Family: Locally, it’s me and my wife Peggy. I’m the oldest of nine — now eight, we lost one — and my brothers and sisters are all over the place. I’m from Troy, N.Y., originally.

Pets: Daisy Mae, a pocket beagle we rescued. She’s about 7.

How long have you lived in Newtown? 22 years as of July 1.

Work: I’m retired 12 years now.

What do you like to do in your free time? I have a Man Cave that Bob Vila would be jealous of. I do a lot of projects. My last one was building boxes for planters, using the old decking. We just redid our deck, so I put the old decking to work.

Are you part of any clubs or organizations? The biggest one is Newtown Lions Club. I’m vice president of the club, and I’ve been a member since 2005. I’m the chief Car Custodian for our annual Mustang Raffle. I’m responsible for purchasing it and maintaining it all summer, taking care of any issues that crop up. The car is the Lions Club’s major source of income for all of our donations.

I was also chairman of the Lake Zoar Authority for 12 years. I retired from that last March.

Do you have a favorite author? I have two, actually. I like Dan Browne and Michael Crichton.

Do you have a favorite book? I’m reading a Dan Browne book right now, called The Symbol, so that’s currently my favorite (laughs).

If you could spend the day with one person, living or deceased, who would you choose and why? Again, I have two: Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell. I regard them both as both geniuses and mentors, which greatly intrigues me. I’m an inventor. I’m an engineer, so I invent every day.

What is the most recent movie you’ve seen at the theater? Oppenheimer.

Who is your favorite actor? Tom Hanks, by far, closely followed by Leonardo DiCaprio. The roles that both of those guys have played have been so different from each previous role that they’re magicians.

Favorite musical artist? John Denver, but I didn’t appreciate him until after he died. I listened to him, but I didn’t really understand him. I thought he was just a country hick, until I really started to listen to his lyrics. He was a balladeer. We don’t have many balladeers any more. The only current one is Billy Joel.

Favorite musical genre? Bluegrass.

Do you have any pet peeves? The biggest one I have is when traffic goes down by a lane, like three lanes to two on the highway, and idiots have to go to the end of the lane instead of just merging. Traffic would flow if everyone would just merge quickly instead of waiting until the last minute.

Favorite color? Purple.

What is something you cannot live without? My tool belt and my Leatherman.

What is your proudest accomplishment? Marrying my wife.

Favorite travel destination? Canada, any part of it.

What is your favorite part about Newtown? The small town feel, and I hope we can continue to keep it. I’m not happy with the development that’s going on right now. I’m happy we don’t have fast foods here.

What would you like to see covered by The Newtown Bee? More of the historical part of town — the Dan Cruson type of stuff. I like it when you show the old pictures of Lake Zoar, and I can identify what we’re looking it.

Do you have a personal credo? Be prepared. I live by that.