Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low near 65F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph..
Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low near 65F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.
Rod Coleman, a Bridge Tender of the Mystic River Bascule Bridge in 1989, is retiring Thursday, June 30, 2022. The Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce is celebrating his career in the new Mystic Chamber Bascule Bridge Visitor Center.| Tim Martin, The Westerly Sun
Rod Coleman, a Bridge Tender of the Mystic River Bascule Bridge, wipes away a tear as he receives a citation from state senator Heather Somers, Thursday, June 30, 2022. The Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce is celebrating his career in the new Mystic Chamber Bascule Bridge Visitor Center.| Tim Martin, The Westerly Sun
Friends of Roderick Coleman, shown holding a plaque, threw a cake-and-congratulations party in Mystic River Park Sunday afternoon in his honor. Coleman retired Thursday following 33 years as tender for the Mystic River Bascule Bridge. Steven Slosberg, Special to The Sun
Rod Coleman, a Bridge Tender of the Mystic River Bascule Bridge, wipes away a tear as he receives a citation from state senator Heather Somers, Thursday, June 30, 2022. The Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce is celebrating his career in the new Mystic Chamber Bascule Bridge Visitor Center.| Tim Martin, The Westerly Sun
Rod Coleman, a Bridge Tender of the Mystic River Bascule Bridge in 1989, is retiring Thursday, June 30, 2022. The Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce is celebrating his career in the new Mystic Chamber Bascule Bridge Visitor Center.| Tim Martin, The Westerly Sun
Rod Coleman, a Bridge Tender of the Mystic River Bascule Bridge in 1989, receives a few calls on the radio wishing him good luck, Thursday, June 30, 2022. The Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce is celebrating his career in the new Mystic Chamber Bascule Bridge Visitor Center.| Tim Martin, The Westerly Sun
Rod Coleman, a Bridge Tender of the Mystic River Bascule Bridge in 1989, receives a few calls on the radio wishing him good luck, Thursday, June 30, 2022. The Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce is celebrating his career in the new Mystic Chamber Bascule Bridge Visitor Center.| Tim Martin, The Westerly Sun
Rod Coleman, right, a Bridge Tender of the Mystic River Bascule Bridge in 1989, retires on Thursday, June 30, 2022. Coleman is handing over control to his replacement, Chris Butler, left, 28, of NorwichThe Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce is celebrating his career in the new Mystic Chamber Bascule Bridge Visitor Center.| Tim Martin, The Westerly Sun
Rod Coleman, a Bridge Tender of the Mystic River Bascule Bridge in 1989,exits the Bridge Tendor Control Center, Thursday, June 30, 2022. The Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce is celebrating his career in the new Mystic Chamber Bascule Bridge Visitor Center.| Tim Martin, The Westerly Sun
Rod Coleman, a Bridge Tender of the Mystic River Bascule Bridge in 1989, is retiring Thursday, June 30, 2022. The Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce is celebrating his career in the new Mystic Chamber Bascule Bridge Visitor Center.| Tim Martin, The Westerly Sun
Rod Coleman, a Bridge Tender of the Mystic River Bascule Bridge, wipes away a tear as he receives a citation from state senator Heather Somers, Thursday, June 30, 2022. The Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce is celebrating his career in the new Mystic Chamber Bascule Bridge Visitor Center.| Tim Martin, The Westerly Sun
Friends of Roderick Coleman, shown holding a plaque, threw a cake-and-congratulations party in Mystic River Park Sunday afternoon in his honor. Coleman retired Thursday following 33 years as tender for the Mystic River Bascule Bridge. Steven Slosberg, Special to The Sun
Rod Coleman, a Bridge Tender of the Mystic River Bascule Bridge, wipes away a tear as he receives a citation from state senator Heather Somers, Thursday, June 30, 2022. The Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce is celebrating his career in the new Mystic Chamber Bascule Bridge Visitor Center.| Tim Martin, The Westerly Sun
Rod Coleman, a Bridge Tender of the Mystic River Bascule Bridge in 1989, is retiring Thursday, June 30, 2022. The Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce is celebrating his career in the new Mystic Chamber Bascule Bridge Visitor Center.| Tim Martin, The Westerly Sun
Rod Coleman, a Bridge Tender of the Mystic River Bascule Bridge in 1989, receives a few calls on the radio wishing him good luck, Thursday, June 30, 2022. The Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce is celebrating his career in the new Mystic Chamber Bascule Bridge Visitor Center.| Tim Martin, The Westerly Sun
Rod Coleman, a Bridge Tender of the Mystic River Bascule Bridge in 1989, receives a few calls on the radio wishing him good luck, Thursday, June 30, 2022. The Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce is celebrating his career in the new Mystic Chamber Bascule Bridge Visitor Center.| Tim Martin, The Westerly Sun
Rod Coleman, right, a Bridge Tender of the Mystic River Bascule Bridge in 1989, retires on Thursday, June 30, 2022. Coleman is handing over control to his replacement, Chris Butler, left, 28, of NorwichThe Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce is celebrating his career in the new Mystic Chamber Bascule Bridge Visitor Center.| Tim Martin, The Westerly Sun
Rod Coleman, a Bridge Tender of the Mystic River Bascule Bridge in 1989,exits the Bridge Tendor Control Center, Thursday, June 30, 2022. The Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce is celebrating his career in the new Mystic Chamber Bascule Bridge Visitor Center.| Tim Martin, The Westerly Sun
MYSTIC — Over the past 33 years, Roderick Coleman’s job has been anything but routine. Given the chance to do it all again, he said the only change he would make would have been to become a bridge tender for the Mystic River Bascule Bridge sooner.
