Life in Orillia: Orillia Biz

Shopping: Net or Local

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 09:58:29 GMT

As a photographer and artist I am often on the lookout for good places to purchase supplies - everything from photographic equipment and accessories to office supplies. Shopping the net can take longer than shopping locally, but the net has one advantage; it opens up the availability of world-wide shopping. That can be good for comparative purposes, or getting your hands on things you can't find in a small town.

When you shop locally you develop a knowledge of what's available, who has the best service, where the prices are most reasonable or competitive, and usually you can go home with your purchase in your hands. That can be a big plus when you're in a hurry.

Although some of those same things can be said of net shopping too - when you find good online shops you know where to go the next time, but finding that shop can take a lot of searching. As well, you have to wait for delivery, and often incur shipping charges and even duty fees if your order comes from outside your country of residence. The plus side is that you can order anytime of day or night, and if you aren't able to leave the house you can still get the things you need, because your order comes right to the door. The downside is that you often don't know what sites are trustworthy, or what sellers are honest.

Most of the time I opt to shop locally when I can, for a number of reasons. Shopping where you live powers the local economy. I'd rather spend my dollars in a shop that pays taxes to help keep our roads repaired or our street lights lit. Shopkeepers earn their income where I live; they also shop in other local stores, keeping the circle moving. There is a reciprocal relationship in local shopping - I buy in their shop, they may use my services, or send their friends or family to me.

The other thing I have found in shopping locally is that you can build good working relationships with the business community; you get better customer service in local shops too, particularly when you use the same shops on a regular basis. When you can't find something locally, many times the shop owner will go out of their way to find what you need and order it in.

Depending on where you live, shopping local can cost a little more, but I'd rather spend a few extra dollars in my home town and contribute towards making the place where I live a vibrant business community.

That being said, I do shop the net for things that just can't be had in a store; software mostly, large prints of my work sometimes, and greeting cards. A few examples can be found below.

Near Lagoon City, Lake Simcoe

Gull Lake from Gull Lake Park, Gravenhurst

Dawn Harbour, Port of Orillia

Downtown Living

Waterfront at Dawn, Port of Orillia

Sunrise on Harbour, Port of Orillia

Wasaga Beach

Langman Wildlife Sanctuary, Oro-Medonte Twp.

Planning Your Wedding

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 09:05:12 GMT

From time-to-time I get the odd request for a quote to do a wedding. I don't do weddings...well, I have done the odd wedding (mostly for friends an family at a very reduced rate). There's a fellow photographer who lives a couple of blocks up the street from me (Farzin Solaimani) and HE does weddings. Having seen some of his work, I'd have no hesitation as recommending him - friendly, outgoing, personable and professional.

Have a look at his work, and if you know someone in or around Orillia planning their wedding, send them to Farzin for their photography!

Farzin Photography

More Local Interest

Sat, 19 Jan 2008 14:00:27 GMT

Boardwalk at Port of Orillia (©J. Gracey Stinson)

In the last few years Orillia has noticed an influx of "city folks" - people coming from the large cities, buying up properties and taking on the "small town" life. It's been a while since Orillia was considered a small town - indeed, it's population ranks it as a small city. Orillia has always made room for it's new residents, and people have been coming here from the city since long before I was born - from it's birth in the mid-1800s, in fact.

Samuel de Champlain Monument in Couchiching Beack Park (©J. Gracey Stinson)

The recent influx began with the building of Casino Rama, just outside of Orillia in Ramara Township on the land belonging to the Chippewas of Mnjikaning. The casino provided a lot of work in this area, and many people came here to live after acquiring work at the casino. That seemed to 'jump start' the migration 'north'. In the past, many people came to Orillia retire, but now we have young singles and families, as well as professionals seeking to become part of the life here.

