the town library to discuss a Small Cities Grant application. Sondra King from Midstate Regional Planning Agency said that the town was eligible to apply for a total of $800,000 in federal funds to continue the residential rehabilitation program and extend water and sewer lines.