John Harper: The man who built Santa’s sleigh
Volunteer of the Year
John Harper has a pretty important job.
He is the man who is responsible for safely getting Santa Claus from one end of his route to the other. Not his route across the world, just across Creemore during the Santa Claus Parade, but still, Claus relies heavily on the reliability of his rig.
Harper, who has always been handy with woodworking tools, is the man who built Santa’s sleigh and has been chauffeuring the big man for almost 30 years.
Harper is the former owner of the hardware store in Creemore. He sold the store in 1987 and started working on the float shortly after. Harper was a member of the Creemore Lions Club, the service club that organized the parade at that time, for more than 30 years.
“They didn’t have much of a float for Santa,” said Harper.
He set to work building a conveyance worthy of Father Christmas. Starting with an old cutter, Harper rigged it with motorized wooden reindeer (the real reindeer have to save their strength for the big journey). He helped with the welding, cut out and painted the reindeer, which go as high as 13 feet at peek stride. He said the float was ready by 1989 and Harper was the one to pull it with his tractor along the parade route.
“I have been in every parade with the exception of maybe two, since then,” said Harper.
The float has been modified and upgraded over the years. Two years ago, it got a new paint job courtesy of darci-que.
Harper is celebrating his 84th birthday on Dec. 30. He said it’s possible that he may be up for the job again next year, but he may also consider passing the reigns to someone else. He finds it harder and harder to work in the cold, and although David Millsap generously lets him use his drive shed to assemble the float, the cold does get to him.
Harper was also a volunteer firefighter for more than 30 years and was deputy chief of the Creemore station until amalgamation and then went back to being captain. During his time with the Lions, he was treasurer for 22 years.
Over the years, Harper has earned many accolades for long years of service including being named firefighter of the year by the Simcoe County Mutual Fire Association in 1995 and receiving the Royal Canadian Legion Civics Award in 2011. That same year he received the Creemore Senior Volunteer Citizen of the Year award from the Township of Clearview.
In 1956, Harper took a job at the hardware store in Shelburne where he worked before receiving an invitation to re-open the hardware store in Creemore. In September 1965 a grand opening was held for Crest Hardware, but in 1974 he switched over to a Home Hardware. Harper’s store was in the same building as the current Home Hardware on Mill Street.
