After 49 Years, Scroggins’ Last Day With The City Is Monday
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Longtime City of Water Valley employee Michael Scroggins is retiring at the end of the month. In the absence of Mayor Tommy Reynolds, who is out of the country, Water Valley’s First Lady Liz Reynolds presented a plaque in appreciation of his service during a reception held Monday afternoon at city hall.
WATER VALLEY – The city’s longest serving employee will retire at the end of the month, ending a career that lasted almost half a century. Michael Scroggins’ tenure spans eight mayors, several airport mishaps and more storms, floods, tornadoes and ice storms that he can remember.
The decision to retire came earlier this year and wasn’t easy for Scroggins, who has long claimed the city workers as his second family. He was only 18 years old when he started in November, 1976, and he learned early on that seniority and knowledge were important, with reading water meters providing one of his first “lessons.”
“I never walked so much in my life,” Scroggins said. “My feet were swollen.”
His starting wage was $3.25 per hour and two years into his city career, he took a brief, four-month detour to work for Holley Carburetor for more money.
“It was like being put in jail,” Scroggins said about factory work.
He came back to the city and worked in the water and sewer departments for another nine years before former Mayor Hamric Henry made him superintendent of the street and sanitation departments.
“I didn’t know anything about streets, but I went to a lot of classes. I also learned from the older guys,” Scroggins said.
In those days running the sanitation department entailed picking up trash and hauling it to a city dump. Typically the city would lease a plot of land and dig a pit around 25 feet wide and 50 feet deep. When it was full, the city workers would cover it and move to a new location.
“We used three different dump sites before the EPA required a liner,” Scroggins said.
The EPA regulation was enacted in 1995, and it was too costly for the city to operate a dump site, and the city crews started hauling the trash to a landfill in Pontotoc.
The next responsibility entrusted to Scroggins was airport manager, one of his favorite jobs in the growing list of duties. He recalls several late-night calls. One night a plane hit hard and bounced, coming to rest nose down on the runway. Scroggins took his truck and pulled it down the runway and out of the way in case another plane tried to land.
“We have a fair amount of plane traffic,” Scroggins said.
It was later in his career, seven years ago, when he was named superintendent of cemeteries and parks giving him charge of job duties previously filled by multiple city employees.
When his mother died, his family didn’t want him to dig the grave.
“I told them, ‘I am over the cemetery and that is my job,’” Scroggins recalled. “And I am the last one to lay you down and I want it done right,” he said.
But later his co-workers came to him and said “Boss, we know how you like it done.”
They finished the job, lowering the casket in the grave.
“I have a great crew to work with, I want to retire but in another way I hate to do it,” Scroggins said.
Changing Times and Eight Mayors
In his early years, Scroggins, like many city employees, also served as a volunteer fireman. If there was a fire, they stopped what they were doing and assisted. Scroggins recalls a fire one night on Daniels Street that he was helping with. He spotted something inside a window and soon realized it was a small girl, one of two occupants who were unable to escape the fire.
“I was sick for about a week, I couldn’t get that out of my mind,” Scroggins said.
He also remembers when members of the city crew were routinely called for by the coroner for an inquest if there was a death.
Scroggins reported that he has enjoyed working for each mayor.
“All of the mayors have done a good job,” he noted.
He remembers first working with current mayor Tommy Reynolds in 1984, shortly after Reynolds was elected to the House of Representatives.
“Tommy called me and wanted to ride with me,” Scroggins said. “He spent the day with us while we were working to clean up after the ’84 tornado to see what kind of support we may need from the state. Tommy has always loved Water Valley.”
Scroggins recalled when former mayor Donald Gray was helping at the cemetery when he was out with Covid. Gray and other city workers were holding the map trying to locate a plot. Scroggins directed him to the exact spot from memory.
“Working with Donald was great, he is a good man,” Scroggins noted.
Scroggins worked the longest under former mayor Larry Hart, who was in office for more than four terms.
“Larry was always out with the city workers, he would go to bat for us,” Scroggins recalled.
Scroggins remembers years earlier when the crew were cleaning ditches on Young Street and caught the ire of a lady who lived on the street.
“She was cussing and raising cain. All of my guys were up the street hiding behind a backhoe, they were scared of her,” Scroggins said.
He reached out to Mayor Hart, who told the guys to keep working. A few minutes Hart showed up and help sort it out.
“But she was eating him up. He picked up the phone and requested a police officer,” Scroggins said.
“I said what’s wrong,” Scroggins joked with Hart. “But Larry would always be there for us.”
Scroggins said he always warned members of the crew not to play around, because Hart would come around the corner when least expected. On one particular morning, they were pouring concrete and one of the guys found an old golf club and was swinging it when Hart rounded the corner.
“Larry said, ‘Are y’all going to play golf or pour concrete,’” Scroggins recalled.
“My old truck, the green one that I first started out with, the bumper would rattle. So they would listen and would hear me coming around the corner. They would say, ‘here comes the boss’ and jump up and start working. But they could not hear Larry’s truck coming.”
The Retirement
Scroggins was visibly blinking back tears as First Lady Liz Reynolds presented a plaque expressing appreciation for his service during a ceremony Monday afternoon at city hall with former mayors Hart and Gray, friends and co-workers in attendance.
“That is a position that is going to be hard to fill. You are not going to replace Mike,” Hart noted.
Scroggins cannot work for the city for 90 days after he retires, a requirement under the state’s retirement system.
“But after 90 days, I could come back and see if the city wants me to work part-time. Or who knows, I may enjoy it so much I don’t come back.”
