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11/16/2022 10:58 AM"When I see something missing, I try and help.”
For over 20 years, volunteering in the Old Saybrook community has been a priority for Dorothy Alexander.
Last month, First Selectman Carl Fortuna presented Dorothy with a plaque during a small ceremony at Town Hall to honor Dorothy for more than 20 years as a Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) member.
"I was flattered beyond anything. It was a very pleasant surprise," says Dorothy.
Per Connecticut General Statutes, “The local judicial board that acts upon requests for variances from the Zoning Regulations or the Flood Plain Management Ordinance, as well as appeals of decisions of the Zoning Enforcement Officer in upholding those standards."
Prior to her resignation in November 2021, Dorothy had been a member of the board since the late ‘90s.
“I had done some similar work in Armonk, New York, where I had spent most of my adult life, so I decided to join,” says Dorothy. She says she had been living in Old Saybrook for about five years before she tried to join.
“I like to do my part to help do things I think produce a good effect on people,” she sums up.
Asked a favorite part of her time on the ZBA Dorothy says it’s hard to point to just one.
“Oh, I had several parts. I made several good friends, and I learned more than I thought I’d ever learn about zoning. I also got to work on some things I think were beneficial,” say Dorothy.
Besides the ZBA, Dorothy was also a long-time member of the Old Saybrook Garden Club. Dorothy says she was a member of the club for close to 26 years.
“The club works to beautify the town. It provides scholarships to high school students who are going on to study horticultural studies in school, [and] it works to educate people on horticultural matters,” Dorothy explains.
Dorothy is still a member of the club though she has scaled back her involvement over the last two years, she says. Dorothy joined the club soon after she arrived in Old Saybrook due to her love of being in garden clubs earlier in life.
“I had been in garden club for a good many years and like the work the clubs do,” says Dorothy. “My favorite part was just simply all the work the club does,” says Dorothy, adding that she has even served as president of the club several times.
For Dorothy, volunteering in her local community is something she takes pride in. In fact, it’s something that Dorothy has done in other communities she’s lived in.
“I lived in a town where there was no local paper and no place to see agendas and things like that. So, I wrote up a small monthly sheet that just had the meeting agendas and things like that, so people knew what was going on,” says Dorothy.
Dorothy grew up in Mount Vernon, New York and worked at several advertising agencies before she retired.
“I very much enjoyed it,” says Dorothy. She moved to Old Saybrook in 1994 following her retirement. “ I guess I really liked the small-town charm and the fact that it’s on the water,” says Dorothy.
In her spare time, Dorothy says she enjoys playing bridge spending time with family, and reading.
“My favorite part of Old Saybrook is the friends I’ve made,” she says.