Don Greer is CTV Saskatoon's 2024 Citizen of the Year

At the end of each year, CTV Saskatoon asks you to help recognize someone who has made a significant contribution to our community — our Citizen of the Year.

This year, we are proud to honour Don Greer, a man whose volunteer efforts and fundraising in the community have impacted the lives of countless Saskatoon residents. His volunteer work runs the gamut — from the arts, to scouting, sports, architecture, the environment and community services.

In a nomination letter to CTV Saskatoon, his friend Bruce Acton describes Greer as a man who demonstrates a pride of place, commitment and character of a true citizen.

“Don Greer has spent his 70 years of life on this earth and in this city giving back in so many important ways,” he wrote.

Born in Lanigan, Saskatchewan and raised in Saskatoon, Greer graduated from Walter Murray Collegiate and the University of Saskatchewan before pursuing a career in architecture, earning a diploma in architectural engineering in 1978 from what is now Saskatchewan Polytechnic and a diploma in architecture from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada in 1989.

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His contributions to his profession are visible throughout the city, including work on Bishop Mahoney High School, St. Anne’s Church and Saskatoon City Hospital.

Greer spent 10 years as a facilities planning consultant with Saskatchewan Health and was involved in major projects across the province, including Meadow Lake, La Ronge, Stoney Rapids, Melfort and Prince Albert.

You may have also seen his work showcased around the city or on his front lawn in City Park, where he plies his trade, turning water and chicken wire into stunning ice sculptures.

Greer has produced about 55 ice sculptures over the years, including pieces for Saskatoon Winter Shines, Resurrection Lutheran Church and St. Paul’s Co-cathedral.

Retired architect Don Greer has created an ice castle inspired by Frozen.

It’s an art form he traces back to a holiday crafting project with his dad.

“Dad and I put together Christmas decorations for years, and then one year we were putting together a bit of a North Pole scene,” he told CTV News in an interview.

“I went downstairs and got the chicken wire and sprayed it up and I knew if water hit the wire it would freeze in ice, so that started my making the ice sculptures.”

He says he does it “just to make people happy.”

Greer has given much of his adult life contributing to organizations in the community — as a volunteer, a scout group leader, and curling coach and instructor, and on the boards of Persephone Theatre, Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan Festival, United Way, and the municipal heritage committee, where he worked to preserve some of Saskatoon’s historic landmarks.

How did he get involved with so many organizations?

“I was always in the wrong place at the wrong time and never said no,” he said, laughing.

It helps that Greer isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty.

As a master composter at the Saskatoon Food Bank Garden Patch, he has nourished the soil that has grown the food offered to Saskatoon residents when they could not afford groceries. It’s all about balance, getting the mixture just right. As a compost coach for the Saskatchewan Reduction Council, he could teach you.

“We sort of have to live by our hearts, go with what we believe in and hope it’s right. I hope I have touched as many people as possible in my life that I can have helped,” he said.

“That’s just my nature. I don’t look for strife, I look for love.”