Mehreen Shahid – Change in Orillia

If you could change one thing about Orillia with a magical wand, what would it be?

I don’t think I would change anything about Orillia to be honest.

Oh no, sorry, I would change something. I would keep the Leacock Museum, because the Leacock Museum is what makes Orillia, Orillia.

So this is one thing you would not change?

It’s something that would not change, yes definitely. I would keep the Leacock Museum because I think it’s very important for us to remember where we are based in.

We need to preserve that in my opinion, that’s something that’s very important and it makes Orillia what it is – it’ everything. Go around and you can Mariposa everything, and where does it come from, how would you explain it to a visitor?

Is there anything that you would like to add about your experiences in Orillia?

The people are very supportive and I’ve made so many friends in this area that I can’t think of leaving.

People are so generous, they raise so many funds for community organizations, and so many volunteers come out to help for all the parades, and all the events we have at the park. It’s a very enthusiastic and very vibrant community. Especially during summer, there’s so much happening, there’s arts, there’s Fine Arts, there’s music, there’s literary arts, and you have all these charming local shops that people can go to and support.

The other thing that I really like about Orillia is the everyone wants to support local, everyone realizes we all rely on each other for support and for our livelihoods in some cases, so we need to recognize that and we need to support each other as much as we can. We do still go to big box stores but, as much as we can we need to support each other because that’s what makes a city, a city.