Tyler Kendall
Editor-in-Chief
NBC news anchor and managing editor, Brian Williams, walks down the halls of NCHS an hour before the Staying Put in New Canaan benefit concert on Sunday Sept. 29. The night was dedicated to New Canaan’s first responders and Mr. Williams, the host of the concert, had a personal stake in the event. “I used to be a firefighter in my home state of New Jersey,” he said. “I started at 17, and it’s a terrific service, and a terrific thing to do. I did it for a couple of years and I miss it, I have even thought on and off about going back into it.”
Mr. Williams helped to plan the event and coordinate for Paul Simon and Harry Connick Jr. to perform. “This cause tonight was easy. My mother-in-law was one of the founders of Staying Put in New Canaan,” he said. “So when she said to me, ‘we really need to do an event, we really need to raise some funds,’ I thought the long ball, the hail mary pass, was to call two of the most prominent artists in town. I didn’t dream they’d be so enthusiastic about it.”
Although no longer a volunteer, Mr. Williams still sees a connection between firefighting and his current career. “There’s that aspect of volunteer firefighting, where you’re going to go to bed at night with the boots next to your bed, and then I transitioned to a career, where, metaphorically the boots are next to your bed,” he said. “In both instances, you could wake up in the middle of the night and find yourself just about anywhere on the planet the next day. I think that’s a pretty obvious comparison.”
Mr. Williams maintains a relationship with the fire department of New Canaan. “We raised our kids here, we have a house in this town; a stake in this town,” he said. “I’ve gotten to know a lot of the first responders and I know a lot about this fire department and fire house and I really care about it.”
The event at the end of the night was significant because of what it was benefiting. “People in this country don’t realize that when you call 9-1-1 you’re calling your fellow citizens, there’s no department of lavishly paid people,” Mr. Williams said. “This is an important thing. Staying Put is an important thing. So altogether it’s a pretty great evening.”
