A DRAWBRIDGE TENDER'S VIEW

Prior to his retirement in 2022, Rod Coleman was a tender of the Mystic River Bascule Bridge. In his 33-year career, Rod enjoyed access to that special vantage-point of the daily activity on the Mystic River, exemplified by the perpetual traffic of boats plodding up the river, often on their way to Mystic Seaport Museum.

The bridge that Rod would eventually tend first caught his attention as a boy when traveling through Mystic with his parents. Rod recalls, “We came to a stop going over to the Stonington side. I grabbed both headrests and I asked, ‘Mom, what is THAT?’ She said ‘It’s a drawbridge.’ My feet didn’t even hit the floor then but I said ‘I want that job one day!’” The story of Rod’s ascent to the “command center” is long and winding, but his childhood wish came true in 1989.

In his career, Rod witnessed historic and thrilling moments. He describes his view from the bridge as Amistad was launched in 2000: “It was packed downtown. The Mystic fire boat led the way through with the water cannons going off. People were all the way from the condo docks to the park. It was an honor to work that day.” He likens the energy of the Charles W. Morgan and Mayflower II launches to the “electric” air of the Amistad launch. On occasion, boats of celebrities such as Steven Spielberg, Phil Donahue, and Walter Cronkite would come through, often sparking a moment of jovial interaction as Rod peered through the open window to see who was on board. Once, his job was impacted not by a celebrity on a boat, but a former President traveling by car. The secret service instructed Rod to close the bridge to prevent President Jimmy Carter getting caught in stopped traffic.

As bridge tender, Rod experienced the ebbs and flows of life on the river. He emphasizes the importance of the park renovation in downtown Mystic to create a tourist-friendly atmosphere and offering riverfront access to all. He mentions an oil spill in Kingston, Rhode Island, in 1996 that temporarily halted fishing boats. The economic downturn in the early 2000s slowed recreational boating. Dredging of the river channel allowed for larger boats to come in. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and gas price spikes slowed boating once again. Fishermen seeking safety during extreme weather used to “raft up” along the river’s edge and chain to the bridge. He also speaks of the impact of river conditions on the ability of boaters to maneuver through the bridge, occasionally causing unscheduled bridge openings for the safety of boats and boaters. In an emergency situation, tenders are the last to leave, ensuring that boaters returning in bad weather can safely make it upriver, because when the tenders leave, the bridge is left down.

Communication between the bridge tenders and the Museum is frequent and friendly. Whether opening the bridge for Sabino chuffing up and down the river daily or for Museum visitors arriving by boat, Rod says with pride, “The bridge tenders have always considered themselves the gatekeepers to the Seaport.” Rod speculates what would happen if the Museum stopped operating: “[Mystic] would dry up, and it would dry up the drawbridge, too. Mystic [bridge] opens because people go to the Museum. They [the Museum and the drawbridge] depend on each other.”

Ryan Ramella, Volunteer Writer