Mason Ainsworth – Growing Up in Orillia

Do you have any particular memories of growing up in Orillia as a kid?

Oh yeah there’s tons! I’d say a big one was going for bike rides. I was a very active cyclist as a child, not so much now but working on getting back into that. I biked all over the city, it was something great I did with both my parents. We’d always go for bike rides, even by the old railway station that used to be the Chamber of Commerce, we’d bike in behind there and go on the bike trails around the lakefront. That’s something that really stands out for me.

As well, I’ve spent many many hours at Scout Valley. When I was a little kid I remember we had my birthday parties there and we’d go out and we’d play and pretend. Sometimes we’d set up a whole bunch of balloons, or my dad would set them up because I was pretty young, and then we’d see if we can shoot the balloons in a nice sand pit. It’s little memories like that and off the land is snorkeling.

I’ve done a lot of snorkeling in my day and a lot around Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe and it’s nice because I don’t have to go to some foreign country where I scuba dive or snorkel on a beach, I can just do it right in my backyard.