Name: Geoff Nelson Age: 26 Occupation: Associate at Kilometers in Ridgefield and TruPro Realty in Trumbull. Tell us a little bit about yourself: I was born in Stamford and I lived there and in Greenwich most of my life. I went to New Fairfield High School and I live in New Fairfield now. Running is a big part of my everyday life. I started running my junior year of High School and then walked onto the Syracuse Cross Country and Track teams after I graduated. How long have you worked at Kilometers in Ridgefield? It's been about 3 months now. I've known Marc Chapman, the owner, ever since I …

Name: Sarah Hutchinson Age: 28 Occupation: Museum Educator Tell us a little about yourself: I was born in Norwalk and grew up in Bethel. I have an older brother. I went to Immaculate High School in Danbury and Wheaton College in Massachusetts. I majored in Art History and Studio Art. My concentration was in Printmaking. I went to Graduate School at the San Francisco Art Institute. I worked with their docent program coordinator at the school’s professional MOMA gallery. My graduate degree was in Exhibition and Museum Studies. I have a cat named CeCe—it’s short for Cecelia. My favorite type of …

Name: Marianne Maltas Age: 35 Occupation: Full-time student, Direct Care Worker for Family and Children’s Aid and Counselor at the Women’s Center. Tell us a little about yourself: I was born in Danbury at Danbury Hospital. I grew up in Brookfield and went through the school system there. I now go to school at Western Connecticut State University, where I am in the Justice and Law Administration program. How did you begin your experience of studying Criminal Justice?                  First I went to Norwalk Community College to study Criminal Justice. I completed my associates there. Then I …

Name: Ken Wipperman Age: 62 Occupation: Owner of Ridgefield Liquor Shop and Owner of Odd Jobs Contracting.  Tell us a little about yourself: I was born on Long Island where I was from Uniondale. I lived there for 24 years and then I moved to Connecticut. While I was first living up here I was running the Fort Lee, New Jersey Genovese Drug Store so I was commuting. My wife and I have lived in Ridgefield since then. I was the manager of Genovese Drugs when they were here and then I was Connecticut's District Manager. This is our 25th anniversary at Ridgefield Liquor Shop. We see over 1,000 …

Name: Bridget Miller Age: 49 Occupation: Dog Groomer at The Groom Room. Tell us a little about yourself: I was born in Brooklyn and I now live in Danbury. I used to go up to Putnam Lake in the summers with my family. That's actually how I ended up working in Ridgefield. My sister and I went to the New York School of Dog Grooming in Manhattan. We decided to go up to Ridgefield one summer and get some work at The Animal House that used to be in the Copps Hill plaza. I worked there for a year and a half and decided to open my business, The Groom Room. How long have you worked in Ridgefield? I've…

Name: Lori Soyak Age: 50 Occupation: Barista at Tazza Café Tell us a little bit about yourself: I have 3 teenagers, two boys and one girl. They are 19, 18 and 15. I am always busy working fulltime and taking care of them. I went through the Ridgefield school system from the time I was in Growing Tree Pre-School till the end of High School. How long have you lived and worked in Ridgefield? I have worked and lived in Ridgefield for 25-years. What is your best memory in Ridgefield? My best memory in Ridgefield has been raising my children here in this town. Going to their sports games and …

Name: Alyson Lawrenia Age: 36 Occupation: Sales Associate at Sleepy’s. Tell us a little bit about yourself: I’m originally from Wolfeboro, New Hampshire and I’ve lived here in Connecticut for the past 16 years. My husband and I got married in 2008 in Connecticut. So far we have one daughter, but we are planning to have a larger family. The rest of my family still lives in New Hampshire, so we go up to visit a lot. I’ve worked at Sleepy’s in Ridgefield since 2005. How long have you lived and worked in Ridgefield? I had lived in Ridgefield for three months before moving to Bethel. I’ve been …

Name: Victoria Palazzo Age: 17 Occupation: Student and cashier at the Burrito Shack in Wilton. I also work at Almost Home in Ridgefield. It’s a daycare center. Tell us a little about yourself: I go to Ridgefield High School. I will be a senior this year. I am on the Dance Team, and I do Saferides when I’m not at school. How long have you lived in Ridgefield? I’ve lived here my whole life, so for 17 years. What is your favorite aspect of Ridgefield? It’s a really close community. Everybody knows everybody. There is a lot to do and there is always somewhere to hang out. What keeps you here? …

Name Dan Keaton Age 32 Occupation I'm a minister – senior pastor – here at Ridgefield Baptist Church. How long have you lived in Ridgefield?  Three and a half years. My family and I were in Canandaigua, N.Y., which is near Rochester in the Finger Lakes region. I served as a youth pastor at a church up there for five years. I kind of grew up all over the place, a big chunk of my childhood was actually in Brazil – my parents were missionaries there, so I grew up in Brazil. We moved back to the States when I was 16, a sophomore, up to Taunton, Mass., right outside of Boston. I finished up high …

