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💜 Kingston Area's Favourite Purple Vine

Local Spotlight

🔎 Coming up soon: the amazing work by Community Living Kingston District and Ryandale Transitional Housing

Kingston & Area Local News

🩺 The FLA Health Team Clears Its Primary-Care Waitlist, Connecting Thousands to a Family Doctor
⚓ A Five-Acre Marina Rebuild in Cape Vincent Has Kingston Boaters in Mind
🧸 A Viral Squishy Toy Has People Lining Up at The Rocking Horse Toys

Community Champions

🍺 Kingston’s Rotary Clubs Poured $7,100 for Charity at the FIFA Celebration
🏥 The KGH Auxiliary Hands KHSC $392,776 for NICU Ventilators and Pediatric Care
🎓 Kingstonist’s Micaela Schmidt Wins the Kevin Dunbar Memorial Scholarship

New Events In and Around Kingston

💚 Canadian Injury Prevention Day | Canada-wide | July 6
🎊 Greater Napanee Connect Block Party Kick-Off | Market Square, Napanee | July 17
🎸 Rock for Ryandale | The Spire | July 18
🥩 Schnitzel Dinner for the U16 Ice Stock Team | Golden Links Hall, Harrowsmith | July 18
🎨 Mending Ways: A Free Juried Art Exhibition | Tett Centre | to July 18

Events Calendar

It’s gotten too long to include here in the summary! Click Events Calendar to see so many great events!

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🎶 Speaking of staying in the loop, say hello to our friends at Kingston Live. If you love live music, they are well worth it: a free, refreshingly thorough roundup of local shows and events, put together entirely by volunteers who clearly love this city's music scene. We are big fans of what they do, so if you want Kingston's gigs and happenings landing right in your inbox, hit Sign Up Here and stay in the loop.

If you have noticed those big, velvety purple blooms climbing trellises all over town lately, you have probably spotted a Jackmanii clematis. First bred in England back in 1862, it became the original superstar of large flowered clematis and it still is one of the most popular climbing vines in gardens across the eastern half of North America. Part of the appeal is how little fuss it takes. Jackmanii is hardy well into colder zones than ours and does just fine in full sun with its roots kept a little shaded and cool. Its flush of blooms does not last forever, but while it is going, it puts on quite a show. Easy to grow and gorgeous to look at, especially against limestone, it is no wonder this one keeps showing up all over the Kingston area this time of year.

Here is some genuinely great news for anyone who has waited too long for a family doctor. The FLA Ontario Health Team and its regional partners have cleared the entire pre-2025 Health Care Connect waitlist. Of the 11,240 people who had been waiting since before January 1, 2025, about 6,330 were matched with a family doctor or nurse practitioner, and roughly 4,910 no longer needed a match. The new Spruce Health Hub in Kingston even provided interim care to around 400 people along the way. A real milestone for primary care across our region.

Read the full story at: FLA Ontario Health Team

Just across the river, a major waterfront project is taking shape with Kingston boaters squarely in mind. Seaway Marine Group, led by owner Jennifer Van Reenan, is rebuilding the five-acre former Anchor Marina in Cape Vincent, New York, into a modern St. Lawrence stop with 60 slips for boats up to 50 feet, plus new seawalls and docks. Backed by a $4.5M New York Forward grant and expected to add about 20 jobs, the project (branded Seaway Shipyard) should wrap in 2027 or 2028, with a town waterfront park planned right next door. Van Reenan is counting on Kingston and 1000 Islands boaters to tie up.

Read the full story at: Kingston Daily

If you have spotted a line outside a downtown toy store lately, here is why. A viral, TikTok-fuelled squishy toy called NeeDoh has fans of every age turning up at The Rocking Horse Toys, with about 30 people waiting before the doors even opened one recent Friday. Owner Monica Brown says demand showed up almost overnight, and each shipment tends to sell out within a day, with kids, teens, and grown-ups all after them. The timing is sweet too: the independent, family-owned shop at 193 Princess Street is marking its 25th anniversary this year, having first opened its doors back in 2001.

Read the full story at: The Kingston Whig-Standard

Leave it to Kingston’s Rotarians to turn a good time into a good cause. Volunteers from three local clubs, the Rotary Club of Kingston, Kingston-Frontenac, and Kingston Waterfront, ran the beer tent at the June 27 Canada Celebrates FIFA 2026 party in Springer Market Square and raised $7,100 in the process. Every dollar goes right back into youth programs, local charities, and community service projects. Not a bad haul for a day of pouring pints while the world-cup excitement kept building around the square.

Read the full story at: Kingstonist

Here is what more than a century of quiet dedication looks like. The KGH Auxiliary has made its annual gift to Kingston Health Sciences Centre, and this year it adds up to $392,776, enough to fund new NICU ventilators and a pediatric point-of-care ultrasound machine. The Auxiliary raises it all through familiar spots like the KGH Café, Tuck Shop, Gift Shop, Lottery Booth, Christmas Bazaar, and the beloved annual Teddy Bear Campaign. With more than 120 years of service behind them, this year’s total is climbing back toward pre-pandemic levels. That is volunteer power at its very finest.

Read the full story at: Kingstonist

A bright future in local journalism just got a well-deserved boost. Micaela Schmidt, a student in Kingstonist’s Next Gen Journalism program, has been awarded the Kevin Dunbar Memorial Scholarship, which recognizes community service and will help fund her journalism studies. It is a lovely full-circle moment: a young reporter learning the ropes in a Kingston newsroom, honoured for giving back to the very community she is now helping to cover. Congratulations, Micaela.

