⛳ Good Times, Year Round: Norm’s Golf & Social in Kingston
🩺 Thirty Extra Seconds at KHSC, and a North American First in Throat Cancer
🏘️ 315 Queen Mary Road Cut the Ribbon, and About Twenty People Already Live There
🏛️ The Health Museum Set Out to Build a Kids’ Gallery and Rebuilt Itself Instead
💛 Eva Acs Left a Gift Her Children Only Found Out About Afterwards
🏆 Twenty Kingston Women Are Up for the Chamber’s First Pinnacle Award
🔑 Habitat for Humanity Hands Over the Keys on Wilson Street
⛳ FEATURED EVENT: Norm’s Annual Charity Golf Tournament | Amherstview Golf Course | September 18
🏃 FEATURED EVENT: Howe Island Terry Fox Run | Howe Island | September 20
🥾 FEATURED EVENT: Providence Care Hike for Hospice | Lake Ontario Park | September 20
🎭 Improv Lab: Build Confidence and Creativity | KFPL Isabel Turner Branch | September 15
🔭 The Invisible Universe: The Higgs, Dark Matter and Gravity Waves | The Isabel | September 16
🤿 KFN General Meeting: Jill Heinerth on The Science of Cave Diving | Kingston Secondary School | September 17
🍽️ CFKA Speaker Series: Food Sustains Us | Delta Hotel Kingston Waterfront | September 22
It’s gotten too long to include here in the summary! Click Events Calendar to see our list for the next few days.
🔦 Local Spotlight
⛳ Good Times, Year Round: Norm’s Golf & Social in Kingston
If I suggested we meet at a golf place for a night out, you probably would not be picturing pizza, a bar with great local pours, a huge TV for the game, and cornhole on an indoor lawn. Yet that is Norm's Golf & Social on Gardiners Road, where the golf is genuinely good and just one way to have a great time. Four of the biggest simulator bays in Kingston, each with its own seating so your group stays together while one person hits. It is also where a lot of Kingston comes to raise money for good causes, and Rich Wall has an unusual way of deciding which cause gets it. He left more than a decade in finance to build the place, and named it for someone who never got to see it open. Read the full story.
🌽 The corn results are in
We asked which locally grown sweet corn you drive out of your way for, and you answered. Readers named Mallen' Corn most often, with Lakeshore Farms Market and Wendy's Country Market close behind.
The point was to get some attention on the hard working people growing our corn, not to crown anybody. Every grower on that ballot got votes. Somebody out there drove past two other stands to get to theirs, and then took the trouble to tell us about it.
All seventeen are in the Sweet Corn Guide: where to buy from each one, when, and what to do with a dozen cobs once you get them home. The guide stays up, and we will keep adding to it.
A few of the growers have spotlight articles coming, so you will hear more about them soon.
📰 Kingston & Area Local News
🩺 Thirty Extra Seconds at KHSC, and a North American First in Throat Cancer
Dr. Robert Bechara at Kingston Health Sciences Centre, where about 30 extra seconds during a routine scope caught a throat cancer early enough to remove it. Photo from kingstonhsc.ca.
Dr. Robert Bechara at Kingston Health Sciences Centre, where about 30 extra seconds during a routine scope caught a throat cancer early enough to remove it. Photo from kingstonhsc.ca.
Dr. Robert Bechara, a gastroenterologist at Kingston Health Sciences Centre, has found and removed an early cancer at the bottom of the throat using a scope, and nobody in North America had managed that before. The extra effort involved is about thirty seconds. That part of the throat, the hypopharynx, already sits on the route a routine upper endoscopy travels, so the change is simply stopping to look at it properly. Cancers there are usually caught late. Dr. Bechara trained in Japan and brought the technique home, and KHSC now teaches a course in spotting them that is the only one of its kind on the continent. As he put it to KHSC: “If you don’t look, you won’t find it.”
Read the full story at: Kingston Health Sciences Centre
🏘️ 315 Queen Mary Road Cut the Ribbon, and About Twenty People Already Live There
Two residents settle in on a bench in the courtyard at 315 Queen Mary Road, where 35 transitional housing beds now sit alongside a health clinic. Photo by Bill Hutchins, Kingstonist.
Two residents settle in on a bench in the courtyard at 315 Queen Mary Road, where 35 transitional housing beds now sit alongside a health clinic. Photo by Bill Hutchins, Kingstonist.
The ribbon was cut on Thursday, September 10 at 315 Queen Mary Road, with open houses the same day, and about twenty people already live there. We last looked in on the old Extendicare building in July while the units were being finished. It opened quietly on August 26 and now holds 35 transitional housing beds for people 55 and older with complex medical needs: two-bedroom units with private washrooms, meals, laundry and a courtyard, staffed around the clock by Home Base Housing. The Midtown Kingston Health Home, run by Kingston Community Health Centres, has moved into the same building. Don, one of the new residents, told Kingstonist it “feels like home. Staff is good.” A Lionhearts vocational laundry program starts next month, and the $9.4 million rebuild still has a wellness centre to come.
