Occupation: I work part-time at Newtown Hardware. I worked for BIC Corporation in Milford for 23 years, and I worked in a family operated landscaping company for 13 years.

How Long In Newtown: I’ve lived here since 1958 when I was discharged from the Navy. I grew up in Big Run, Penn., which is 75 miles east of Pittsburgh. I went to high school in Punxatawny, Penn., where the groundhog lives. He’s in a special pen behind glass at the town hall so it’s not easy to get near him. But he’s pretty famous.

Biggest Change You Have Seen In Town: It has to be in the appearance of Sandy Hook Center. It used to look like the pits. Now it’s looking much better. There are developers on each side of the road that have done a lot of fixing up and it’s a good change.

I’m glad the town has decided to buy Fairfield Hills, and I just wish they could get it done. It’s a big undertaking, but I think that place will be important to the history of the town some day. It’s hard to make these kinds of decisions so far ahead when we don’t know what will happen later. But that’s the way it is sometimes.

Family: My wife is Jo-Anne C. Haag. We have had three sons. One son, Stephen, passed away, but we still have Robert, Jr, and Brian, who lives in Woodbury. We have two grandchildren, Emma, who is almost 3 years old, and George Robert, who was born in November 2003.

Hobbies: I like woodworking, and working on my car. I also take care of the house and yard when I have time. There’s always something that needs to be done.

Pets: None now.

Favorite TV Show, Movie, Book: I enjoy This Old House and New Yankee Workshop with Norm Abrams. I guess you can see why I like working in a hardware store.

Most Vivid Memory About Newtown: It has to be the Great Sandy Hook Shoot-Out that happened in the 1970s when the Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang drove into town and got into a gunfight with someone at the old hotel. The hotel owner was trying to evict him and had asked the Hell’s Angels to help. But the guy was waiting with a gun and they started shooting. I just missed it because I had finished lunch at the Sandy Hook Diner and had gone home. It’s a lucky thing, or I might not be here now.

Favorite Vacation Spot: We like to go to Wellsboro, Penn., to the Big Gorge along Route 6. It’s kind of like the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania –– 50 miles long, a mile wide, and 1,400 feet deep. Joe Hurley, that reporter from New Milford that is walking across the country, just went through there.

Personal Philosophy: Maybe it’s a cliché, but I like the old saying, Do Unto Others. It’s true and it works.