A nonprofit organization that honors standout athletes from throughout New Canaan history is gearing up for its annual Honoree Ceremony. The New Canaan Old Timers will induct six new members during the Sept. 15 event (register here).
We put some questions to Old Timers Vice President and Historian Terry Dinan ahead of the ceremony.
Here’s our exchange.
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New Canaanite: For our readers who aren’t familiar with the organization, please give us some background on Old Timers.
2021 Honoree Tom McInerney giving his speech.
Terry Dinan: The New Canaan Old Timers was founded in 1982 by a dedicated group of longtime New Canaan residents who were extremely knowledgeable and passionate about this town’s long and storied athletic history. The original members included Vinny Socci, Johnny “Rabbit” Lapolla, George Paglialungo, Walt Ruscoe, Ad Tomaselli and some others. The group was modeled after some other similar organizations in Stamford and Norwalk that honored athletes and sports figures from the past. It started with a casual clambake up at St Luke’s – it was an all-day event with breakfast and lunch and some bocci mixed in there. It has evolved a bit. Even so, the fundamentals are still the same, as is the motto – “Keeping the Past Alive.” It’s kind of cyclical. We honor past New Canaan athletes, coaches and other sports figures with the goal of raising proceeds that go toward the Vin Iovino Scholarship, named for our former athletic director, presented to senior NCHS student-athletes and donations to other charitable sports-related causes.
Tell us about the Sept. 15 honorees.
We have a great lineup of honorees – Heidi Sandreuter was a two-sport captain at NCHS and also played field hockey and lacrosse at Williams College. Dan Goldblatt was a soccer and track star at NCHS and ran at Brown – probably the fastest high school runner I ever saw in person. Steve Luciano was one of the greatest lax players ever to come out of NCHS –he played at Rutgers and was just inducted into the CT Lax Hall of Fame. Kevin Halloran was a huge part of the great Don Usher basketball teams of the early 80’s and went on to play hoops at Colgate. Brett Wilderman was another multisport star at NCHS, a great wrestler, lacrosse and football player. He played both football and lax at Cornell. And of course, his younger brother Brian Wilderman is a legend here in New Canaan. He was a football and wrestling captain and a Sikorsky Award winner. We lost Brian way too soon in 2000 when he was a student at Sacred Heart. His legacy lives on to this day with the football teams’ home opener named in his honor…The Brian Wilderman Game.
What can Honoree Ceremony attendees expect at the event?
It’s a great day at Waveny House on the back patio, overlooking the park. There are speeches from each honoree and a luncheon to follow. Friends, family, teammates and coaches always come – it’s kind of like a mini-class reunion for each of the honorees. Just a special time to celebrate yesteryear.
How is Old Timers supported?
There are three main events the Old Timers host under the leadership of our President, Bill Brown. The golf outing in the summer, the Homecoming Pancake Breakfast and the Honoree Ceremony on Sunday. We are a 501c3 non-profit and rely 100% on individual donations and support through those three aforementioned events. Along with Bill and myself we have a great group that includes Lauren Cerretani, Scott Overbeck, Darcy Smith, Matt Ready, Katey Twombly Ryan and Tad Keating. Former longtime members Lenny and Liza Paglialunga and Rick Ericson are still available for guidance and help wherever we might need it. And we are always looking for new members to join.
What, if anything, would you like to tell us about Old Timers or this coming Sunday’s ceremony?
Everyone is welcome to attend, tickets can be purchased here or at the door. It’s for a great cause and is always a great time and nice reminder of how much sports are a part of the fabric of this community. I cannot underestimate how important it is that we continue to celebrate and honor New Canaan’s athletic history so that we can continue to help build its athletic future.