Fern Tryon isn’t opposed to working in a group environment – she’s a relatively new member of the Old Saybrook Lions Club, volunteered for the Old Saybrook Ambulance Association for about 10 years, and is active with the Deep River Congregational Church – but her standard way of helping others is more personal. Her nominators describe a woman committed to quietly caring for friends, acquaintances, and strangers alike. Going the extra mile is nothing new to Fern – one of her nominators described watching her leave her home at 9:30 p.m. to drive a senior citizen to work at 10 p.m. at a local coffee shop – Fern continued this assistance for about two years as her passenger underwent cancer treatment and ceased only when the senior decided to retire. She’s the person who stays at a friend’s hospital bedside to offer comfort through the night and who plants flowers at the entrance to Meadow Wood Lane in Old Saybrook – one of the dedicated few who are true Great Samaritans.