Read the full story at: Kingstonist
🏛️ The Health Museum Set Out to Build a Kids’ Gallery and Rebuilt Itself Instead
Dr. Simge Erdogan-O'Connor rebuilt the Canadian Museum of Health Care around a children's gallery that started as one grant. Photo from cfka.org.
Dr. Simge Erdogan-O’Connor rebuilt the Canadian Museum of Health Care around a children’s gallery that started as one grant. Photo from cfka.org.
The Canadian Museum of Health Care set out to build one thing: a gallery kids could actually use. It went to the Community Foundation for Kingston & Area for help, and then kept pulling the thread. Director Dr. Simge Erdogan-O’Connor ran focus groups, rewrote what the museum is for, changed its name, and reorganized the place around three ideas: tell human stories, tie them to now, and do it with partners. So there is an exhibit about death and end-of-life care in the works with James Reid Funeral Home, and kids’ programs shared with the Great Lakes Museum. City heritage money is down about 25 per cent per site since 2024, so the sharing is not only good manners. She told the Community Foundation that Kingston’s heritage sector is “the most supportive, most collaborative sector I’ve ever seen internationally.”
Read the full story at: Community Foundation for Kingston & Area
🏆 Community Champions
💛 Eva Acs Left a Gift Her Children Only Found Out About Afterwards
Eva and Laszlo Acs on their wedding day. After Laszlo’s death, Eva quietly established a memorial fund for infant mental health and family well-being that her children only discovered while settling her estate. Photo from cfka.org.
Eva and Laszlo Acs on their wedding day. After Laszlo’s death, Eva quietly established a memorial fund for infant mental health and family well-being that her children only discovered while settling her estate. Photo from cfka.org.
Laszlo Acs fled Hungary with his mother shortly after the 1956 revolution, crossed into Austria, and reached Canada in 1957, settling first in Montreal. He and Eva moved to Kingston in 1996. After he died, his wife Eva quietly established a memorial fund for infant mental health and family well-being, and told nobody she had done it. Her children found out only while settling her estate. Her daughter Katharine Acs-Charter’s first reaction, told to the Community Foundation: “That is so mom.”
Read the full story at: Community Foundation for Kingston & Area
🏆 Twenty Kingston Women Are Up for the Chamber’s First Pinnacle Award
The Greater Kingston Chamber of Commerce names its first Pinnacle Award winner on September 17, from twenty nominees. Photo from the Greater Kingston Chamber of Commerce.
The Greater Kingston Chamber of Commerce names its first Pinnacle Award winner on September 17, from twenty nominees. Photo from the Greater Kingston Chamber of Commerce.
The Greater Kingston Chamber of Commerce has named twenty nominees for its first Pinnacle Award, judged on leadership and business excellence, community impact and mentorship, and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. Several of them will be familiar from our own pages: Simge Erdogan-O’Connor of the Canadian Museum of Health Care, who is also in this issue’s Local News; Qurratulain “Ainy” Kamil of DoorStep Dental (Spotlight article coming soon); Laurie French of Providence Village; Niki Hodgskiss of Venture Food Trucks; artist Holly Ryan; and Meghan Janke of Studio 88. Chamber CEO Karen Cross said they are “proud to recognize all 20 Pinnacle Award nominees and celebrate the contributions they make to their organizations, their industries, and our community.” The winner is announced on Thursday, September 17 at Celebrating Women in Business, with keynote speaker Shari Hughson.
Read the full story at: Greater Kingston Chamber of Commerce
🔑 Habitat for Humanity Hands Over the Keys on Wilson Street
The keys change hands at 223 Wilson Street, where Habitat for Humanity's newest build will house two Kingston families. Photo by Ken Hashizume, Kingston Daily.
The keys change hands at 223 Wilson Street, where Habitat for Humanity’s newest build will house two Kingston families. Photo by Ken Hashizume, Kingston Daily.
Habitat for Humanity Kingston Limestone Region handed over the keys at 223 Wilson Street on Tuesday, September 8, with about forty people there to watch. The new semi-detached build houses two families, and the first are the Connors, who wanted more room to raise their son Jonathan. Ground broke in May 2025 and it was meant to be done by Christmas; servicing and electrical work pushed it to September instead. Each side has three bedrooms, a full bathroom, a living room, a kitchen and a backyard. The second family has not been chosen yet. Vaughan Connors told Kingston Daily the day had “finally come to fruition”, and Habitat’s next build is two more semis out in Loyalist Township.
