Ilana Kowarski

FLORIDA TODAY

COCOA BEACH – More than 4,000 spectators converged on the oceanfront along Minutemen Causeway on Wednesday to witness the sixth annual Surfin' Santas extravaganza, a beachside Christmas Eve tradition.

This year, there were about 300 Santas on the waves — a record turnout. They were joined by 18 skydiving Santas, who landed in the sand.

But beyond the surfing, skydiving and spectating, there was also a public (and accepted) marriage proposal; a musical tribute to popular local surfer Mike Tabeling, who died Saturday; and a performance of the event's theme song, which describes the joy of celebrating Christmas in sunny Florida.

George Trosset, the creator of the Surfin' Santas tradition, said that the event started as a family celebration and exploded in popularity after attracting media attention. From there, surfers from all over the world contacted him, saying they wanted to take part.

He said that the large turnout at the 2014 Surfin' Santas event was both exciting and surprising. "All I can say is it's beyond my wildest dreams," he said. "We started this tradition with just myself, my son, and my daughter-in-law. It was a family party, and it's turned into a community event, and I'm amazed at how big it is."

This year, the event was held adjacent to Minutemen Causeway to accommodate a spike in the number of participants.

Dave Netterstrom, the mayor of Cocoa Beach, said that he was proud to host the Surfin' Santas event in his city.

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"This is fantastic. It's the world's largest Surfin' Santa event," said Netterstrom, who was wearing a golden robe and Christmas-themed clothing. "It's great fun to come out on Christmas Eve and get into the holiday spirit with something like this. The weather's great, and the people are, too."

Trosset said that one of the things that makes the Surfin' Santa event special is its generosity. Surfers, sometimes out of character, share waves to keep in the Christmas spirit.

This aspect of the event is one of the reasons that surfer Bill Reardon, 62 of Cape Canaveral, decided to spend a month growing his beard so he could become a Surfin' Santa with a minimum of costuming.

"I've always preferred to be in the waves with people that are sharing, and not wave hogs, and there are no wave hogs today," Reardon said.

Ben Malik, a Cocoa Beach city commissioner, said that the Surfin' Santas event demonstrated the whimsical, free-spirited sensibility of Cocoa Beach, and that it was a demonstration of the community's strong sense of civic pride.

"This is a cool town, and this event shows a lot about who we are," Malik said. "Cocoa Beach is the small wave capital of the world. This is the land of Kelly Slater. Surfing is in our blood."

Kris Nighswonger of Cape Canaveral, a spectator at Surfin' Santas, said that it was great to see so many people in the community coming together to celebrate the holidays.

"It's a nice Florida event for Christmas Eve," she said. "Instead of being in the snow, we're on the beach with all these elaborate costumes, and I think it's great."

The event was not only about fun, but also involved charitable fundraising. Two local nonprofit groups, the cancer charity "Grind For Life" and the Cocoa Beach Surf Museum, were collecting donations during the Surfin' Santas event, and they raised more than $10,000 total.

In addition to fundraising activities, there were also other serious activities mingled into the Surfin' Santas festivities. There were some religious rituals involved. At one point, an event organizer starting singing "Silent Night," over a loudspeaker, and there was also a Christian sermon delivered by pastor Keith Capizzi, who leads Club Zion Community Church in Cocoa Beach.

"Santa Claus is a great representation of the gospel of Jesus," Capizzi said.

He said that the red and white in Santa costumes was a metaphor for people's dual potential for sin and redemption, and he said that the Surfin' Santas event was a great way to celebrate Christmas.

Capizzi said that the event represented the best that Cocoa Beach had to offer. "This is the greatest town, and one of the best-kept secrets in the country," he said. "I hope the national media doesn't get too much out there about us, because this is a quaint little town. I always tell people it's a 'Leave it to Beaver' town, and I want it to stay that way."

Contact Kowarski at 321-242-3640 or ikowarski@floridatoday.com. Follow her on Twitter @IlanaKowarski.