By Gayle Fee, Laura Raposa & Erin Hayes
The Boston Herald
Copyright 2007 Boston Herald Inc.
LEXINGTON, Mass. — Donny Osmond and ABC couldn’t make Lexington firefighter Mark Culleton’s dream come true - so he just had to go and do it himself!
Culleton, a resident of Billerica, was a contestant on “The Great American Dream Vote,” a reality TV series hosted by Osmond that lasted all of two episodes. Culleton was asking America to make his dream come true - to give his wife, Kristen, a flower shop. But, believe it or not, he lost to a 23-year-old guy who wanted hair plugs!
“What I wanted to say was, ‘Shave your head, dress like you’re 23, not 53, and stop feeling sorry for yourself!’” Culleton told the Track. “He needed a slap of reality!”
Culleton said he got the idea to try out for the reality show one morning while reading about a casting call in the Inside Track.
“It was something about making your wildest dream come true,” he recalled.
Culleton immediately thought of his wife. Kristen, a former engineering draftsman, had been home raising their two kids, Nicole, 8, and Steven, 5, since she became a mom.
“She couldn’t really go back to her job because the technology changed so much,” he said. “And she’s always been pretty crafty.”
So Kristen went back to school, took a course in floral design and was almost immediately inundated with work thanks to word of mouth.
“She ran the shop out of our basement for the last three years,” he said. “I got a refrigerator in the garage, every time it rains, she’s got 2 inches of water down there. In the winter, it’s freezing.”
Culleton said his bride always supported him in his career and he wanted to return the favor.
“Before I knew it, I was on national TV pleading my case to America.”
But Mark’s selfless wish didn’t hit home with viewers like the 23-year-old bald guy who wanted a hair transplant so he wouldn’t look middle-aged.
“Even though the show got cancelled after just two episodes, they gave the kid $100,000 worth of stuff,” Culleton said. “He got $25,000 for hair restoration, $10,000 for a new wardrobe, they gave him parasailing lessons, a new Toyota Solarus, a private jet to take a bunch of his friends to Vegas and a trip to Hawaii.”
Still, there’s a happy ending to Mark’s story.
“They had told me to find a site for the shop in case I won,” Culleton said, “and we found space in a brand new plaza right down the street from our house.”
So Mark and Kristen went ahead and signed a lease on the Burlington space anyway. With the help of family and friends, they renovated it and opened Kristen’s Floral Creations last week.
“It’s a beautiful shop and we’re up to our ears in debt,” he said. “But I guess that’s the real American Dream!”