Orangeville Ontario Visited
by Gary McWilliams (aka Festival Nomad)
I lived in Orangeville once!
Well, saying that I lived in Orangeville is a “bit” of a “stretch“!
You see, years ago I was moving from one home to another, and there was a short time when I was going to be “homeless“.
That’s when a friend of mine offered to let me stay with him in his new Orangeville home.
So, technically I did “live” in Orangeville, but only for a couple of weeks!
However, I was working in Toronto at the time, so I really didn’t see much of the “real” Orangeville.
As I mentioned, my “brush” with Orangeville living was years ago, so I actually didn’t know Orangeville at all.
By living in the Blue Mountains and having friends and relatives to the south, Judi and I quite often took Hwy 10 south.
As a result, we passed through the eastern tip of Orangeville many times, but never right into the “heart of the city“.
With our Oh Canada Eh! Game videos in “full swing“, we decided to make Orangeville one of our destinations.
If you just “drive through” Orangeville on Hwy 10 like we did, you will never know just how beautiful downtown Orangeville is.
Driving into the downtown area you pass a charming boulevard, lush with flowers and greenery.
Passed that, if you look hard enough you’ll find the Alexandra Park.
This is a memorial park to honour those who were lost fighting Canada’s wars.
The park includes a “quaint” gazebo. This is where we “shot” our Oh Canada Eh! Game video,
After our “shoot“, we continued our explorations of Orangeville.
Passed the downtown, you come to heritage homes and churches.
Positioned on the sides of the street are a number of unique “tree sculptures“.
It’s hard to drive through this area without being impressed by its warmth and beauty.
There is, of course, a business component to Orangeville.
We found it once we had passed the scenic residential area.
Located amongst the commercial and industrial buildings was the Orangeville Campus of Georgian College.
After “checking out” the business area, we headed back downtown.
We passed another amazing “tree sculpture” that was standing outside to Post Office building.
Rather than going straight through the downtown, we took a side street.
Along the way we passed the old CPR Railway Station.
A well-known Orangeville restaurant now occupies its space.
Back onto the main street and past the “Boulevard garden“, we headed home.
But first we wanted to visit the Orangeville Fairgrounds.
An equestrian event was taking place while we were there.
While we were there watch the activities, I started to think about Orangeville and how much it had changed over the years.
I was sorry that I hadn’t explored Orangeville more when I “first lived” there!
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