NewCanaanite.com (https://newcanaanite.com/tag/new-canaan-old-timers)
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.
A three-year starter and captain of the baseball team, Paul Devlin earned a number of honors for his performance during his senior year. The 1982 NCHS graduate was named first-team All-FCIAC, first team All-State and was named to the Connecticut team that played against a team of all-stars from Massachusetts in the annual game between the two states. In his senior season, Devlin–a third basemen–hit .493 and broke Bobby Valentine’s FCIAC record for number of hits in a season. The record had stood since 1962. He also drove in 30 runs in 20 games for head coach Keith MacBain and the Rams that year.
Tim Parry, 44, began to see his father differently—through the eyes of his schoolmates—after arriving at New Canaan High School as a freshman in the late-1980s. By then his dad, Ray Parry, was approaching 30 years teaching science at the high school, including stints as an assistant football coach and equipment manager there. “I came to see a whole different world,” Tim recalled on a recent afternoon. “A world of people that he had done things for. I started to hear, ‘Your dad meant this and that to me,’ ‘I wouldn’t have got into college if not for your dad,’ ‘He pulled me aside and gave me something to read and it changed my life.’ ”
The elder Parry will turn 85 on April 12 and Tim has a special plan to mark the day: Gather videos from former students and colleagues telling his dad what he’s meant to them, and combine the clips in a digital tribute reel (instructions on how to participate can be found at end of this article).