Read the full story at: Kingston Daily
📥 If we’ve gone quiet, check your Promotions tab (or 😱 spam)
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🆕 New Events In and Around Kingston
⛳ FEATURED EVENT: Norm’s Annual Charity Golf Tournament | Amherstview Golf Course | September 18
Poster supplied by Norm's Golf & Social.
Poster supplied by Norm’s Golf & Social.
Four days to go, so this is the last issue that can help you fill a foursome. Norm’s Golf & Social is running its first outdoor charity tournament on Friday, September 18 at Amherstview Golf Course, and calling it annual from the very first one. $150 a person covers 18 holes with a cart, the bus out from Norm’s on Gardiners Road and back, Tony’s all-you-can-eat buffet, the simulator after-party, and a $25 contribution receipt. Our favourite detail: the golfers themselves vote on which charity takes the money. Registration and the full rundown are on the event page.
🏃 FEATURED EVENT: Howe Island Terry Fox Run | Howe Island | September 20
Howe Island runs its 21st Terry Fox Run on September 20, with a barbecue and a silent auction after. Poster from the Township of Frontenac Islands' Facebook page.
Howe Island runs its 21st Terry Fox Run on September 20, with a barbecue and a silent auction after. Poster from the Township of Frontenac Islands’ Facebook page.
Howe Island has about 650 year-round residents, has raised $181,776 for cancer research across twenty years, and in 2025 had the highest donations per capita of anywhere in Ontario. The 21st annual run is Sunday, September 20, starting at the Township of Frontenac Islands office on Baseline Road: park on the mainland, walk onto the ferry, and a free shuttle runs between the dock and the start. Pick 5K, 8K or 10K, all marked, and walk it, bike it or roll it. A free community barbecue and a silent auction of islanders’ own crafts and services follow, and the poster’s most practical line is the one telling you to bring a lawn chair. There is no registration fee, donations are collected at the barbecue and at both ferries, and this year’s total has already passed the island’s goal. Register or donate at the Howe Island run page.
🥾 FEATURED EVENT: Providence Care Hike for Hospice | Lake Ontario Park | September 20
Providence Care's Hike for Hospice takes 1, 2 and 5 km routes through Lake Ontario Park on September 20. Graphic from the Hike for Hospice event page.
Providence Care’s Hike for Hospice takes 1, 2 and 5 km routes through Lake Ontario Park on September 20. Graphic from the Hike for Hospice Facebook event.
Same Sunday, a second fundraiser, and this one could genuinely use the company: as of last week fifteen people had registered. Gather at the pavilion in Lake Ontario Park on King Street West on September 20 and pick a route of 1, 2 or 5 km. Registration is $20 and pledges are welcome. Everything raised goes to Providence Care Hospice, including AB Smith Homestead House, and the event page is blunt about why it matters: government funding covers only part of what it costs to run a hospice. Sign up or donate at uhkf.ca.
🎭 Improv Lab: Build Confidence and Creativity | KFPL Isabel Turner Branch | September 15
Six weeks of improv games for ages 10 to 14 start September 15 at the Isabel Turner branch. Graphic from kfpl.ca.
Six weeks of improv games for ages 10 to 14 start September 15 at the Isabel Turner branch. Graphic from kfpl.ca.
Six Tuesdays of improv games for ages 10 to 14, starting September 15 in the Maple room at the Kingston Frontenac Public Library’s Isabel Turner branch on Gardiners Road. It is free, and worth knowing before you sign anybody up: registration covers the full six weeks rather than a single night, so it is a small commitment rather than a drop-in. Six seats were left when we checked. Register on the library’s event page.
🔭 The Invisible Universe: The Higgs, Dark Matter and Gravity Waves | The Isabel | September 16
Perimeter Institute director Marcela Carena brings the Higgs, dark matter and gravitational waves to the Isabel on September 16, free with registration. Image from queensu.ca.
Perimeter Institute director Marcela Carena brings the Higgs, dark matter and gravitational waves to the Isabel on September 16, free with registration. Image from queensu.ca.
Prof. Marcela Carena runs the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, and on Wednesday, September 16 she is in the Jennifer Velva Bernstein Performance Hall at The Isabel to talk about the parts of the universe nobody can see: the Higgs boson found at CERN in 2012, dark matter, and the gravitational waves first detected in 2015. No physics background needed, and it runs 95 minutes with no intermission. It is free, presented by the McDonald Institute as part of the Ewan Lectures, but you do have to register.
🤿 KFN General Meeting: Jill Heinerth on The Science of Cave Diving | Kingston Secondary School | September 17
Cave diver Jill Heinerth brings her underwater expeditions to Kingston Secondary School on September 17, free and open to everyone. Photo by Jill Heinerth.
Cave diver Jill Heinerth brings her underwater expeditions to Kingston Secondary School on September 17, free and open to everyone. Photo by Jill Heinerth.
