It’s that time of year when we make a list of resolutions for the new year – most of which we never keep. Sure, you might want to lose weight, quit smoking, eat better or exercise more. How about resolving to help someone else, instead of yourself?
The way to do that is through volunteerism. In turn, though, you do help yourself – to be a better person. Volunteering for a charitable or human services organization can be very rewarding. You can help an organization fulfill its mission while making you feel good about you.
Volunteering is easy. It starts with a phone call. The Fairfield Public Library has a list of clubs and organizations that always accept new volunteers. It can be accessed here.
To help get you started, I have compiled a short list to give you an idea of what’s available. I begin with my personal favorite, Operation Hope, for which I am a regular, active volunteer.
Operation Hope 203-292-5588
The Kennedy Center 203-365-8522
Fairfield Museum and History Center 203-259-1598
American Red Cross 203-576-1010
Center for Women and Families 203-334-6154
Connecticut Audubon Society 203-259-6305
Near and Far Aid 203-259-1710

Fifty-three years with one company. How many people can say that? Fire Chief Richard Felner for one. He has been a member of the town’s Fire Department since he was a young man. He rose through the ranks over the years, and since 1998 has led the department’s 98 members and overseen the operations of five firehouses.
I have known the chief for years and consider him a friend, one of the nicest people in town. I am glad that he is at the helm. He has dedicated his life to fire service, entering the department in 1959. “I feel that I’m working with the best fire department in the state,” he told the Fairfield Citizen recently. He described his firefighters as being caring and compassionate. “They put their lives on the line every day to take care of the residents.”
Fairfield’s firefighters have fought some serious blazes over the years, fatal ones too, and have responded to their fair share of motor vehicle accidents, emergency medical calls and other less life-threatening incidents. They will even change the batteries in smoke detectors at senior citizens’ homes or put in new ones.
I tend to agree with the chief – our fire department is the best in the state.
A former Marine sergeant, the chief has a wish – world peace. Perhaps a lofty goal, but one to strive for nonetheless.
And, chief, I have a wish – not one nearly as global or important – and that is to cash in on that ride in a fire truck you promised me three years ago. Expect a call from me soon.

It was sad and funny. The memorial reception to Rod MacKenzie on Wednesday at the Fairfield Museum and History Center, where he spent his days, was filled with family, friends and colleagues. It was a fitting tribute to a kind and gentle man, who had a deep love for his family and friends and who unfailingly helped anyone who walked through the doors of the museum’s library.
The FMHC’s 75-year-old genealogist and assistant librarian died earlier this month, leaving a legacy as vast as the town he loved. The reception was preceded by a simple graveside service at Oak Lawn Cemetery. Nearly 100 people mingled and chatted about Rod, telling stories about him and consoling those who knew him well, worked with him or lived next door to him.
Museum Director Michael Jehle choked up as he told the gathering about how important Rod was to the center and how much he would miss him. Rod’s sister Laura gave a glimpse into the other side of her brother, recalling funny stories about him when he was a child. But nothing was more poignant than the words of Jennifer Bebon Grascher, Rod’s longtime neighbor, who essentially was a member of his family. Struggling to speak through her tears, Jennifer recounted Rod’s kindnesses toward her family.
The museum and its users are going to miss Rod’s knowledge of Fairfield, not to mention his ability to find anything in the archives. Although he is irreplaceable, I hope the museum does his years of service justice by finding and hiring a successor.
I left the reception warmed by the affection shown for Rod, a man I only got to know well over the last year. I also agreed to volunteer in the museum’s library – the least I could do to show my respect for Rod.

The Pequot Library sure knows how to put on a holiday party. It’s something right out of a Norman Rockwell scene.
The Holiday Caroling Party takes place at the Pequot’s auditorium, reading room and great lawn on Wednesday, Dec. 21, from 4 to 6 p.m. The evening begins with children’s crafts, cookie decorating and ornament making. Carols will be sung around the fireplace, and horse-drawn wagon rides through Southport Village to the harbor will leave from the library. There will be cider for the kids and hot toddies for the adults.
For information, call 203-259-0346, Ext. 15.