That isn't the only reason though; as life in the cities (like Toronto) becomes harsher and the crime rate climbs beyond the place where people feels safe, many families look to smaller, safer places to raise their children. Orillia is not crime free; it has it's share of the pot in terms of drugs (seems to be no escaping that no matter where you live), assaults (most often between people who know each other rather than just random attacks), domestic violence, and break and enters. A few car/boat/atv thefts here and there, thrown in with the occasional murder (well, in truth we are lucky in that regard - I'd be surprised if there's one a year). Hardly a crime-less community, but certainly one whose statistics make people feel safer. Orillia is also home to the Ontario Provincial Police Headquarters.

OPP Headquarters (©J. Gracey Stinson)

As Orillia's long-time medical professionals approach retirement age, we have younger doctors (in all areas of medical care), dentists, nurses and administrators coming into the Orillia fold.

For some years now there has been a well-attended campus of the Georgian College here, and recently Orillia saw the opening of the Lakehead University (preparing to building their permanent campus in the coming year). That brings to "town" more professionals (teachers and administrators) as well as students.

As the population changes the demand for housing changes - for a few years the vacancy rate for rental housing hovered down around 1% or 2%. At times, decent affordable rentals were just not to be had. In the past couple of years, new subdivisions have been built at an alarming rate - well, alarming to me, anyways. I just kept wondering...where are they coming from? The people to fill all these houses...

The Orillia Opera House (©J. Gracey Stinson)

But Orillia is in a unique position - it is perhaps an hour and a half from Toronto's east end (less time from the west end); just about an hour from the airport; 20 minutes from Barrie; 45 minutes from King City (the home of Wonderland); less than an hour from Newmarket. People can live here and still commute to their jobs in the city. From the east end of Toronto to the west end takes more time to drive during rush hour than it does from Orillia. On top of that, Orillia's location between two lakes and surrounded by rural beauty makes it feel like a "cottage" community, but it offers all the benefits of a larger city. To make transportation matters even easier, Orillia has a well-established transit system, and the Simcoe airport is roughly halfway between Orillia and Barrie.

Simcoe Airport (©J. Gracey Stinson)

The historic downtown area houses many vintage buildings with unique boutique-style shops; the main street 'dead ends' in three connected, waterfront parks; we have a large, highly acclaimed and well-equipped hospital and Orillia is home to some of the finest artists in Canada - it has a large, talented art community. The Orillia Opera House is home to many productions, from plays to concerts by some of world's most popular entertainers. Numerous times throughout the year you can attend a Jazz Festival in Orillia; the Mariposa Folk Festival (a summer venue) boasts great entertainment and draws people from just about everywhere; April sees the Annual Perch Festival, with avid fishermen from as far away and the US coming to town; there's a Bass festival too, as well as events like the Annual Vintage Car show; and it has a Tribute Artist Weekend where you can watch tribute artists performing "Elvis", "Patsy", "Roy Orbison", "Shania Twain" and a lot of other favourites, complete with professional costuming. The yearly "Scottish Festival" draws over 15,000 visitors to Orillia each year. The annual "Bike Show and Shine (for the motorycle lover in you).

These are only a few of the events in Orillia - throughout the spring to autumn months you'll find other things like the Home Show, the "In-water Boat Show", "The Cottage and Boat Show", the "Poker Run", sporting events like the Triathlon - essentially, every weekend has an event - sometimes more than one, and winter events like the "Winter Festival".

Cottage & Boat Show at Port of Orillia (©J. Gracey Stinson)

Cottage and Boat show at Port of Orillia (©J. Gracey Stinson)

cottage and Boat Show at Port of Orillia (©J. Gracey Stinson)

Royal Canadian Legion Branch 34 - they host many of these events. (©J. Gracey Stinson)

If you're an avid fan of winter sports, Orillia is the place to live - Orillia is a short drive from a number of ski-resorts offering downhill, and cross-country skiing, as well as tubing and snowboarding. Skidoo lovers can find groomed trails here - safe and well patrolled.

