Without the aid of Wikipedia, I am going to guess the ET came out in the Summer of 1982. The reason for my guess is because The 1983 Gymnastics Show made that a central theme to the May performance.
Thanks to the Walnut Cove Public Library for keeping bound editions of all the past Danbury Reporters available with easy access. I only made it through a couple of years during my last visit to the library. There was no coverage for 1987, the final year of the show. But I intend to go through the complete archives before the Reunion Event.
See you there!