Mayor of Williamsburg Roddy Harrison, 64, leans back and laughs after jokingly scaring his friend during a phone call in his office at City Hall. “Everyone should belly laugh at least once a day,” Roddy says. “Everybody should laugh, everybody should smile.”
Roddy has been cruising since high school, explaining that he often annoyed his friends by driving slow and waving to everyone. For Roddy, cruising and his desire to be mayor have coincided, long loves beginning in high school.
"Williamsburg is a group of people who care for each other, even though they may fight and they may say they dislike certain things," Roddy says. "For the most part, we're all close knit. We know each other. We probably know too much about each other. But I would tell everybody that if you come here, you will be part of the family forever, and people will have your back. We'll help you with anything you need help with."
For 27 years, Roddy was a science and math teacher at Williamsburg Middle School. His teaching career coincided with his 30 years in local government, beginning in 1994.
Coincidentally, the same year he bought a truck, with the prompting of his wife, Maria Harrison, that he still drives through the hills and mountains of Williamsburg, seeking ways to help everyone whose path crosses his.
"What's important to me is to keep this town going forward," Roddy says. "But family and faith are one and one."
Maria, "the love of his life," and his daughter, Mandy Connelly, who gave him Landon Connelly, 4, the child who made him a grandpa, now weave into the Williamsburg fold of the Appalachian blanket.
Roddy sits across from Maria and Landon in The Brick Oven pizza restaurant. A bored Landon clangs his fork on the ceramic plate. Roddy's gentle stare and hand movement stops the disruption. Landon loves his Popaw, emulating his personality and gestures. Though Landon lives in Richmond, Roddy and Maria aim to make him a Williamsburg boy. He's often seen running through the halls and offices of City Hall and holding his Popaw close while riding through Williamsburg's streets in a yellow golf cart.
"I would have never gone anywhere else," Roddy says. "This is home . . . everything's about Williamsburg."
Roddy spray paints the letter “R” near a pothole on Campbell Hill Road while a dog lingers next to him. His red mark makes residents aware that he’s planning to have someone fix them. “My favorite thing is if someone brings me an issue or problem and if I can help them, that's the most fulfilling thing,” Roddy says.
(From left) Williamsburg Hardee’s employees Sierra Faber, Katie Kubbard and Pollie Douglas pose for a photo at Roddy’s prompting before he receives his regular breakfast and unsweet tea.
Roddy laughs at a comment made by his sister, Mayor's Office Administrative Assistant Gina Hamblin, at City Hall. Roddy says Gina had worked at City Hall before he was elected as Mayor.
Roddy and Maria, 58, react to the view of his cabinet after professional organizers helped Maria reorganize their home.
A sign with a quote from Jimmy Buffet hangs in Roddy's man cave. “You can absolutely take yourself into a rabbit hole and never come out and why?” Roddy says. “Life is passing us by pretty doggone quick. We better enjoy it while we're out here. . . .I fall back on teaching. Those kids don’t deserve (it) if I had a bad day. I had to learn to really shut that out and try to be upbeat even though I may not feel like it every day, but I do my best to try to smile. And you saw my Jimmy Buffett light. . . . So that's a good motto to live by."
Roddy talks to his friend B.J. "the pot smoking preacher" Leach's dog Sadie Marie. B.J. stops by City Hall every day and occasionally interrupts meetings to talk to Roddy. Roddy first met B.J. at a polling location where B.J. was campaigning to be Sheriff of Whitley County.
Roddy meets Williamsburg police officers at a residence to address an illegal chicken problem. Roddy explains that he had been receiving complaints about chickens from neighbors.
Landon Connelly, 4, Roddy's grandson, squishes his face after they finish eating at The Brick Oven restaurant. Landon visits Landon and Maria in Williamsburg about twice a month. The three usually go to The Brick Oven because Landon thinks that Roddy owns it.
Roddy is often seen riding around town in his bright yellow golf cart that he uses instead of a car, when weather permits. Roddy says, "In a golf cart riding around as mayor, you see so much more than you do if you're driving through in a car or whatever. You can see issues and problems, and see people and wave and have a good time.”