Waterville

Waterville is a city of about 16,000 residents, though more than 40,000 people live in the city and abutting towns, and it is a retail center for a wide area of central Maine. Recent development near the city's two Interstate 95 exits have brought familiar names like Staples, Ruby Tuesday's, Home Depot, and Applebee's to town. Downtown are several excellent sources for Asian and Middle Eastern food, a variety of independent specialty stores, and other restaurants, including the Freedom Café, which features Cajun and soul food. Colby is within walking distance of downtown, and the College's jitney service will get you there and to other shopping areas.

Waterville's Main Street has a great coffeehouse, Jorgensen's café, with cappuccino, chai tea, and sidewalk tables, and the independent Railroad Square Cinema shows first run Hollywood movies, foreign films, and alternative cinema. The city, is host each year to the Maine International Film Festival (established in 1998), to the Voices of the Kennebec festival celebrating the area's cultural diversity, and in recent years to a fall jazz festival.

Colby's volunteer programs have built strong bonds, particularly between students and local schoolchildren, and service learning programs see significant numbers of students engaged in downtown projects. For years students and staff have participated in Colby Cares Day, sending teams of volunteers into the city for service projects in the spring.

Besides Protestant and Catholic churches and a synagogue, Waterville has a Korean church, and Colby offers the Greek Orthodox liturgy and a consecrated Muslim worship space on campus. Both Colby and the local Boys & Girls Club have established programs with the Penobscot Nation and its reservation on Indian Island, which is an hour north of Waterville. Each year the city observes Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a community breakfast and a speaker at a local community center.