For those of us with an interest in the history of our town, we are fortunate to have known Rod MacKenzie, the assistant librarian and genealogist at the Fairfield Museum and History Center. For those of you who never got acquainted with Rod, shame on you for missing out on knowing one of the most knowledgeable and nicest men around.
Rod died on Dec. 9. His passing saddens me and numerous other people who worked with him or sought his help in researching their family history or some facet of life in Fairfield.
I had known of Rod for decades, but it wasn’t until the last year that I saw firsthand his kindness and deep knowledge of Fairfield. While working on a four-part series on the Civil War for the Fairfield Citizen, I spent many hours inside the library and the Fairfield Museum and History Center perusing the archives, which he knew so well.
When I was assigned the series, the first person I sought out was Rod, who guided me in outlining it and particularly on the second installment, which featured some of the men from Fairfield who fought in the War of the Rebellion. His face lit up when he provided me with stories and details about Maj. John Buchanan Morehouse, who he called the single most important figure in Fairfield’s Civil War history, and Christopher Columbus Wells Jr., who not only saw considerable action in the war but was Fairfield’s first rural free delivery mail carrier, using a horse-drawn cart. In honor of the Civil War sesquicentennial, Rod organized earlier this year a walking tour of the East Cemetery on the Old Post Road, where Morehouse and Wells – and numerous other Fairfielders with familiar last names – are buried. I watched as he delighted in showing the participants the various headstones and sharing historical tidbits of each of the men.
Each time I walked into the center’s library, Rod greeted me like I was an old friend, and always was quick to get a file from the archives or answer a question. When I told him that I also had been researching my family history, he seemed pleased and asked me about my finds and gave me a few tidbits of help in my search.
Roderick B. MacKenzie was 75 years old and a lifelong Fairfield resident. He worked at the Fairfield Historical Society (the precursor to Fairfield Museum and History Center) and the Pequot Library for more than 30 years. He graduated from Monson Academy in Massachusetts and Salem College in West Virginia and received a Master of Social Work from the University of Connecticut. He became interested in genealogy, which began his journey at the historical society. According to his obituary, he began a genealogy program at the Pequot Library; he was a member of several genealogy organizations and was a Mason like his father and grandfather before him.
A memorial service will take place at a later date. His wish was for donations to be made to the Fairfield Museum and History Center, 370 Beach Road, Fairfield CT, 06824 or www.fairfieldhistory.org or to the Pequot Library, 720 Pequot Ave., Southport CT 06890. The Shaughnessey-Banks Funeral Home is handling arrangements. To send an online condolence, visit www.shaughnesseybanks.com.
Thank you, Rod, for sharing your time and talent. I, for one, am fortunate to have known you.

The Fairfield Department is conducting an open house on Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon at Police Headquarters, 100 Reef Road, where officers will provide tips on preventing crime.
With burglary one of the more prevalent crimes in any community, police officers will offer ways for you to protect your homes and businesses. The best way to prevent burglary is to not provide the opportunity, and you’ll be surprised to learn that some of the things you overlook in your everyday lives are being watched by criminals looking to strike. I have been the victim of a burglary and attempted burglary. It is very scary and disconcerting.
The more you can do to protect yourselves, the better off you will be. For information, call 203-254-4800. Crime prevention and crime fighting tips also can be found on the department’s website.

I am an elf again this year. The basement of St. Anthony’s Church on South Pine Creek Road is the site of Santa’s workshop, where groups of volunteers receive, sort and wrap bags upon bags of donated holiday gifts for Operation Hope’s Hope for the Holidays program. Oh, and we’re also checking our lists to see if every wish was fulfilled.
This is my favorite project of all the volunteer tasks that I have done for Operation Hope, which provides shelters and associated programs for the hungry and homeless among us. The holiday season is not my favorite time of year. To me, it’s all a big chore and stressful. I obviously need a bit of holiday spirit and I get it while I wrap presents at St. Anthony’s.
What also instills me with the holiday spirit is watching the incredible generosity of the people of Fairfield. No gift is too great or expensive to include in their bundles of donations. Some even get more than the recipients’ requests. In my three years of being involved, the most amazing thing I witnessed was on Tuesday when a woman pulled her SUV into the parking lot and needed four people to help her unload it. The entire car was full, which prompted a simple “Wow!” from me and my fellow volunteers. Her response was equally simple, “I have generous friends.” Indeed.
For information on how you can be involved next year, visit www.operationhopect.org.

The Kiwanis Club of Fairfield is selling poinsettia plants for its major fundraiser to help further its mission.
The plants are florist-fresh and each 8-inch, foil wrapped pot has three 18- to 20-inch tall plants with 12 to 15 blooms. They are available in red, white or pink. The pick-up date, at the Spear-Miller Funeral Home on South Benson Road, is December 10. Free delivery in the Fairfield area is available with the purchase of five or more plants.
Orders may be placed with Kiwanis Club members; via the club’s website, www.fairfieldkiwanis.org; or through Brian Baker at 203-259-5254 or brian.baker@reefchirocare.com.
In 2010, the club donated more than $25,000 to local organizations, including $15,000 in scholarships to graduating high school students.
Here’s a bit of history on the poinsettia, according to The Learning Channel. The plant arrived in the United States in the 19th century, and is named after the first U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Dr. Joel Roberts Poinsett, who introduced America to the poinsettia in 1828, after discovering it in the wilderness in southern Mexico. Poinsett, apparently an amateur botanist, sent cuttings of the plant back to his South Carolina home. By the 20th century the poinsettia became a holiday mainstay. National Poinsettia Day is celebrated on Dec. 12, which honors the plant and the man who brought it to America.