Occupation: I am an art director at Gicconi Storytellers in Norwalk.

Family: My wife, Lynn, and my daughter, Rebecca. Rebecca is 4 years old.

Pets: I have a 6-year-old cat, Houdini. She’s an all-black cat that we adopted when we first moved to Newtown. The house was still empty, as a matter of fact, when we brought her home. We put her in an empty room to get her used to the place, and I don’t know how she did it, but she would disappear. There was nothing in the room and we couldn’t find her.

How long have you lived in Newtown? We moved here from Norwalk six years ago.

What do you like to do in your free time? I mostly coach football when I can. I grew up in a football family and I’ve coached for 17 years. I coach American Youth Football and I do football clinics in the off-season. I also like to landscape, planting annuals and perennials, doing lawn care. One of the reasons we moved to Newtown was to get more land.

Do you have a favorite sports team? The Miami Dolphins for football and the New York Mets for baseball.

Do you have a favorite travel destination? We go to Newport, R.I. We try to go each year for a few days. We went to Hawaii for our honeymoon and it was amazing, so I’d like to go there again.

What is the best thing about Newtown? Even though it has grown a lot, there is still a friendly atmosphere. People care about each other.

If you could time travel, would you go to the past or the future? I think I’d go to the past. I’d like to see my mom again. She passed away when I was only 22.

Do you have a personal philosophy? I try not to take things too seriously. I try to appreciate what I have.

What is the most important lesson you have learned? To be respectful and to understand that when there are gifts in life to appreciate them.