Forrest Mayo loves the outdoors
By Jay Nachman
At the age of 6, for reasons he doesn’t understand, Forrest D. Mayo decided he wanted a fishing rod. When he got one, he was hooked on the sport.
Mayo, now 89, soon was casting lines in the middle of the street in his Spring Garden neighborhood. Then he began fishing in the Schuylkill River, which was a block from his home. From then on, he has enjoyed a lifetime of outdoor activities and sports.
“I haven’t the faintest idea where that came from, but I knew I wanted to do fishing and everything took off from there,” Mayo said. “I just loved the outdoors and walking through parks. The outdoors just drew me in, big time.”
Mayo, who has a son and a granddaughter, was 21 when he decided he wanted to learn how to swim. Since then, it’s been hard to keep him out of the water and around it.
He got his first kayak for recreational kayaking in the late 1960s. “The tranquility and relaxation of seeing what you can see in nature, from otters to eagles, is unbelievable,” he said about being out on the water.
Mayo gains much gratification from teaching others to appreciate the outdoors and acquire skills that can bring them a lifetime of pleasure. “I can’t get enough of it,” Mayo said.
He currently teaches kayaking, fly casting and archery for L.L. Bean and has been an instructor at Philadelphia Canoe Club since 1993. He taught aquatics for 27 years at Philadelphia’s Central Branch YMCA, as well as archery and fencing at the Abington, Germantown and Central YMCAs.
He also enjoys the nature he finds all around him. Recently he spotted a helicopter flying low with an airplane above it. Then, he realized, “It wasn’t an airplane. It was a bald eagle, right here in Philadelphia. It was an unbelievable sight.”
When the weather turns cold, Mayo, who bought his first bow and arrow in 1965, becomes a self-described big-time hunter. He heads up to his cabin near Elk Mountain, about three hours away in Schuylkill County to hunt with both a bow and arrow and a rifle. And he eats what he kills. He called being in the mountains his heaven.
Ask Mayo to pick a favorite activity, and he can’t do it. “I just enjoy doing what I’m doing when I can do it. That is my joy,” he said, his voice reflecting the passion he finds in his hobbies.
Mayo believes it is never too late to begin enjoying outdoor sports and encourages anyone to participate at any age. ‘’Once you get into it, you will definitely enjoy it,” he said. “It will become a part of you, like it has become a part of me.”
Jay Nachman is a freelance writer in Philadelphia who tells stories for a variety of clients.
