FARMINGTON — For Farmington Walmart Manager Greg Patterson, coming to Maine was a culture shock.

He drew laughter from the Farmington Rotarians on Thursday as he described trying to decipher the Maine accent. Patterson, who is from Rogers, Arkansas, the home of Walmart, said, “There was a huge language barrier coming up here.”

He has managed the Farmington store about five years, and can trace his Walmart roots back to the week he was born in 1962. Shortly after his birth, his mother took him into the store in Rogers. Interestingly enough, 1962 was also the year that the first Walmart was established.

“I guess I was kind of destined to work here,” said Patterson.

He comes from a farming background, and remembered growing up on a farm with Concord grapes, green beans, and soy beans.

“I know I don’t look like I raised calves or goats, but I did,” he said.

Patterson attended Central Baptist College, and then the University of Central Arkansas. While at Central Arkansas, he sat next to a gentleman in class who he also played informal basketball games against. That gentleman was Scottie Pippen, who went on to win six NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls.

“We did a lot of trash talking,” Patterson recalled. “I told him he wasn’t very good.”

When he lived in Texas, Patterson became a Cowboys and a Rangers fan. He said that he was fortunate enough to witness Kenny Rogers pitch a perfect game for the Rangers.

Before coming to Maine, Patterson had never been east of the Mississippi River, spending his life in Arkansas and Texas. Originally, he was scheduled to be in the state for seven months to oversee a Walmart Supercenter. Now, it is his home and he is part of the Farmington Rotary and active in community events.

When Patterson first came to the state, a childhood friend was the manager of the Somersworth, NH Walmart, which he admitted made the cultural adjustment easier. Patterson’s first Maine stop was in Brunswick for five years as the store manager. Then, he went to the Rockland Walmart.

It was while he was working at the Rockland store that his employees played a joke on him. They told him that his favorite actress, Kelly Preston, had been in the store and they’d gotten her autograph. Years later, Patterson found out it was a hoax.

This time, though, Patterson got the last laugh. He later met Preston and got a photo with her. Eventually, he met Preston’s husband, John Travolta, while working in the store.

Patterson admitted that some people don’t like Walmart. “A lot of the perception is it’s this big, huge company that takes over everything when it comes into town,” he said.

He spoke of Sam Walton, the Walmart founder, who was born in 1918. Walton started by opening a 5 and dime store in Bentonville, Arkansas in the 1950s. He wanted to establish his store up by the northern section of Arkansas, bordering on Oklahoma and Missouri, to be close to outdoor recreational opportunities.

Patterson met Walton and ate breakfast with him not long before he passed away. “He put me at ease,” said Patterson. “The first thing he wanted to know was about my family.”

Before Walton passed away, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George H.W. Bush in 1992.

Patterson noted in a series of slides that there are 2.2 million Walmart associates working in all Walmarts combined, and the store serves 260 million customers per week. He showed a new truck, by Peterbilt, that has been designed especially for Walmart. Its trailer has been designed to be wind-resistant.

Patterson spoke about the Red Schoolhouse Cemetery project that Walmart employees and Foster Career and Technical Education Center students had worked on. The store has a program called “Volunteerism Always Pays”, and for each employee who volunteers their time, Walmart gives $250 in their name to the organization for which they volunteer. In this case, it went to the American Legion to help with any needs and expenses for the cemetery work.

Hammond Lumber, Wiles Remembrance Centers, E.L.Vining & Son, Pro Service, and the American Legion also pitched in to help. Hammond helped with a new fence, Wiles put in a bench, and Pro Service put up a new flagpole. The students trimmed and cut trees around the cemetery’s rock border to open it up to sunlight. Walmart employees worked to clear brush.

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