Jill Heinerth has dived submerged caves from Bermuda to Antarctica and from the Bahamas to the Ottawa River, and she is the Royal Canadian Geographical Society’s first Explorer in Residence. On Thursday, September 17 she brings the imagery and the expedition stories to the library at Kingston Secondary School on Kirkpatrick Street, along with what those caves preserve: climate records, ancient civilizations, fresh water, and ecosystems that live in permanent darkness. It is the Kingston Field Naturalists’ September general meeting, free and open to anyone, and parking is east of the school. Full details are in the club’s September newsletter.
🍽️ CFKA Speaker Series: Food Sustains Us | Delta Hotel Kingston Waterfront | September 22
The Community Foundation's fall speaker series opens on September 22 with a breakfast panel on the region's food system. Graphic from cfka.org.
The Community Foundation’s fall speaker series opens on September 22 with a breakfast panel on the region’s food system. Graphic from cfka.org.
The Community Foundation for Kingston & Area opens its fall speaker series on Tuesday, September 22 with a breakfast panel on the region’s own food system, in the Grandview Room at the Delta Hotel Kingston Waterfront on Johnson Street. Dr. Kristen Lowitt of Queen’s Community Food Systems Lab hosts, with Dr. Rupa Patel and Ellen Mortfield of the Food Policy Council for KFL&A, Mara Shaw, formerly of Loving Spoonful and the National Farmers Union, and Josh Suppan of Fat Chance Farmstead in Harrowsmith. Tickets are $50 including the buffet, with a $20 tax receipt, and it is presented by allCare IT. One thing to put in your calendar now: dietary requests have to be in by Thursday, September 17. Registration is here, and two more talks follow in October and November.
📅 Events Calendar
What’s happening in and around Kingston over the next few days
⛳ FEATURED: Norm’s Annual Charity Golf Tournament | Amherstview Golf Course | September 18
🏃 FEATURED: Howe Island Terry Fox Run | Township Office, Howe Island | September 20
🥾 FEATURED: Providence Care Hike for Hospice | Lake Ontario Park | September 20
🗳️ Mayoral All-Candidates Meeting | The Spire | September 14 | 🔦 Read our story
🗳️ Voter Information Session | 99 Advance Avenue, Napanee | September 15
💬 The Reemergence of Lifespan Care Values: A Public Talk by Kerry Smith | Portsmouth Olympic Harbour | September 15
🎭 Improv Lab: Build Confidence and Creativity | KFPL Isabel Turner Branch | September 15
🏆 Kingston Young Professionals 40 Under 40 Awards Gala | Frontenac Club | September 16 | 🔦 Read our story
🔭 The Invisible Universe: The Higgs, Dark Matter and Gravity Waves | The Isabel | September 16
🏘️ Help Shape How Kingston Engages on Housing Solutions | INVISTA Centre | September 16
💀 KJC Fundraiser Performance: Domino Theatre presents I Hate Hamlet | Domino Theatre, 52 Church St | September 16
🤿 KFN General Meeting: Jill Heinerth on The Science of Cave Diving | Kingston Secondary School | September 17
🎻 The Celtic Kitchen Party: Halfway to St. Patrick’s Day | The Spire | September 17
💼 Celebrating Women in Business | Renaissance Event Venue | September 17
💡 Home Energy Savings Talk | The Seniors Centre | September 17
🕵️ Fraud Awareness Presentation | North Crosby Hall, Westport | September 18
🎀 Walk for Awareness, Breast Cancer Action Kingston’s 32nd Annual | Lake Ontario Park | September 19
🦃 Lyndhurst Turkey Fair | Village of Lyndhurst | September 19
📚 Books and Beans: Indigenous Authors | KFPL Central Branch | September 19
📚 Kingston Symphony Volunteers’ Book Fair | Symphony Warehouse | September 10 to 20 | 🔦 Read our story
🏊 Artillery Park Aquatic Centre Closed for Annual Maintenance | Artillery Park | September 8 to 20
🎡 194th Kingston Fall Fair | Kingston Memorial Centre | September 17 to 20
🎨 Intercultural Arts Festival | Confederation Park | September 20
🎼 ensemble132 Opens The Isabel’s Season | The Isabel | September 20
🗳️ All-Candidates Meeting: Collins-Bayridge District | Online, advance registration required | September 21 | 🔦 Read our story
🎪 Europa Super Circus | RioCan Centre | September 18 to 21
💀 Domino Theatre: I Hate Hamlet | Domino Theatre, 52 Church St | September 10 to 26
🏋️ Fitness Frenzy | Various City recreation facilities | September 21 to 27
🗓️ That is just the next few days. The full Kingston events calendar lives here.
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📣 Your Turn: Share a Local Gem
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