Scott Penney stands Monday beside the Mechanic Falls Public Works truck he’s used as head of the department. Penney retired Thursday after 29 years working for the town. Eriks Petersons photo

MECHANIC FALLS — Scott Penney was the “outside maintenance guy” at the Great Northern Recycling facility in town in 1995. He said then-Town Manager Dana Lee and Public Works Director Larry Piper noticed him and offered him a job.

When Piper resigned following the 1998 ice storm, Penney was appointed to head the department.

In a news article announcing his appointment, Penney praised the efforts of the highway crew and the attitude of town citizens during the January storm.

After 29 years of service to the town, Penney retired Thursday, still praising the Public Works “boys” and the citizens they serve.

Mechanic Falls is familiar to Penney.

He grew up in Poland and his father and uncle owned and managed the J.W. Penney & Sons Manufacturing Co. in Mechanic Falls. Penney is great-grandson to J.W. Penney.

In high school, Penney learned welding and honed the skill at the family business. One day a man told him, “Man, you can lay a bead.”

For nearly a decade Penney worked for several companies, welding motor vehicle main frames, fuel tanks and hydraulic cylinders.

He learned to be a heavy equipment operator at Great Northern Recycling. But until Lee proposed the town job, Penney said he still had not found his life’s direction.

That came when he found enjoyment doing the work that needed to be done for the town and its citizens.

“We’re not trying to impress people, we’re just trying to do a good job,” he said. “… When somebody compliments you on a good job and says it’s wonderful, that makes you feel even better.”

In this year’s town report, Penney wrote, “We do so many things throughout the year that it is impossible to get bored. Each season has different things that need to be taken care of and we try to do a professional job at each task.”

He added, “A majority of the people in this town appreciate the work the boys and I do.”

Penney’s daughter, Anne, was diagnosed with cancer in 2014, and $13,000 was raised in a single night at the American Legion Post 150 on Elm Street, of which Penney has been a member for over 30 years.

“This town backed me so completely, I’ll never forget that,” he said.

Penney and his family have been ardent attendees at the annual Dempsey Challenge, wearing T-shirts displaying the “Penney Strong” logo.

He said the loss of his daughter changed him forever. “Things like that take a toll,” he said.

Reflecting on his work, he chimed off names from the past, including Plummer, Fifield, Bisbee and Tibbets with whom he was glad to be associated.

He mentioned Sandy Ballard, who passed away in June, who furnished meals for the department during “all-nighters.”

But, Penney said, those lengthy snowplowing shifts got too much for him. He admitted the reflexes aren’t what they used to be. Besides, he said, he wants to break the habit of getting up at 10 minutes to 5 in the morning to be at work by 20 minutes to 6.

A gathering for people to thank him for his years of service is planned from 2-6 p.m. Tuesday at the American Legion Hall at 41 Elm St. Refreshments will be served.