Boerhringer-Ingelheim, the town’s largest taxpayer, filed suit in Danbury Superior Court charging that the most recent assessment of its Ridgebury property was “grossly excessive, disproportionate, and unlawful,” the May 12, 1983 Press reported.

Boehringer had appealed the valuation of its 49-acre research property off Shadow Lake Road and received a $44,000 reduction of its taxes from the Board of Tax Review but Boehringer Vice-president Karl Von Jena said, “The Board of Tax Review gave us back a little bit, but we feel we should be getting more.”

Thirty-one hours before the April 30 midnight deadline, the Ridgefield Family Y  fulfilled the conditions necessary to obtain a $100,000 challenge grant from Perkin-Elmer. The Y’s building fund, including the $100,000 from Perkin-Elmer, amounted to $2,236,805. The Y’s goal was to raise $2,800,000 for the building fund, to complete the purchase of the closed Barlow Mountain School from the town, and to renovate it as a full time Y facility.

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A dispute over liturgy split the traditionalist at the St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic seminary overlooking Lake Mamanasco. The disagreement, centering on what was the appropriate Catholic liturgy, resulted in the dismissal of Father Donald Sanborn, rector of the seminary since it moved to Ridgefield in 1979. About one third of the seminarians withdrew from studies at the seminary in the wake of the rector’s dismissal.

There was an apparent parallel between the current disagreement and the religious dispute which separated the seminary from the “official” Catholic Church in 1976 when its founder, French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, was suspended from priestly functions by Pope Paul VI. As with the archbishop’s disagreement with the church authorities in Rome in 1976, the disagreement between Archbishop Lefebvre and Father Sanborn focused on two versions of the traditional “Tridentine” Mass.

The Ridgefield High School debate team competed in the state tournament at Greenwich and came away with the state crown and a third place. Sophomore Tom Grozing captured the best speaker distinction. The other Ridgefield High School debaters were Doug Mahoney, Ines Polonius and Heidi Hawkins, David Leheny, Mike Kokalari, Kerry Reinertsen and Katie Lee. Coach Jean Gaumer established the debating team in 1978. The subject of the 1983 debate was the control of arms sales.

Glenn and Gail Mann announced the birth of their second child, Stephanie Elaine.