A good-sized group of town employees and friends gathered at 8 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 24, in upper Town Hall to honor Sergeant John Coates on his retirement from the Harvard Police Department. It was a low-key event where Coates had the chance to accept the good wishes of not only his present colleagues but also of those who had worked with him in the past. “This is all he wanted,” said Pat Natoli, former dispatcher and now administrative assistant to the police, fire, and ambulance departments, who worked with Coates all during his 29 years in Harvard.
The Harvard Police Department poses for a formal shot at Sergeant Coates’ retirement party. From left: Officer Timothy Miner, Officer Charles Genetti, Officer Scott Hughes, Sergeant John Coates, Chief Edward Denmark, Sergeant James Babu, Detective Daniele Fortunato, and Officer Timothy Schaeffer. (Photos by Lisa Aciukewicz)
“It was a hard decision,” said Coates, looking around the room and adding, “It’s a great group, not just the police but fire, ambulance, and highway.” He pointed out former Police Chief Charlie Perry and explained that it was Perry who hired him to come to Harvard. “He saved me from the backwoods of Maine,” Coates said with a laugh.
Coates said he has enjoyed working in Harvard, that “it’s a nice place to be.” He’s seen changes from when he started, he said, describing Harvard as more country then, whereas now it’s suburban. “The character has changed,” he said.
He’s also seen changes in the department, which, while still small, is larger and more professional than when he started. He said there are more requirements now and, because the world has changed, there are more mandates—around domestic violence, for example. Coates expressed his admiration for Chief Ed Denmark and where he has taken the department in the past 10 years.
But Coates said that for all the changes that have occurred, town safety departments haven’t forgotten the most important things: commitment and “going the extra mile.” He said that helping people is the most important part of the job, adding that police officers get involved where they aren’t required to because people have nowhere else to turn. He recalled an incident where a senior citizen had called the police and the animal control officer about a squirrel that was trapped in the chimney of her wood stove. He and Paul Willard spent a long time getting the rodent out. But it was worth it to be able to help her, Coates said.
Coates described his most unusual call, again a case of someone who had nowhere else to turn. It was a Saturday in May, the day of the Apple Blossom Festival on the Common, and Charlie Brown of Old Littleton Road, who kept a herd of cows on Stow Road, called for help delivering a calf. Coates got two EMTs from where they were checking the blood pressure of interested festival-goers, and the three of them, along with Brown, managed to deliver the breech calf.
From left: Chief Ed Denmark, Sergeant Coates, and former chief Charles “Cappy” Perry.
Coates isn’t going to just sit around in retirement. On Feb. 28, he will fly to Dawsonville, Georgia, to begin his hike of the Appalachian Trail, a feat he needs to accomplish by Oct. 15, when the end of the trail in Baxter State Park, Maine, closes. Even though he joined the U.S. Army fresh out of high school and served three years as a military police officer and 33 years as a police officer, Coates had this to say of his upcoming venture: “It’s the hardest thing I’ve done.”
He has always liked to hike, Coates said, and he first got the idea of doing the trail three years ago. At first his wife thought it was crazy, but she has come around, he said. During the past two years, he has been planning: reading books, following blogs, and watching videos. “I’m ready,” he said. Coates will carry a 35- to 40-pound backpack with his tent and five days of food, and he will filter his water. Periodically he’ll go into a small town to replenish his food supply and maybe sometimes to sleep in a real bed. And he looks forward to talking to people and experiencing other cultures as he makes his way north. He’ll pace himself, he said, and follow the advice he’s read: “Hike your own hike.”
Wikipedia cites the Appalachian Trail Conservancy as claiming that the A.T. is the longest hiking-only trail in the world. Walking it won’t be Coates’ first “longest,” though. Upon his retirement, he is the longest serving police officer in the history of Harvard.
Having fun with a play on words, Chief Ed Denmark lightened the tone of the ceremony by presenting Sergeant John Coates with a bottle of Johnny Walker as Coates heads off to ”walk” the Appalachian Trail. From left: Denmark, Tim Miner, Charlie Genetti, Scott Hughes, and Coates.