Wetland pond along Orillia's trail. (©J. Gracey Stinson)

We also have (besides the college and university) a sufficient number of highschools and, although there are some aging grade schools a new centrally-located public school is in the planning stages. Orillia is a multi-cultural centre, and as such has schools for Catholic and Christian education, as well as an Alternative School where single mothers can complete their schooling with a daycare on the premises - and also is a place for those who don't learn well under normal school auspices.

Downtown, Orillia has an excellent library - well stocked with everything from books to movies, and well-staffed. The library has outgrown the current building - a hybrid constructed from the original 1800s building with more modern additions at the front - and it's also in the final planning stages to construct itself a new home.

The public library with it's side garden. (©J. Gracey Stinson)

If you're health conscious, there's a number of good gyms in town (the newest being Genesis), as well as the YMCA and racquetball courts. There's dance studios, karate clubs, figure skating, gymnastics - almost anything you'd want to learn or participate in can be found here. Orillia's trail system winds along the waterfront areas - you can walk, or ride your bike for hours and not come to a beginning or ending, since it connects with the cross Canada trail system. Just outside of town is the Geo. Langman Wildlife Reserve; numerous provincial parks (Bass Lake, Mara, McRae Point), numerous private campgrounds (Heidi's). And of course, it's numerous beaches mean you can swim, or waterski to your heart's content.

Bass Lake Provincial Park (©J. Gracey Stinson)

Geo. Langman Wildlife Sanctuary (Oro-Medonte) ©J. Gracey Stinson

And on top of those good things - there's plenty of fine eateries - from the downtown's popular Ossawippi Express and Brewery Bay Restaurants, to Kelsey's, and Eastside Marios roadhouse style restaurants, and all manner of dining in-between, from the most expensive of steak houses to the fast-food outlets.

Ossawippi Express Dining Cars in Winter (©J. Gracey Stinson)

Sounds like a "dream place" doesn't it? In some respects, I guess it is, but when you live here, it has all the issues you'll find in many other cities - problems like road repair, complaints about the governing council, lack of family practitioners, neighbourhood issues (like whether or not a "group home" or "retirement home" should be built, or should we allow high-rise apartments and condos; how to develop (OR NOT develop) the waterfront areas; how much industry should we allow? How much commercial development and where? Water filtration, garbage collection, snow removal - you'll find plenty of complaints if you want to pick at the town - which you will if you live here.

On the whole though, I can't think of anywhere else I'd rather live.

Moving Around Town

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 13:37:56 GMT

Back in October (2007) we purchased ourselves a new home - at long last. We had spent months looking - not that there wasn't plenty to look at, there just weren't many we wanted to live in that fell within our price range. Most of the time my daughter and I would do a "reconnaissance" by checking out the Open House listings and visiting those that held possibility - that started during the early summer months.

After looking at somewhere between 20 and 30 homes, we found one that had most of what we were looking for. We called our agent (Stewart McNeely) and made an appointment so my husband could see too...he liked it, but he is a little slow on the draw when it comes to getting himself together to make an offer. By the time he was ready, the house had a sold sign on it. Even today, after having bought the house we finally did buy, that first little house on Park Street would be my first choice.

The second house we looked into as a serious purchase was on Charles St. - I've forgotten how many times we looked at it - at least 3. By the time he was ready to make the offer...well, it had another offer that was about to close. Too late again. By this time I was feeling disappointed and very frustrated.

