Occupation: I’m the owner of Naturally Wood, a design/build company. We do everything from new building to remodeling to repair — to chicken coops! My partner is Derek Clarke, an architect/artisan. Naturally Wood has been doing business in the Newtown area for 30 years. We do custom carpentry, as well. I just refurbished and installed the antique stamp window at Hawleyville Post Office. My wife and I are owners of Purr-fect Pooch, a grooming and pet supply shop in New Fairfield. She does the day-to-day stuff and the grooming, and I help with books and supplies, and that sort of thing.

Family: I’m married to Sally. We have a son, Joseph, and two grandchildren, Anthony and Makayla. They live in South Carolina.

Pets: We have two dogs. One is a Puerto Rican rescue, a “sato,” or “street dog,” in Spanish, named Nina. Our other dog is an Australian shepherd, Bindi. We have two cats, too, Lupé and Roy. 

How long have you lived in Newtown? We’ve been in Newtown for 28 years, 22 of them in Hawleyville.

What do you like to do in your free time? I’m a diver and snorkler. I like to swim with fish and take strolls in the underwater gardens. I’m a pretty avid reader; I finally learned it’s a hobby and needs to be treated as one… We enjoy traveling and I enjoy spending time with my wife and family. I do like to cut the rug every now and then.

Do you have a favorite author? I really loved the late Patrick O’Brian, and the Captain Aubrey and Dr Maturin series.

Where do you like to go diving? I like to dive best, lately, in the Bahamas. The water temperature and clarity are good there. I think the most interesting think I’ve seen while diving: we found a “hole,” and if you go in and are very quiet, and go with the flow of the surge, all of a sudden you’ll start seeing shadows. Those shadows turn out to be six-foot tarpon fish, and they’ll start swimming all around you. It’s pretty wild. One of the more exotic things I’ve seen is a fish with no eyes. They are underwater cave dwellers, and have evolved that way.

Do you have a favorite travel destination? We own property in the Bahamas, on Aleuthra, and in Prince Edward Island, Canada. So we go north in the summer and south in the winter. I do love PEI. I lived there for 15 years. But the heat in the winter in the Bahamas is nice, too. We do go to Cape Cod frequently to visit relatives in Truro, too.

What is the best thing about Newtown? It’s the sense of community, the neighbors, and our friends. I think that sense of community was best demonstrated in saving Hawleyville Post Office. That was a remarkable episode in our life here. It’s the architecture of Newtown, too, for me, and the privilege to work on some of these old homes.

Who has been the greatest influence in your life? My experience in Vietnam was probably the greatest influence in my life. Upon my return, in order to cope with that experience, someone turned me on to Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet, and I took his teachings to heart. My dad was a big influence on me. He taught me my work ethic.

Do you have a personal philosophy? Treat everybody you meet as a good friend, until proven otherwise. Maintain your lifelong friendships. They help define who you were, who you are, and who you will be.

Do you have a guilty pleasure? It is a cup of hot coffee on Sunday morning, “Sunday Morning Baroque” on the radio, and The Newtown Bee crossword puzzle. And I must agree with Nick Barzetti (Snapshot June 1, 2012), that any football game supersedes household chores or yard work; but I add a pot of homemade popcorn.