Occupation: I work at my family’s business, The Russell Agency, which is an insurance agency in Southport. I’m the fourth generation to do that. It’s what I went to school for, and I love it.

Family: My parents are Bobbie Sue and Tim Russell. I also have a sister, Mila; and a brother, Judge.

Pets: We have a dog named Martha. She’s a Shih Tzu, and we were told when we bought her that she’s a purebred, but her paper said she’s half Lhasa Apso, and we believed that, because she looks like it. Now people are testing the DNA of their dogs, and I’m not sure why, but we did it too and confirmed that she’s a purebred Shih Tzu.

How long have you lived in Newtown? Just about my whole life, so 22 years. I moved on June 1, to lower Fairfield County, but I still find myself here every day. (laughs)

Do you have a favorite book or author? You know, the only books I really read are the [late Newtown Town Historian] Dan Cruson books. I’m not much of a reader, but I really love those.

What do you like to do with your free time? I play bluegrass, a lot. My main thing this summer has been to play bluegrass. I was at Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival in New York, I went to Roxbury Pickin n’ Fiddlin’ and played with Jim Allen in the band contest there, and last weekend I was at Podunk Bluegrass Festival in Goshen, so that’s been keeping me busy. I play guitar. I also have a garden in Newtown, which is a time-consuming thing. I have an old tractor that was my great-great-grandfather’s that is a constant project.

Who is the greatest influence in your life? Both of my parents, for their own reasons. My mom works so hard, and my dad is such an honest dude. It’s a great feature to have in a father.

If you could spend a day with anyone, living or deceased, who would you pick and why? I would pick my mom’s father. He was a farmer in Georgia. He was one of those guys from a generation that doesn’t exist any more. He was a mechanic, and a welder, and a cow farmer — he could do it all. He grew up in a totally different world. He died when I was 2 but I think he had a lot of wisdom that I would have liked to pick up on.

What can you not live without? People, probably. I think some people are recharged by people, and others are exhausted by people. I’m somewhere in between, but without people life could be pretty quiet.

What is your favorite travel destination? I am such a homebody! (laughs again) I don’t really like to go anywhere, but I do love Martha’s Vineyard. I have a lot of good memories of going there when I was a kid.

What is your favorite part about Newtown? Half of me wants to say the people, and half of me wants to say the place. It’s somewhere in between, really. I think it’s just the fact that the town brings really creative people together. There’s no way to explain why it does that, but there’s something about Newtown that brings a lot of really creative people here, and creates a lot of creative people as well. People who grow up here tend to be very unique. The amount of musicians and artists I’ve met here, or just people doing cool stuff — it doesn’t have to be art or music, just people who have their own personality, you know? — I think that’s something that’s hard to find in the world.

What would you like to see covered in The Newtown Bee? I think specifically, what’s happening with the Catherine Hubbard Preserve and the property next to it. I think that’s a concern and I know it’s important for us to keep an eye on. I know you guys have been covering it, but it’s going to continue to be a thing and I think it’s the right thing for the Town to do, to work together to help protect that property over there. The preserve means a lot to a lot of people.