Mike Roy knows Waterville. He was born in Waterville, went to Waterville High, went to Colby College, and is now the city manager. He is knowledgeable and appreciative of the town and its history.
But he has also seen the world outside of Waterville. After graduating from college, beginning the very day after commencement, Roy hiked the entire length of the Appalachian trail, from Georgia to Maine. He walked an average of 17 miles a day for 133 days and made it back just one day before Baxter State Park, his final destination, closed. He then went on to hike most of the Pacific Crest trail, from Canada to Mexico. But after this trip, and after staying in California for a while, he decided to move back home. As he put it, “The pull of the Northeast really got to me.”
After returning to Maine, he began a career in local government that has lasted nearly thirty-eight years. Roy eventually became city manager of Waterville, a job he loves. He “enjoy[s] being able to make a difference in the public square” and being “so much closer to the people that you serve.” And, as he put it, managing a city the size of Waterville is “never boring.”
The job has certainly kept Roy busy. He is currently collaborating with the Colby College administration on the downtown revitalization efforts. While it takes up much of his time, Roy says that the work is “exciting and means some real, positive changes.” He, the Colby administration, and other town officials such as the city council and the mayor, are figuring out which parts of the existing downtown to capitalize on and which to remove or change. Hopefully in making these adjustments, they will attract more business, multiplying the success of their efforts and, in turn, the economic success of Waterville.
The changes Roy is helping to create are part of the town’s long, complex story, one that he himself knows well. He can easily tell you about the Native American history in Waterville, can narrate in detail Benedict Arnold’s trip through Waterville and the mistakes he made (specifically making his trip in the winter). He believes that it’s Waterville’s “rich history” that makes the town worth fighting for.
Mike Roy is clearly a motivated person—not just anyone can hike thousands of miles in the span of a few months. The fact that he is channeling that motivation into Waterville is clear for all to see. And hopefully, it will mean good things for the current chapter in the story of Waterville that Roy knows so well.