The wooden reindeer of Sturgeon Creek

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/07/2020 (1922 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If you walk along the Sturgeon Creek Greenway Trail, you’ll see birds, trees, flowers and reindeer figurines playing cards.

The reindeer aren’t just playing cards, they’re playing hockey, relaxing in a bathtub and enjoying a fresh cup of hot chocolate.

These figurines are the work of Paul Leullier, a former groundskeeper who started making them several years ago. Every winter, he’d put a new sculpture on the trail, hoping to bring a smile to whomever found it.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he decided to bring the reindeer out a little early, putting up several more sculptures in the past few weeks.

“I’ve been making those little guys every year, usually I’d put them up around Christmastime. When (COVID-19) hit, everyone was stuck inside. I was starting to go a little nuts, needed something to bring my spirits up,” Leullier said. “So I built a rather large reindeer model in a boat, put it (around) Sturgeon Creek and see what would happen. It seemed to get a lot of attention, more people were coming to the park. One of the regulars (in the park) said he’d never seen so many people walking through here.”

Leullier started making the reindeer as a hobby, putting one or two of them along the trail. Now, he’s made around 51 reindeer, all of them scattered around the trail. He describes the sculptures as “reindeer can do anything people can,” and feature the animals water skiing, enjoying a hot tub or roasting marshmallows.

He creates them by finding wood scraps, such as broken branches and bark, along the trail. He’ll drill holes into them, using the larger pieces as the body and smaller leafy branches as the antlers. Some of the reindeer are easy to find, while others are hidden under park benches, around trees and even on Sturgeon Creek.

He’s made several reindeer creations over the years, including a reindeer hockey team on one of the retention ponds. According to Leullier, True North Sports & Entertainment chairperson Mark Chipman used to live by that pond.

Leullier said this is just a fun project for him. He just wants to bring some excitement to the area.

“The biggest thing, it’s free entertainment, you don’t have to pay admission to come look. For families, it’s a great way for kids to get out and see something different, it’s something fun to do. I see mothers coming almost every day with their kids, enjoying an hour or two in the park, trying to find the reindeer,” Leullier said. “I’m committed to try and bring as many smiles into the tiny park as I can. As long as people keep coming and keep enjoying themselves, they’ll keep finding more reindeer.”

Leullier said the trail has seen a lot of activity ever since he started putting the reindeer up again. He estimates that there’s two to three hundred people walking around that section of the park, most of which are looking for the reindeer.

People will come up and ask him if there’s any new ones.

“I’ll say: Sometimes there is, sometimes there isn’t. Then they’ll ask, where are the new ones? I’ll say, it’s in the park, you’ll have to find them yourself.”