In the end, we settled on a newer home (about 3 or 4 years) in a newer subdivision - that was not what we had wanted; to live in a new subdivision where the homes are barely 3' feet from each other, with no mature trees...and quite likely a lot of kids (not that we don't enjoy children when they visit, but having a lot of little kids running around a subdivision can get a little nerve-wracking at times - my "alarm quotient" goes into high when I see kids playing near the streets). In the end though, the interior of the home won us over. It has a very flexible floor plan, and it was a "builder's model" home, so it contains many upgrades that other houses we looked at in that subdivision don't have. It's billed as a bungalow, but because it's the builder's model, it has the additional "loft space", which has a small sitting room, two bedrooms and full bath. The main floor has an open plan - living, dining, kitchen are all open to each other which gives the house a spacious feeling, even though it is not large. On the man floor is also a good-sized master bedroom (which I'll be using as a studio space until we are too old walk up and down the stairs), and a smaller bedroom at the front entry which will become my office space. In the future, if we get too old to manage the stairs to the bedroom, we can move our master bedroom down to the main floor - there's a semi-ensuite: a door from the main floor bedroom to the main floor bath (full bath). It was this flexibility in living space that convinced us to buy this house.

What reminded me of all this...well, the deal closed on January 17th (yesterday) and we picked up the keys to our new house (picture below - which by the way, I didn't take - it was from the handout flyer at the open house).

Stewart was a big help in handling paperwork and other real estate stuff we know nothing about. He's been our agent for, oh, probably 15 years or more. He was even gracious enough to help me deal with a Toronto real estate agent who was selling my mother's condo for us - I think I might have killed the guy if it hadn't been for Stewart.

So, anyone from out of town looking for a referral to a good agent or company in Orillia - go see Stewart, or just go to his office at the Royal LePage/Real Quest Realty building on Andrew St. (#19) Orillia, or call them toll free 1-866-933-9733. He also hosts this cool little website with information about Orillia called Northward Living - you can contact him through there too.

Images in Print from around Orillia

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 08:36:26 GMT

Over the course of the 30+ years I've lived in Orillia, I've come to understand that what keeps "transplants" from the city living in Orillia is sometimes more than the unhurried pace of the life, the safer environment (not 100% safe - nowhere is, but certainly much safer than Toronto or other large city areas), the friendly people - sometimes it's just the sheer beauty to be found here. If you take time to stop and look around you, there is beauty in the houses, the downtown buildings, even the highway areas are surrounded by nature.

Take time to have a look at some of my efforts to document the passing of days and years in this place I call home. (To see the larger image, click on the picture).

A single swan on Lake Simcoe - not far from the narrows bridge in an area where the marshy reeds grow tall.

The Stephen Leacock boathouse on Lake Couchiching

A cold and misty morning at the Port of Orillia.

Dawn on the docks at Port of Orillia

A series of images combined into a triple triptych poster image of the passage of dawn over the Highway 12 & Mississaga overpass.

A dramatic evening at Bass Lake (near the end of the 13th Concession of Oro).

A rural road just outside of Orillia, in Oro/Medonte Township: the radiant autumn colours of Orillia.

(interested in these prints? click the image to view purchasing information).

Greeting Cards with local interest.

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 09:04:08 GMT

One of my latest endeavours is creating greeting cards (RedBubble Cards) (Zazzle Cards) and I've just begun on a series focusing on local interest images. A few that are prepared and ready for sale:

Local Interest Cards - Orillia

Samples:

Favourite Shops

Sat, 29 Sep 2007 08:16:56 GMT

Having recently had a conversation with a fellow photographer about frames and mattes, I figured it was about time to post this. One place I find really great for ordering pre-prepared greeting cards with spaces forphotos/art is the Photographer's Edge - you can order from them by catalogue or on the internet; superb card-stock with a method for inserting your photos that is more professional than most I've seen - you can also order the cards with pre-printed backs that have your business info & name on them.

But probably my favourite shop for buying pre-cut mattes for smaller photos is the dollar shop on Mississaga St. in Orillia. You can buy 8" X 10" mattes (usually in pink, blue, black, red and ivory) with the opening cut to display a 5" X 7" photo - this size comes at $1 each matte - some have oval openings and some are square. They also have 5" X 7" mattes cut to display a 4" X 6" photo - these are usually 2 in a package.

