Several years ago, my nephew’s fiancé asked me what we mean when we say; Darien is “a nice place to live.” Her question gave me reason to pause and think, why do I believe Darien is a nice place to live? As I thought about my answer, there were a number of factors that came to mind, our quality schools, our well-kept neighborhoods, our access to major highways, our non-partisan city government, our varied houses of worship, our great public safety and public works programs, and our friendly residents, all of which I feel make Darien, a nice place to live. To me, while all these factors contribute to our wonderful community, there is one element that makes Darien stand out from other communities, and that is our volunteer spirit.
When was the last time you attended a Pancake Breakfast, a Halloween Party or a July 4th Parade by the Lions, or a clothing drive or arts program by the Darien Woman’s Club? Did you know that we have a Darien Arts Council that allows aspiring actors and actresses a chance to perform, or a Darien Garden Club and Sprouts Program for young children, and that our Darien Rotary has a Literacy Program that provides early learning materials for our pre-school children? How about our Darien Youth Club with its many sports programs for our children, or the Cancer Smashers, a group of young people whose goal is to rid the world of cancer. These groups and others are all run by individuals who give of their time in the service of others; their work enriches our lives as residents, and by their work, and their actions dictate the quality of life in our community. If you ever asked yourself why we call Darien a nice place to live, consider joining one or more of these groups, and your reward will not be monetary, but rather enriching. Your work will contribute to making Darien “a nicer place to live.”