Occupation: I work for Swiss Reinsurance Corp out of Armonk, N.Y., handling asbestos, pollution, and health hazard claims.

Family: My wife, Patti, Scott, who is 16, and Andrew, who is 13.

Pets: Not really, but we have these African Chichlids. They’re fish from the lakes in Africa. I picked them because they matched my water Ph. All the others were dying. The interesting thing is they’re called “mouth brooders.” They carry their eggs and hatchlings in their mouths.

How long have you lived in Newtown? We have lived here for ten years.

What do you do in your free time? I’ve been a Cub Scout and Boy Scout leader for ten years. Right now I’m Assistant Scout Master for Troop 270. And I got my private pilot license last year. It took 80 hours of flying time, and I don’t know how many hours of book time. It must have been 40 or 50 hours. I didn’t go to a ground school; I got an interactive DVD. I also build and fly radio-controlled airplanes and I belong to a club called FLYRC. We fly at Orchard Hill. I do home improvements, too; I worked as a carpenter in college.

Where is your favorite place to fly to? The favorite place I’ve gone to is Block Island. It’s the first real destination, like a vacation place, that I’ve gone to. It’s pretty nice — an hour and a half to get there. I also do a breakfast run to Poughkeepsie about once a month with another pilot. I call it the $50 omelet.

Do you have a favorite book? I like a lot of the Tom Clancy adventure type books and the John Grisham novels.

What is the best thing about Newtown? It’s a great place for a family. We moved in and immediately found all of the family activities. There is lots of parent support for all of the activities. There are a lot of options for kids.

Do you carry anything interesting in your pockets? Not today. But catch me on a Saturday afternoon and I might have screws, clamps, nuts, bolts, and a lot of sawdust in my pockets.

What is your philosophy? Try to get the most out of what you do in life and enjoy it. That’s part of the reason I got my pilot’s license. It’s something I had always wanted, and I decided a couple of years ago I didn’t want to wake up an old man and say, “I wish I had done that.”

What do you most cherish? My family.

Snapshot: Craig Nichols