The Dollar Store is probably also my all-time favourite place to buy 'props' for photo shoots - over the course of a year they have a large variety of small decorations, decor objects, garden trinkets and other paraphernalia that is perfect for small shoots - include in that list some interesting "junk jewelery" that looks good in a photo. They always have at least one aisle of 'holiday' fare - right now they have this holiday aisle filled on one side with Halloween related objects, and the other side has Christmas stuff already. For the stock photographer this means you can buy well in advance of the holiday in order to shoot and upload your stuff before the holiday arrives. The other thing I like about this shop is their "after-holiday" sale. If you wait til the holidays are over you can often buy some of the left-over or slow-selling stuff at 4/$1, and sometimes 10/$1, so you can buy after holiday and pack it away til you want to use it. I'll often do this; I bought some things last Christmas at 4/$1 and put them in my "tickle drawer" (sort of a take off on the old "tickle trunk") - a couple of drawers in my office I keep filled this interesting minutiae of things to photograph when the mood strikes.

Apart from the obvious for a photographer, you can also buy most office supplies here too - all manner of envelopes, paper, pens, pencils, art pencils and artists erasers, sketch pads (some pretty decent ones), measure tools of all sorts, stamps and stamp pads, scrapbooking supplies (for those who are 'into' that), ruled paper, notebooks galore - almost everything a small business needs to keep their office running - a smaller business doesn't need five thousand paper clips, even if they are a good deal - so it's nice to be able to buy things (like ballpoint and felt pens - even sales books, message pads, and fax papers) in smaller quantity as I need them.

The things I buy frequently in here are sunglasses (loads to choose from, often quality glasses like Foster Grants - at any given time I probably own at least 10 pairs in different styles with different lens colours) and reading glasses. I need glasses to read smaller print these days, but my vision doesn't seem to have changed enough for my eye doctor to order me up a prescription, so the dollar shop glasses fit the bill pretty well. Different frame styles and colors give you 'something for every outfit' for very little money - oh, and they make great props too...not to mention that if you happen to be like me (I can misplace a pair the minute they come off my face) you can leave a pair in every room in the house, and always have a pair at hand.

Let's see...oh yeah...this year I also got some really great t-shirts - white - in kids and adult sizes. Not the undershirt-type, but a nice soft easy-wear cotton blend t-shirt, which I use to iron on my business logo, web address and sample photos. I wear them when I am out shooting (for fun...I dress for business shoots), or when I am working out, when I am just out walking, or working in the garden - when we go for a drive - pretty much anywhere. It's good advertising for $1 a shirt

I also bought my granddaughter a very nice dress (brand name, which I won't mention) - black velvet with cute 'floatie' sleeves with bows on the ends; sometimes I can get good tank tops there for workouts - recently they've got some black "bbq" style aprons which would be good for promoting a business once you get your logo on them, and some heavy canvas shopping-style (re-usable) bags - blank - that you can do the same with.

Hands-down, this has to be my all-time, mostly-shopped store on the main street, or 'downtown'. (Don't forget your toothpaste/toothbrush, hair essentials and snacks while you're there!)

The Computer Smith's...Again

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 12:24:17 GMT

This is interesting...I can find no way to edit an already published blog entry...what's up with that? Once again MS pretty much sucks at what it does...

The website link for The Computer Smith's was obviously wrong. Here's the right one:

The Computer Smith's website

The Computer Smiths

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 11:46:13 GMT

Recommendations: The Computer Smiths

Here's a local business that gets my business all the time. The Computer Smiths - they run a "repair" shop to help your ailing computer, but it's much more than that. They also do upgrades, look for software when you can't find it, make housecalls, offer IT service, and generally just offer pretty good service period, at a time when customer service is lacking in many businesses - oh yeah, if you really want, he can even build you a computer.

