Who is Griffen Horsley?

My name is Griffen, I’m a student of anthropology at Lakehead University. I’m in my fourth year and I’m just about to graduate in the next few months.

You were born in Orillia?

Yes I was.

Where was your favourite place to hang out in Orillia when you were growing up??

In elementary school I certainly spent a lot of time at the Port of Orillia. My parents were boaters, so I spent a lot of time on the lake. By high school I was a little bit busier so I didn’t spend quite as much time on the boat with them in the summers, but I definitely would have spent a lot of time at the park, at Mariposa Market.

All through high school, even up until now, I still spend a lot of time down at the park, at Mariposa Market, and downtown.

So the water, the lakes are very important?

Yeah definitely, I would say it is a huge part of my idea of Orillia.

Are there any downsides to growing up here?

Yes, it’s a small city, a small town, there’s certainly downsides in terms of what to do – you hang out at the park, Mariposa Market and downtown. So yeah, there were certainly downsides.

I think everyone has the sense that their hometowns can be a bit of a struggle, like “oh, I had nothing to do in my hometown, thats why I had to move away.” I think everyone kind of has that feeling, so yeah there were certainly downsides but I don’t think anything that was that traumatic.