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It was very heartwarming to hear that Innisfil Mayor Lynn Dollin had accepted my request for an interview.
Before meeting the mayor, I was very concerned and also worried: What if she is another boring adult?
I was very curious, but anxious about getting to know her, but one thing was for sure — that I was proud to know that the mayor of Innisfil is a woman.
In September, my mom decided to homeschool me and my brother. For my literacy, my mom assigned me three interviews of people that inspire me. The first person I selected to interview was Dollin.
She was very welcoming, cheerful and definitely funny. Once everyone was comfortable and settled in her office, I took my recorder out and asked her if I could record this interview.
She was born and raised in a small town called Port Perry in north Durham Region near Lake Scugog and she stayed there until she moved to Cookstown in 1986. She faced a lot of tough times, and good times, but she never gave up in life.
She mentioned that she likes to play golf, but she liked sailing in her brother’s sailboat even more, out on the open water.
Dollin actually didn’t want to be mayor. She started as a municipal councillor. With hard work, leading by example and being passionate, she quickly earned respect.
In her younger days, due to unforeseen circumstances, her education came to an end by high school, but what impressed me is that she did not use that as an excuse to give up.
As the interview continued I felt compelled to get to know more. She’s so much fun and she has three grand-puppies. Then we moved on to my favourite topic: Food. Mayor Dollin is a fan of Mexican food, but she really loves spicy and rich flavours.
I really admired her confidence and her passion to do the best for the town, but most of all, I feel inspired because she overcame the loss of her brother and transformed that into something special.
I believe we are very fortunate to have such a dedicated mayor and extraordinary person among us.
Tamsila Ahmed
Innisfil