Date: 3/9/2023
Tags: Life
Last Friday, March 3, the city held a celebration of volunteerism, as we met to honor Deborah Coulman, our 2023 Darien Citizen of the Year. While I have attended this event almost each year since the mid 1980’s. I am still amazed that we find individuals, year after year, who have committed their lives to serving our community and our world.
Deb Coulman is not someone most people would know, she doesn’t perform her acts of service on a broad stage, rather she has committed herself to activities and groups that work to preserve the environmental beauty of our community along with preserving Darien’s Historical heritage. While these two areas are the main focus of her work, she has also committed time to assisting those in need through her work as a comfort dog handler. This work has included visits to shut-ins, private homes, schools and settings where individuals needed reassurance. None of these activities were the result of a job or tied to a service group, but rather the work of an individual who sought no reward except the knowledge that she was serving her fellow man.
While I only knew Deb as a member of the Darien Historical Society, this honor opened my eyes not only to her Historical Society work, it demonstrated to me how so many individuals like Deb are out there in our community, performing acts of kindness on a day to day basis. These are individuals like Deb who are “quiet, unassuming, and humble people,” and they are individuals who work behind the scenes at making Darien “a nice place to live.”
Congratulations to Deb Coulman on her being a recipient of our Citizen of the Year Award; we are happy the committee was able to find one of the many residents who serve or community. Best wishes to Deb and to all those out there, silently and without fanfare working on behalf of our city.