John Fulton: Creating Oddities For Awareness Around Homelessness
Christine Whelan FEO, March 30, 2023, VOL. 4 ISSUE 16
Santa Claus in the newspaper in March? Ah yes, it is odd. And it’s all by design.
John Fulton, raised in Fort Erie, family man, businessman, and advocate, very much enjoys getting the community’s attention by presenting what he fondly calls ‘oddities’.
“When Surfing Santa first started 38 years ago, it was an oddity. Surfing in the winter, alone. Then add, on the Niagara River,” he laughed. “Not just any river, the Niagara River. So, there were all these oddities that set it apart from other charity initiatives. And then this year, to do it in February. That’s a whole other level of an oddity.”
It wasn’t the initial intention.
“We had this big event planned at Mather Arch for December 24 this year. I had a helicopter lined up. The mayor’s office was promoting it.” But he stated the obvious and unforgettable. Everything was cancelled as the brutal storm rolled in on that day.
This year, Santa took his first post-Christmas ride in 38 years. This year, the ‘Santa Spotters’ finally got their fix Saturday, February 25.
With 38 years of Surfing Santa stories now under his belt, I caught up with John in mid-March and invited him to take me back to some of those years, and some of those stories.
It started with the gym.
1982 – Fulton’s Gym
The Fulton family used several locations around Fort Erie where they worked out, gradually collecting equipment along the way and getting a taste of commercial business before they settled on Jarvis Street, where John, with his siblings Kim and Rob, ran a co-ed gym for many years.
Windsurfing School
According to John, that same summer, 1982, was the first summer they went from businesspeople to beach bums.
“We started running windsurfing lessons out of our cottage on Buffalo Road. We had rentals and lessons at Windmill Quarry and Sherkston Quarry. It was called Champion Windsurfing,” providing thousands of lessons over a ten-year period of summers.
“We’d have a student behind the desk at the gym in the summer while we’d run the windsurfing business.”
1985 – The Birth of Surfing Santa
Three years into the gym business, “Harry Rosettani came into the gym looking for a couple of members for a photo shoot. I didn’t have anybody in at the time so I said I’d do it. He got a shot of me out by the Peace Bridge on my surfboard. And I got a taste of that.”
At this point, John had been trying to figure out how he could use different strategies to promote anything from charities to their businesses. “I remember, as I was driving down the Parkway, it popped into my head. Surfing Santa.”
He immediately borrowed an old Santa suit and called Harry who joined him at the lake. “Lake Erie is famous for these micro-storms. And when I got about halfway out there Boom! I got hit by this gale and it snapped the top quarter of my mast off.”
He ended up on the US side.
John’s brother, Rob, rushed over to get him. But beforehand, “I was sitting up against a guard rail along the I-190. A cruiser stopped by, saw a Santa with a surfboard, and wondered what was going on. I explained what had happened and he took off.” All went well and he returned to Canada with his brother.
But when he got back, somehow things had already gotten twisted around. The story had morphed to, “Twelve-metre waves. Picked up by the Coast Guard. Handed over to the police. Shipped back to Canada. This went worldwide. Front page of the Toronto Star, Niagara Falls Review, it went everywhere, through all the wire services, UPI, Associated Press.”
John says he’s been riding that wave ever since.
Charity Began With Arid Recovery Homes
“The next year, I picked up Arid Recovery Homes because I needed a local focus for the charity end of it. Eventually, I narrowed in on the awareness around homelessness.”
Arid Recovery Homes’ is a Fort Erie organization supporting individuals dealing with recovery from addiction.
2002
In 2002, John found himself again, on the Buffalo side of the river as a result of powerful winds. He was considering whether he should return by sail or not because the conditions were quite bad.
Still, in Santa suit underlined with a dry suit, he knocked on the door of an old trailer. “There were a couple of old guys in there.” He was able to talk them into letting him use their phone to call the police. The police called his crew to come get him.
This story would have ended on a quiet note but the stringers caught the call from the police radio.
“The media, the Coast Guard and the Border Patrol started showing up,” reminding me this was just after 9/11 so homeland security was ramped up.
