Sudbury teacher Colin Veevers is not a native Northerner but he is at a point in his life where he is more than pleased to be living in Sudbury where enjoyment of the outdoors is literally minutes away.
Veevers grew up in the Ottawa area and said he is grateful that his parents "took us outside a lot" with things like canoeing, camping and skiing. He said he has continued that life now that he lives in Sudbury where he is employed as an environmental teacher at Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School.
He said he spent a lot of time in his youth going to various camps, most of them being YMCA sponsored camps.
"And then I ended up working at John Island Camp which is why I'm here and so kind of always been outside of those jobs and that really developed a lot of my outdoor skills and my love of the outdoors just being outside and recreating and taking other people inside as well."
Veevers said that the easy access to the outdoors and nature is one of the key reasons he decided to live in Sudbury.
"Definitely it was coming here in the summers and, and then when I choose university, I chose to go to school and Thunder Bay, and then worked in Minnesota for a couple of years, and then back to Sudbury for full time work at John Island," said Veevers.
"Definitely all those places have very similar winter climates where you can really go to enjoy lots of fun winter activities, you know, whether it's like snowshoeing or cross-country skiing out to the lake, or setting up a tent and going ice fishing for a couple of days, you know, go into a ski hill or now more recently, to go biking. All those spots are really great for those things for sure."
Going beyond Sudbury to other parts of Northeastern Ontario is an option worth explorating. Veevers said a fall trip to the Sault Ste. Marie area provided some outstanding access to fat-biking trails, which is an outdoor pursuit that is growing in popularity. He said he was pleased to enjoy the Hiawatha Highlands trails system.
He quickly added that Sudbury riders were "super lucky" to have "awesome" cycling trails in the city's west end on the Walden and Naughton trail networks. He said there are also trails for cross-country skiing and snow-shoeing.
"So I think just having like the proximity to the city, you can make Sudbury your destination to do a little bit of outside stuff, a little inside stuff as well if you go to Science North or something like that, but I think there's a really awesome trail system up here. That really helps," said Veevers.
Aside from the recreational value of the outdoors, Veevers said there is a valuable social aspect as well.
"I think one of the reasons that I'm out there as often is it's great to go out with groups of friends, right? That always helps to have social connections there. It is really a nice way to just hang out with some people and enjoy some healthy activities, for sure," said Veevers.
"It's really good for freeing your social connections and that really helps your mental health," he added.
Veevers said a good nature outing is a good time to reconnect with nature, to reset yourself and recharge yourself.
Veevers said the benefits to one's mental health are just as important as the physical health benefits.
Another benefit he said is the idea of introducing outdoor activities to young people, often for the first time. Veevers said he gets great enjoyment from watching young people trying some new activity whether it's skiing, snowboarding, snow-shoeing or even fat biking for the first time.
"It's awesome and it is just really fun," he said.
Len Gillis is a reporter at Sudbury.com. Bold is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.
