Someone You Know: Bob

There are some faces around town that everyone knows. Known since they were a kid even. They are people that we’ve always said hi to, or maybe always wished we could say hi to, or people who we have wondered about, silently, with no hellos in mind. Where does their story start? What subject makes them talk fast? Where do they go at the end of the day? Someone You Know offers crumbs. Teasers. The tidbits of those familiar faces, with the goal of pushing people to connect more. Say hi. Wonder out loud. Find what makes them talk fast.

FARMINGTON – Most likely, if you spent your school days in RSU 9, you waved to Bob Hallman at some point.

Whether on a walking field trip to the Pierce House to deliver hand-drawn cards, or passing canned goods from one another during Helping Hands, or simply heading to the Rec. Center after school, Bob was most likely the one who signaled for you to safely cross Middle Street.

“Sometimes it doesn’t seem possible. I see the kids as tots, then middle schoolers, then next thing I know they’re driving by, waving,” he said.

Bob has been the anchor crossing guard for Mallett School for the last 23 years. It wasn’t a job he necessarily saw himself having as a younger airmen for the U.S. Air Force, and then a lineman for Central Maine Power, but he’s enjoyed every minute of it.

“I’m an outdoorsman, so it suits me,” Bob said.

Bob grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where his outdoorsy lifestyle took root. It wasn’t very different than the rural woods of Maine, Bob said. They did a lot of fishing and ice fishing and they even had a little, friendly ski mountain that started out with a rope tow lift. He was in the Air Force for four years before getting discharged while at base in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. A short stint in Connecticut confirmed Bob’s preference for the rural, outdoorsy lifestyle, so he made his way to Farmington where he had some family.

When he walked past the, literally, open door of CMP on Church Street, Bob walked in and asked for an application. He became a lineman not long after.

“We didn’t have the aerial equipment back then so it was just hooks and belts, climbing up the poles,” he said.

There were no classes or trainings back then, so Bob had to learn on the job.

“I wasn’t scared. It’s like anything- you’re taught the right thing and you respect the different parts of the job. It’s all in how you approach yourself, and paying attention.”

Bob worked as a lineman for 27 years before retiring. He took up his job as crossing guard two years later, where he’s been ever since.

“I enjoy it. I enjoy the kids,” he said. “And I still get to be outside.”