The 1907 enforcement of Connecticut’s “Blue Laws” in Willimantic was brought on by the Womens’ Christian Temperance Movement which brought charges against Manager John Gray of the Loomer Opera House. (Their float in July 4, 1911 parade is pictured)  At his trial, claiming discrimination, he brought general charges against all those whose business establishments were open on Sundays. (Gray was found guilty and fined.) Citizens were unhappy with all the closings but merchants were hopeful that the matter of Sunday closings be taken up in the General Assembly since a bill was to be introduced asking that the law be repealed or amended. In January, 1907, Mayor Daniel Dunn hosted a meeting of the Mayor’s Association of Connecticut.  At that meeting, Ex-Mayor Bassett of New Britain expressed the feelings of all when he said, “The matter (of Sunday closings) is entirely a local affair. I believe the old ‘blue law’ should be repealed and laws of local option should be passed in their place granting home rule.” Mayor Thayer of Norwich added that cities should govern themselves instead of being governed from Hartford. Mayor Bassett suggested that the group frame a bill favoring a “local option” and secure the backing of every mayor in the state. Mayor Thayer was asked to frame the bill. The reason for the bill, at least as far as Windham’s citizenry was concerned, was because of the action taken against John Gray. Following Mayor Dunn’s meeting, lawmakers in Windham County received assurances of support from those throughout the state who felt that the bill would do away with laws that were constantly violated and had “outlived their usefulness by a hundred years”. But only minor changes to the law came about, due mainly to the WCTU and religious bodies favoring it. In 1960, a group of owners of coin operated laundries in Willimantic sought a court hearing. They were hoping for an injunction against the Sunday opening ban. The laundry owners named Police Chief Laramie and City Prosecutor John Sullivan as defendants. Following a complaint received by his office, Chief Laramie had warned the establishments that they needed to close on Sundays since the statute forbade “work or recreation” on Sunday. The owners said that they do not actually work; they only provide the machinery. Judge William Barber did not grant an injunction but required all parties to come to court to show cause why such an injunction should not be issued. The three laundries, King’s Launderama on Main Street, Laundromart on Main Street and Park Coin-O-meter on Watson Street opened on two different Sundays in April and so the operators were arrested. Pending their court cases, the owners kept their establishments closed on Sundays. They also issued an appeal to those who used the laundries to provide their names so that the could give the court a large list of names of people who needed to wash their clothes on Sundays. The injunction that the operators had hoped for was denied by Judge Barber who focused on the word “necessary” in the law. He said that, “’necessary’ in the ‘Blue Law’ doesn’t mean absolute physical necessity but it does mean more than what is needful, desirable and convenient”. In December, 1960, the cases finally went to trial and were nolled. State Representative John Blake said he would file a bill legalizing the operation of coin-operated laundries. In the meantime, one month later, the owners of the laundries, Harry and Sol Koenigsberg, Robert Wentworth and Leonard Levine were cited again for “violation of the Sunday Blue Law”. Again, at the November, 1961 court hearing, the cases were nolled since, between the arrests and court hearing, Representative Blake’s bill was passed and an exception to the Blue Law was made allowing coin operated laundries to be operated on Sunday.