About 200 people turned out on a snowbound Saturday to greet the new governor during an open house at the state Capitol.
Call it the people's inaugural ball.
Instead of ball gowns and tuxes, they came in sweaters, boots and jackets. Each visitor had a few minutes to chat with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman, and each had a particular reason for coming.
Brenda Colon brought her 6-year-old son, Jalen Bowen, because "he needs to know who's running our state," she said.
The boy, a first-grader at John F. Kennedy School in Windsor, thoroughly charmed Malloy.
"You have a good handshake and you know how to make eye contact," Malloy told Jalen before noting that he could have a future in politics.
Fourteen-year-old Trianna Gutzman of Bethel came seeking support for her cause: She is advocating for a new state law that would permit children age 12 and older to speak directly to a judge in a parental custody dispute.
Malloy, a lawyer by training, expressed support for the concept and said he'd have his legal counsel look into it further.