22nd Annual Special Olympics
Plane Pull
Going for it
It was a matter of quality, not quantity,
when Pequannock Township Local 172
showed up at the Special Olympics New
Jersey (SONJ) Plane Pull for the first time
with six of the Local’s strongest members.
“We brought some of the biggest guys
we could find, if you see some of these
horses out here,” boasted Matthew Halli-
gan, the Local 172 State Delegate. “We’re
just going for it.”
The team of fearless first-timers was
led by Sean Higgins. With less than two
years on the job, Higgins was determined
to give back to the organization that pro-
vided his cousin with years of prized ex-
periences and competition as a Special
Olympics athlete. When Higgins heard
the Plane Pull was coming up, he figured
it would be the perfect opportunity for
Local 172 to get involved and presented
the idea to the Local’s executive board.
“When I heard that we could fundraise
to help people like my family member do
this kind of stuff for free, that was some-
thing that was close to me,” Higgins ex-
plained. “I thought it would be cool to
bring to the department.”
Local 172 had little time to sec-
ond-guess their confidence, as the team
was called on deck as soon as they walked
onto the tarmac for the first time. The
team huddled next to the plane to watch
a group much larger than their own pull
the 93,000-pound flying machine. Event
volunteers attempted to give the six
members a crash course in plane-pull
technique, but there was little time before
Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” blasted over
the speakers and Pequannock was an-
nounced on the runway.
The teammates staggered their grips
on the rope. When the horn sounded,
they dug deep with their legs, leaned back
and pulled with all their might. When the
plane jolted forward, Local 172 mem-
bers, including Acting Chief Christopher
DePuyt, gave it their all until they mus-
cled the plane to the finish line.
“We didn’t even know if it was going to
move, to be honest,” Higgins admitted,
still out of breath from the pull. “That’s
what we were most worried about. But we
went out there and we managed to move
it.”
The Pequannock officers walked off
the runway content and even a little sur-
prised by the outcome of their first plane
pull. But when the team was unable to get
the wheels moving a second time in the
lowest combined weight category, Local
172 vowed that it would have to return to
the SONJ Plane Pull with even more strat-
egy and strength the next time around.
“There’s something to be learned from
this,” Halligan assured. “We’ll definitely
be back. We have to finish the job.”
www.njcopsmagazine.com
■ OCTOBER 2018 67