Around Town

‘Love Your Enemies’: Community Celebrates the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. During Stirring Ceremony

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John Baluyut, a New Canaan High School senior, once believed that love could only happen between and among close friends and family. Yet after arriving in New Canaan, the ABC House scholar told a crowd of more than 150 people on Monday morning, he “learned that love is more than that.”

“Although the first month of moving here can be overwhelming, being in an environment that fostered love from people that were strangers to me a few weeks ago gave me an experience that I’ve never had before,” Baluyut told those gathered inside the United Methodist Church of New Canaan during a celebration of the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

He continued: “It opened my eyes to the fact that love is more than a feeling from family and friends—it is a transformative force capable of mending broken relationships, bridging divides and making enemies turn into friends.”

Baluyut struck a note that would resound throughout the moving ceremony, organized by the Interfaith Council of New Canaan. It featured a welcome from the Rev. Gilbert Burgess of the Community Baptist Church, music from the Men’s Choir at Pivot Ministries, the trio of Khanisha Moore (vocals), Peterson Prime (piano) and Justin Merveille, and Nerva Altino of the Congregational Church of New Canaan, an interfaith prayer for peace led by Jennifer Zonis, president of the Interfaith Council, testimony from Baluyut and NCHS sophomore Dariel Ortiz, an invocation from the Rev. Martha Epsein of UMC, keynote address from the Rev. Richard Williams, pastor of Pivot Ministries, and benediction led by Monsignor Rob Kinnally of St. Aloysius Church. Those in attendance included the full Board of Selectmen—First Selectman Dionna Carlson and Selectmen Steve Karl and Amy Murphy Carroll, as well as other municipal officials, local clergy and representatives from ABC House of New Canaan, including Moore, the organization’s resident director, Executive Director Jamie Boris and Board of Directors President Liz Tuff.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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New Canaan Police at 4:07 p.m. on Jan. 10 received a report of a sweatshirt stolen from the YMCA. They have no suspects. ***

New Canaan Chamber Music’s next concert, titled “Americans in Paris,” will be held at 3 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 6 and 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb.

News

New Construction Planned for Harrison Avenue

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The New Canaan Building Department has received an application for a new 5,000-square-foot home on Harrison Avenue. 

The five-bedroom house planned for 119 Harrison Ave. will include four full bathrooms, two half-baths, two-car garage and a finished 1,500-square-foot basement with an exercise room, playroom and office, according to a building permit application filed with the town in November (with additional documents coming in through January). It will cost about $900,000, the application said. The contractor on the job is Darien-based Sanda Company, the architect Sherman-based Evergreen Design & Construction. 

The .37 acre property—which includes a 1920-built, 1,928-square-foot Colonial—sold for $1,360,000, tax records show.

Government

New Canaan Police: Stolen Vehicles More Than Doubled in 2024

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The number of vehicles stolen from New Canaan more than doubled in 2024, officials say. Stolen vehicles increased from 17 to 40 year-over-year, according to Police Chief John DiFederico. The figures represent a 135% rise. “It was not a good year for vehicles,” he told members of the Police Commission during their regular meeting, held Wednesday night at Town Hall and via videoconference. The nature of the thefts appears to be changing in a dangerous way, DiFederico said.

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Former Police Officer Sues Town for Denying Pension

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Denied a disability pension three months ago, a former New Canaan Police officer—in prison since last summer, after pleading guilty to cruelty to animals—this week sued the town in connection with the denial. David Rivera, NCPD’s former K-9 officer, sustained “a service connected disability and therefore … should be granted a service connected disability pension,” according to a complaint filed on his behalf by attorney John Bochanis of Bridgeport-based Daly, Weihing & Bochanis, LLC. The town, Board of Finance and Funded Retirement Plan are named as defendants, according to the complaint, received Jan. 14 in the Town Clerk’s office. “Contrary to the Defendants’ basis to deny the Plaintiff’s application and subsequent appeal, the Plaintiff has not engaged in ‘fraud and dishonesty towards the Town’ as claimed by the Defendants as the basis to deny the Plaintiff’s application for disability retirement benefits,” the complaint said.