Spending most of his work hours situated in the control room of the famous 100-year-old drawbridge that serves as the oldest continually operating bascule bridge in the country, Coleman said Thursday that he has been fortunate to be able to sustain a long, enjoyable career that thousands of memorable moments made with tourists, famous visitors, local officials and residents of both the Stonington and Groton communities.
“It’s hard to believe it has been 33 years, and mostly good,” Coleman said Thursday after officially raising the drawbridge for the last time, drawing laughs from a crowd of family, friends, business owners and politicians who came out to wish him well in retirement during a special ceremony at the visitor center in downtown Mystic.
“I learned so much from the guys who came before me. They taught me how to be kind and how to care about the community. I am who I am today because of them,” he continued.
The 63-year-old will now enjoy retirement alongside his brother, who was recently diagnosed with cancer and in attendance for an emotional promise as Coleman promised a crowd he would help his brother make a full recovery.
“I won’t be sitting around. There’s still plenty of work for us to do,” he said.
For those in the Mystic area, it won’t be the same without seeing Coleman’s smiling face and bubbling personality that made him one of the faces of the Mystic drawbridge over the years. First Selectman Danielle Chesebrough and Groton Town Council member Aundre Bumgarner each said they have heard only praise for him, particularly his kindness towards people all the time.
In an age where complaints run more rampant than compliments, Chesebrough noted that she has really only heard the latter about Coleman since taking office and has heard a number of stories about his kindness, or the smiles he would bring children by interacting with them daily.
His boss, Connecticut Department of Transportation Maintenance Manager William Morrison said he still recalls the first time he met Coleman when he took over as Coleman’s direct supervisor eight years ago. Then newly appointed, he had made a trip to the bridge and arrived to see Coleman at work, safely lowering the bridge as he was arriving.
“It was what happened next that spoke to who Rod is. Those in the boat pulled over and thanked him by name,” Morrison said. “I remember saying, ‘isn’t this unusual’ and I was told that this happens almost every day.”
For the 63-year-old Coleman, a local resident who plans to remain active in the community, the job truly was a dream come true — and one he fell into later in life, despite a promise to himself early that he’d one day be raising the bridge himself.
While moving to California as a child in a Navy family, he still recalls driving through downtown Mystic and watching in amazement as it rose high into the sky. He turned to his mom and said, without hesitation, “I am going to get that job someday.”
“It wasn’t something I continued to chase, but the opportunity came and eventually I did get it. It seems deep down, I always knew,” he said.
After traveling as a child and living in places across the U.S., Coleman began his adulthood by working a series of various jobs and after moving back to the Groton area, applied and accepted a position in Department of Transportation after learning of an opening as bridge tender from a state DOT employee.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Mystic Chamber of Commerce President Bruce Flax and state Sen. Heather Somers, who has been friends with Coleman for years, each said he will be greatly missed by those in the community.
Over his time with towns, Flax noted that Coleman helped to provide safe travels for millions of tourists and thousands upon thousands or boaters. Somers added that her stories are also filled with examples of times that Coleman made children laugh or smile, or of Coleman shouting well-wishes to area residents as they passed, efforts that made downtown Mystic welcoming and truly feel like home.
“In all my years, with all the people I have met, I rarely have the opportunity to meet someone as genuinely caring and giving as Rod has been for our towns,” Somers said. “He is truly one of the kindest people in Mystic. He loves his family, he loves his community and he has always shown unwavering dedication to both.”
From the way Coleman tells the story, however, it was the people he had met along the way who gave him everything. Coleman has had the chance to open the bridge for numerous celebrities including news personality Walter Cronkite, talk show host Phil Donahue, actor Clint Eastwood and performer Justin Timberlake among others.
He also had the chance to meet former President Jimmy Carter when Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, were staying at the Whaler’s Inn in 2005 for the commissioning of a submarine in Carter’s honor.
There were also some scary moments along the ways, including a burglary in progress at a local restaurant that he helped to foil and a few close calls or near collisions including one in April, but Coleman said he wouldn’t trade his experiences for anything.
“Man, I really loved this job. I’m just thankful I got the chance,” he said.
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