The first time Ben Goldstein realized he was famous was in late June of this year, when some fans asked to take a picture with him outside the Dexter post office.

Before his first two Jeopardy! games aired, Goldstein wasn’t used to getting attention in the community he’s called home since 2014. The attention has only increased now that he’s a five-time champion.

Goldstein and his wife Rachel had moved from Ann Arbor, choosing their home on Huron River Dr. based on Dexter’s schools and affordability. “We wanted a big yard, we wanted space between our neighbors,” he says. “It turned out to be a fantastic decision.”

Goldstein works from home for a New York software company and treasures seeing the sun rise across a field in front of the house. He walks to the Dexter Cider Mill to get “the best donut in town” and enjoys the parks and bike trails nearby. He and their eleven-year-old son Rocco especially like the trail that connects Mill Creek Park to Hudson Mills Metropark.

The family sees deer in their yard and particularly enjoys the beginning of summer, when the bunnies in the area make their dog, Clementine, go “berserk.”

“We live in a sort of rural part,” Goldstein says. “It’s very quiet and peaceful.”

His Jeopardy! appearances built new connections in the community. While his family has always enjoyed the Dexter Creamery and eating outside at Dexter’s Pub, they’ve ventured out more after neighbors gave them recommendations following a pub watch party. Goldstein recently caught his first show at the Encore and said he expects to go back for Little Shop of Horrors.

“It’s amazing that this town can still surprise us,” he says.

That’s not the only way it’s done so. When Goldstein took six-year-old Vinny to his school open house, he got an ovation when he walked in the door. Goldstein said the recognition has been somewhat surreal, but has filled him with pride.

“It really pumped my tires, knowing I had a town’s worth of people in my corner,” he says. “I continue to be blown away.”

Goldstein will appear next in the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions, which was delayed by the recently concluded writers’ strike. He says he expects Dexter to continue to support him.

When asked on the show what he planned to do with his winnings, Goldstein said he might use them as a down payment for a new house. When the time comes, he has no plans for it to be anywhere other than Dexter.

“If anything, it’s reinforced my feeling that this town has a lot of kind and incredibly supportive people in it,” Goldstein says of his newfound fame. “People around town nod at me and say hi and are nice, but otherwise, life hasn’t really changed. And that’s a good thing … It’s really the perfect little small town.”