Santa On The Huron

01/11/2026

Good evening my friends. Just a friendly heads up... Not to get your hopes all up and such but we are currently in the process of evaluating ice conditions on the Huron for a possible "event" involving Santa, a Christmas tree and an old wood canoe. Cross your fingers and your toes. Bah Humbug and goodnight. Stay tuned. And a special thank you to our Elfin river scouts Coco and Bill.

12/24/2025

A wild, wild ride this Christmas back in 2017. Santa lost his tree in the bay and nearly went over himself. It was a canoe ride for the ages and one that nearly cost Santa the whole enchilada. A good reminder that nature always has the final say this time of year and every day actually. But it was a memorable paddle and one I'll never forget. See you on the river soon.

Send a message to learn more

12/23/2025

12/23/2025

Bah Humbug

12/23/2025

ANNOUNCEMENT -

All things Santa On The Huron this day. Pondering some quite literal cold, hard truths as they are this afternoon along the Huron. This is the results of our river reconnaissance last night at sunset. The ice prevails and is in abundance in some stretches. But our put-in spot and our back up put-in spot are both ice covered and extend 20 - 30 feet minimally out into the river. In many areas the ice goes across and covers and spans the entire breadth of the river.
With the weather turning our way this was not the scene I was hoping to see. While there are open stretches, they are few and far between and disconnected, and as a result we are faced with a very difficult but familiar decision. Do I go out and risk going in the drink in these conditions without obvious safe exit points? And doing so, is there a viable and reasonable exit strategy should all hell break loose? Bear in mind I'll be in full Santa regalia and winter kit making swimming out a potentially life altering or life ending endeavor even with my PFD firmly strapped on. Certainly EMS and County rescue personnel would be seriously challenged doing a rescue and extraction given these ugly conditions.
The bigger question is, what right do I have to put them, my fellow first responders, at risk should the unthinkable happen and I end up in the water? When I put it in those terms the choice seems not a choice at all really but a bitter pill to swallow yet again. So it would seem fate is dead set on testing us once again. But is she testing our mettle or our judgement? Both, perhaps.

It is with a pained heart that I must make the difficult decision to cancel our event Santa On The Huron. We will look at rescheduling but for this moment it is a no go due to the strong presence of ice all along and across the river. We appreciate your understanding as always.

Stay tuned for more updates. It ain't over til it's over kids. There's a lot of winter yet. Merry Christmas everyone.

12/22/2025

A quick update: The weather forecast is slowly but surely turning in our favor. The chance for rain has diminished, the winds in the single digits and skies above us to be overcast. We'll be on the river tomorrow to do an in person reconnaissance but we anticipate a good report. We do hope you'll join us and bring the kids. It's really for them we do this. My little girl will be there as well. If your kids wish to attend and take part in decorating the Christmas tree and Santa's canoe with lights, we more than welcome the help. We'll be posting a map later today to show our route and the best places to view Santa from shore. After several years of rough weather and more, we are over the moon to see things coming together as they now are. We hope to see you there.

12/17/2025

Please keep in mind we hope to be arriving for setting up just below Barton dam and hope to shove off to be on the Huron somewhere around 5pm. If you want to help decorate the tree and the canoe with lights we'd love to have your help.

12/16/2025

12/09/2025

Hi Kiddos, Santa here, just dropping by to say hi. Well, we indeed have a grand amount of snow on the ground. Kinda chokes me up. We are now beginning to look at longer range weather reports and temperature trends. I know it's been a disappointing couple three years as we've had bad weather, ice on the river, and more being impediments to this beloved and fun event. I'm hoping we have paid our dues with our patience and holiday positivity and that this Christmas Eve night we'll have low winds and open waters. To put it in more eloquent nautical terms, we're wishing for "fair winds and following seas". More to come. Cheers, Santa

This is Santa working a weekend fundraiser getting my pic taken along side countless dogs, a cat or two ,and a parrot. All done for a wonderful NGO in Lansing call the Animal Rescue Bureau, that helps with rescue animals and pets. I met some wonderful beasties and even some fine bipeds too. I couldn't ask for a better way to spend a weekend. 🎄@

12/09/2025

Now this says Christmas to me.

01/18/2025

BAD ICE II - Jake, Boo and I were back at West Park today doing our thing and I went out to the pond and tested the ice. O M G. Please watch this video, com...