Tom Smith owns the shop, and their offices are located on Mississaga Street - a few doors "up the road" from my house - which makes life even easier for me. You can find them right here:

118 Mississaga Street West
325-4200

or online at 222.computersmiths.ca

Beamo, or Beemo, or BMO

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 05:06:08 GMT

...otherwise know as the Bank of Montreal. I have to say that in 30+ years of doing business with the downtown branch of the Bank of Montreal we have yet to be disappointed. The staff is helpful and friendly, the services have met our needs and then some. Some of our favourite 'girls' have left the downtown BMO: some have worked hard to advance (Darja - moved up and now is our favourite person at the BMO on Coldwater Road next to the Zehrs) and some have retired (Beth...over the years we've come to look at her as a friend more than our 'banker lady' and we miss her), and some are running back and forth to both branches (Lois - investment adviser, helpful and insightful - go see her), and a lot of others I don't know by name, but know their faces. We've had occasion to bank at other places - TD Canada Trust and Scotia Bank (both downtown). While they've been helpful there have been enough 'faux pas' and weird service that BMO always gets MY business over the others.

More Downtown Business

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 04:56:44 GMT

Jimi Hendrix visits Orillia in the form of a life-sized cardboard standup in the window of TrueNorth Music and Round Again Records. These two shops are located in the same building; TrueNorth is on the main floor entry, Round Again Records is upstairs.

Round Again Records is a handy shop for locating cd's, both used and new, as well as older stuff on cassette and (gasp) old vinyl - in the form of "lp" records and 45s. If they don't have it, and it can be found anywhere on earth, they'll get it for you.

It amazed me that they were able to find an old cassette for me...the original music from the "Godspell" production first shown back in the early 70s at the Royal Alex theatre in Toronto. I asked, they found - couldn't have been simpler. So if you're looking from some old record or cassette go see these guys. If you want to sell or buy CDs, go visit the shop. It's worth the trip.

The Princess

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 06:52:42 GMT

The Island Princess

Another fun local business are the lake tours on the Island Princess. You can book group tours, or get on the regular scheduled tours - daytime tours around the lake, and early evening dinner tours are pretty popular in the summer months. She's moored at the foot of Mississaga Street at the main town dock. The ticket booth is right there at the entrance to the Centennial Park, almost kitty-corner to the Legion. The Princess hails out of Collingwood, but she's moored at the Port of Orillia and runs out of here. You can find her here winter and summer; colourful, clean and well kept, and the ships master is experienced.

If you live in Orillia and haven't taken a ride (known as "a cruise") then shame on you - get out and try it.

What's Up at the Dragon

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 07:15:39 GMT

What's Up at the Dragon:

Walking down to the park on Friday morning I noticed the windows of the Golden Dragon covered over with newspapers.Wonder what's up with that? Are they redecorating? I'd almost hate to see that; the decor in "The Dragon" has been an Orillia institution for as long as I can remember.

The Pot Shop Revisited

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 07:13:51 GMT

From the 'whattayaknow' category:

A few days ago on my Facebook listing (http://www.facebook.com/p/J_Gracey_Stinson/586811122)I posted a rant about the pot shop, along with a photo. Strangely enough, last night's Packet had an article about the City wanting to start regulating shops just like this one. Well, I say "About time".

The Pot Shop

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 07:09:53 GMT

Rants: The Orillia Pot House (aka "The Pot Shop")

- well, everyone has a right to do business I suppose, but I seriously object to this - mainly the fact that it's located in a quiet residential neighbourhood. Not an 'upscale' neighbourhood by any means, but children live here, as well as some elderly folks.

Everyone knows you can't sell pot legally...so they sell the trappings legally...

The Shear Edge

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 07:07:42 GMT

Recommendations: Best Hair Salon in Orillia

- Has to be Shear Edge Salon on Mississaga Street. Even an old lady can get a modern, contemporary, sassy hair style that doesn't make her look like she's trying to be a teenager but definitely doesn't make her look like a 'blue hair'. Good location, small, elegant and comfortable salon - terrific staff. They know what they're doing.