The owners of Arethusa Farm in Bantam traded the world of high fashion and the city for ice cream, cheese and country living.

Waterbury native Tony Yurgaitis and George Malkemus are the business brains behind a then up-and-coming women's designer shoe brand - Manolo Blahnik – and they were catching the eye of fashion's inner circle.

When the Arethusa Farm property went on the market the two decided to take a chance and drop the high heel creations to churn out top notch dairy products instead.

Yurgaitis and Malkemus have turned the farm into a success once again. They bottle milk and make ice cream, cheese and butter.

Malkemus died in 2021, so Yurgaitis is now giving a portion of the farm to the community to become an agri-education center for local high schools.

For Yurgaitis, the time was right and the shoe fit.