Read the full story at: Kingstonist

This one lands on the very day this issue does. Monday, July 6 marks the 10th Canadian Injury Prevention Day, a Health Canada-recognized awareness day led by the national charity Parachute. Here is the sobering reason it exists: injury is the leading cause of death for Canadians between the ages of 1 and 44, and so much of it is predictable and preventable. Parachute invites everyone to light up green, share a prevention tip, and take small steps to stay safe at home, on the road, and at play. Learn how to take part at Parachute’s Injury Prevention Day page.

Napanee is throwing one big party so residents can throw a hundred more. Greater Napanee Connect is launching its new Block Party Lending Program with a free kick-off bash on Friday, July 17 at Market Square behind Town Hall. The idea is clever: neighbours can later borrow a full party kit, from a 10x10 tent and Bluetooth speaker to lawn games, cornhole, ladder ball, and even a giant Jenga. The kick-off itself brings DJ Digital Mike, a Rotary BBQ, line dancing, games, and vendors, all backed by a $5,000 town grant. Full details at greaternapaneeconnect.ca.

Here is a night of live music with a whole lot of heart behind it. ROCK for Ryandale takes over The Spire on Saturday, July 18 in support of Ryandale Transitional Housing, which provides safe, sober housing and support for people experiencing homelessness in Kingston. Hosted by singer-songwriter Carrick McAllister, the all-ages lineup features Lukey Pell, StunSeed, Starfish Psyche, John Torres, Creatures of Habit, and Mike Brown, with a silent auction rounding out the evening. Every ticket goes straight to Ryandale’s programs. Grab yours at Eventbrite.

Ever heard of ice stock? It is a curling-like sport, and a group of local U16 athletes has earned a trip to the World Championships in Austria. To help send them, there is a schnitzel dinner fundraiser at Golden Links Hall in Harrowsmith on Saturday, July 18, hosted by Chris Hammer and cooked up by the Schnitzelman. Tickets are $25 per person and every cent goes to the team. To reserve your spot, email [email protected] or call 613-572-4974.

For a quiet, hopeful hour this summer, Cultivate Art Commons is presenting its free annual juried exhibition, Mending Ways, in the Main Gallery at the Tett Centre. Nine local and Canadian artists respond to the theme of mending and healing, including Emma Allain, Jennifer Anorue and Kateryna Kostelna, Chris Chrysler, Antoinette Karuna, Narmin Kassam, Kellyann Marie, Abby Nowakowski, and Jasper Lyon Wicke. The show is open Tuesdays through Saturdays and runs until Saturday, July 18. More about the exhibition at cultivateartcommons.org.

💚 Canadian Injury Prevention Day  |  Canada-wide  |  July 6

🧸 Teddy Bear Hospital  |  KFPL Central Branch  |  July 7

🤙 Kingston Buskers Rendezvous  |  Springer Market Square & downtown  |  July 9–12

🧸 Teddy Bear Hospital  |  KFPL Calvin Park Branch  |  July 10

🍶 In the Key of Blue (Miss Emily)  |  Isabel Bader Centre  |  July 10–12

🌅 A Summer Evening in the Islands  |  Rockport Barn, 28 Old River Rd, Rockport  |  July 16

🎊 Napanee Connect Block Party  |  Market Square, Greater Napanee  |  July 17

🎸 Rock for Ryandale  |  The Spire, 82 Sydenham St  |  July 18

🥩 Schnitzel Fundraiser Dinner  |  Golden Links Hall, Harrowsmith  |  July 18

🦋 Remembering by the River  |  Macpherson House, Napanee  |  July 18

🚒 Pull Together for Epilepsy Fire Truck Pull  |  Confederation Park, downtown Kingston  |  July 19

🏊 Loyalist Township Barr Homes Aquatic Centre Opening  |  W.J. Henderson Community Centre, Amherstview  |  July 20

🎨 Kingston Craft & Collectable Show  |  The Kingston Shrine Club, 3260 Princess St  |  July 25

🛍️ Princess Street Promenade  |  Princess Street, Downtown Kingston  |  August 1

🛣 Rideau Canal Lock & Paddle  |  Rideau Canal  |  August 15

⚔️ Ironwood Fantasy Fair  |  The Spire, Kingston  |  August 15

🎸 Forever Hip  |  Springer Market Square  |  August 20–22

🍶 Music Festival in Compton Park  |  Compton Park  |  August 23

🚗 RoadTrip Music Festival  |  Princess Street & Springer Market Square  |  September 12

Ongoing Events

🔬 Exploration Days  |  Babcock Mill (Odessa) & Bath Museum  |  Thursdays & Fridays, to Aug 21

🎨 Mending Ways Juried Exhibition  |  Cultivate Art Commons, Tett Centre  |  to July 18

🚤 Rideau Canal Free Lockage  |  Rideau Canal  |  Season open (through Sept 7)

🚢 S.S. Keewatin Tours  |  Great Lakes Museum  |  Season open

🐟 Aquaculture: Farming the Waters  |  Great Lakes Museum  |  to October 18

Ongoing Markets

🥕 Kingston Public Market  |  Springer Market Square, downtown  |  Tuesdays, Thursdays & Saturdays

🥬 Memorial Centre Farmers’ Market  |  303 York St  |  Sundays

🪪 Katarokwi Indigenous Market  |  Springer Market Square  |  Monthly Sundays (June–Sept)

🛠️ Makers at the Mill  |  Babcock Mill, Odessa  |  Sundays (through Oct 18)

🏊 Gananoque Farmers’ Market  |  Town Hall Square, 30 King St E  |  Thursdays

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