Name David Marceau Age 37 Occupation Staffing Sales at Ridgefield One. I find jobs for people who do IT or creative work, and I find companies that need IT and creative people. My first real job out of college was working in Microsoft's sales office in New York, in the city, and I left there because it was a temp job – I left there after nine months – and started doing IT consulting, mostly custom application development and later on web development. I did that for about ten years and then, after the dot com bust, I had trouble finding work, I had no sales skills at the time so I couldn't …

Name Mary D'Addario Age 90 Occupation During World War II, I was lucky enough to pass a civil service exam, and I was asked to attend the University of Pittsburgh for a year, but after about five months, I was called by the War Department, and they had a job for me. So for about three and a half years during the war, I was sent to about three different towns in Pennsylvania, and they always found a place for me to live. And then I went to work – at that time they used to get car dealerships they would convert into factories, and some made hand grenades and other items for the Army. That …

Name:  Chef Liz Gagnon        Age: 46 Occupation: Executive Chef at Nature's Temptations  After working several years in the garment industry, I found my way to the Natural Gourmet Institute for Food and Healing. As a "french-fry vegetarian" it was an eye opening experience. After graduating, I went to work as a private chef for several celebrities and high profile corporate executives.                               From there I started a home delivery service for organic prepared meals. The business grew over the next several years, and in 1995 I was recruited to develop a similar business …

Name Christina B. Nolan Age 63 Occupation I am the Library Director for our community library, Ridgefield Library Association. After graduating from college in the late '60s, I, along with thousands of others, went to live in San Francisco. I didn't have a clear idea of what I wanted to do but quickly realized that management training at Wells Fargo Bank was not my life's path. While traveling in Europe and trying to find my life's path, someone suggested I become a librarian. The more I explored this idea, the more I liked it. I went to graduate school and focused my studies on the public …

Name Rabbi Eric Eisenkramer Age 35 Occupation I am the Rabbi at Temple Shearith Israel, a Reform Jewish congregation located at 46 Peaceable Street a few blocks from Main Street. For four decades, Temple Shearith Israel has been a center for Jewish life in the Mid-Fairfield and Northern Westchester counties. We offer a full range of Reform Jewish programs including: Shabbat, High Holiday and Festival services, religious school, bar and bat mitzvah education, adult education, social action, Sisterhood, Brotherhood, youth groups, Tot Shabbat, guest speakers, special music services and more.  …

Name Caren Harrington Age 48 Occupation I am a Top Producer at Keller William's Ridgefield office. I have been a realtor for four years. I was a stay at home mom and I had twins. At the time, I decided to get into real estate because I had 10 years of sales experience. I decided to go back into sales, and that's how I view real estate -- it's customer service and sales. Before becoming a realtor I was in pharmaceutical sales with Abbott Laboratories. My territories were in Westchester and Ridgefield, which, now, as a realtor, I can list and sell in North and South Salem and also Connecticut …

Name Candela Fonseca & Maria Alvarez  Age Candela is 16 & Maria is 14 Occupation Candela: We are students at Wooster School as part of their foreign exchange program. I am in 10th grade. Maria: I am in the 9th grade and I love it here because I get to choose my own subjects and it is very beautiful here at the school. Candela: It is very different from our school in Spain.  We are in the same school together there and we grew up together in the same town.  It's very interesting here.  I like that we get to choose our own classes. How long have you been in Ridgefield? Candela: A few weeks. …

  Name  Shelley & Jamie Age  Ageless beauties! Occupation  Owners of She She for the last six years. Jamie: I owned my own shop in New Jersey before this. Shelley: And we wanted a place that offered chic fashions without having to drive into NYC. Jamie: We became friends through our daughters and felt that Ridgefield really needed something like this. We give personalized service that women can't get in department stores. How long have you been in Ridgefield?   Shelley: 25 years, I'm originally from Maryland. Jamie: 11 years, I moved here from New York. What is your favorite place to go to in…

Name Bob Leavitt Age 79 OccupationI'm retired from IBM. I was in the Manufacturing Research Department at the T. J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, NY. How long have you been in Ridgefield?  I moved here in September, 1970 from Endicott, NY with my wife, Loire, and our three children, Katherine, Joy and Will. What is your favorite place to go to in Ridgefield?Well, that's a tough one because I have a couple. Having just been to a CHIRP concert in the park, these concerts are a wonderful place to go. It gives you a feeling of being part of small-town Americana. The library, its …

Name Alana Taylor Age 10 Occupation Well, I'm going into 5th grade at Scotland Elementary, and I have my own lemonade stand. It's called Alana's Lemonade Stand. I started here at the farmers market in June. I wanted to do something to help raise money for a charity, so I thought this would be a good idea.  I asked my dad's friend (Michael Spenatto) at Spagone if I could put the stand in front of his restaurant and he said yes. Last week I made $23.50. I'm saving up all the money at home. I give it to my mom, and she puts it in an envelope so that in October we can mail it to the Wounded …