John laughed, “It turned into an international incident. One of my favourite headlines was, ‘Fortress US Nabs Santa At Border’.”
Ten Years Later
During another trip into the waters, Fulton had run into some of that unpredictable micro-weather the area is known for, again. “I’ve never had a mast snap like that before like a cannon went off.”
He started paddling back in. A boat showed up next to him, offering a lift. It was the Border Patrol who had orders to bring him States’ side. Once on land, a military-style man walked up the boardwalk, toward him. John was nervous. Was that a gun in his hand, he wondered?
“No, he had a steno and a camera. He said, ‘We’ve got a brand new chief. He’s all about the community and he wants us to do a story on you.” John laughed again.
Cross-Border Relationship
“The Sergeant and I became great friends. That was the beginning of this amazing cross-border relationship.”
John recalled a Surfing Santa event the following year. “We had the US Border Patrol, US Coast Guard, Niagara Regional Police Marine Unit, Niagara Parks Police, Erie County Sheriff’s Department flying in with a helicopter, and the Town of Fort Erie attend.
“There’s a shot of me surfing along with the US Coast Guard boat. I have lots of footage of getting picked up by the Erie County Sheriff’s Department by helicopter on the American side and dropping me off in the Sugerbowl in Fort Erie.
Media Coverage
He’s been on the front page of the Globe and Mail twice, on CNN about a dozen times, and in just about every other publication.
“For two days prior, I was up all night long, calling CNN about 3 am, calling all the media to show up. It’s all organized. It’s all pitching and securing photographers and journalists to come out. It’s a lot of work.”
He added, while getting covered by big newspapers and TV media programs was huge in its day, it doesn’t hold the same weight in these days of the internet, especially social media.
This Year
February 25 turned out to be a relatively nice day, however, there was the ice.
“This is one of the reasons why I launched at Mather Arch. It’s not the best launch, but everybody else is behind a brick wall.” It’s a priority for John that others watching are safe.
“I reached out to Mayor Redekop, who came out in support. Then I called Dave Johnson because he’s the surfer photographer. He showed up with a drone that followed me for an hour and a half. He also brought Joe Burd with CHCH with him.
After maneuvering himself, his board, and his paddle down the ice-covered stairway at the break wall, he got into the water and paddled out.
“The drone watched me go down the stairs. It followed me under the Peace Bridge, followed me under the International Bridge, and as I parked it at Thompson’s Hole,” north of the old coal docks at the end of Jarvis Street.
“I took this amazing ride, got amazing coverage and the charities got a lot of extra exposure. It worked out great.”
For Awareness and Underwear
The donation barrels play a big part during the Christmas season. “This is the first year that I put them out post-pandemic.”
Barrels have been placed in the Town Hall front lobby as Underwear and Socks for the Homeless drop-off location until March 31.
Fulton collaborated with Toolbox Project Niagara and Mobile Closet, both programs of Start Me Up Niagara, this year. “There, they have barrels at the Thorold fire halls.”
Fulton noticed a while back that socks were an unidentified need. He was getting feedback from those he had been giving care packages in backpacks to. They asked for more socks.
Underwear. While these are needed and necessary items for any of us, John explained that, through his journey of charity work, he has noticed that these are items that are not commonly donated. He has found this is because in general, people are uncomfortable talking about underwear, asking for it, or collecting it.
More oddities. The collaboration decided to address this head-on.
Thorold Today’s headline read, “Toolbox Niagara Wants Your Undies”.
A City of Thorold Facebook post read, “Thorold Fire and Emergency Services and Thorold Community Activities Group are proudly working with Tool Box Niagara and Surfing Santa to collect underwear for homeless men and women in Niagara.”
“Overnight success in the event business takes 40 years.”
John admitted that now, after all these years, all parties are now more relaxed with a lot of cooperation and collaboration.
“For something to be immersed and embedded in the local culture, it takes decades. You really have to give your life to it.”
Learn more by checking out the SURFING SANTA Facebook Page.
Photo provided by John Fulton
