📬 ✂️ Heads up! Some inboxes (looking at you, Gmail) trim longer emails especially the Events Calendar! So you don't miss a thing, 👉 read the full issue online.
🔦 In This Issue of Kingston Spotlight
🍓 It's Finally Strawberry Season in the Kingston Area
🔦 Several amazing local spotlight articles are coming up soon !
🏒 Kingston's Memorial Centre Could Get Two NHL-Sized Ice Rinks in a Major City-Queen's Proposal
🚄 Alto Eyes Kingston as High-Speed Rail Hub, and the Southern Route Is the 'Strong Preference'
🎓 Two KSS Grads Make History: Athena Andrecyk Earns Full Alabama Scholarship, Nathan Kashira Confirmed as Loran Scholar
🥬 'Unbelievably Fresh': Kingston's Vertical Garden Opens, Turning Parking Fines into Food for 110+ Families
🎤 Kingston Startup Open Mic | Musiiki Cafe, 73 Brock St | June 26
🦁 Live @ the Library: Zoo Crew | KFPL Sydenham Branch, 4432 George St | June 27
💐 Fresh Lavender Crown Workshop | Yarker | June 28
⛵ Summerfest Regatta + Swim the Lake | Kingston Yacht Club, 1 Maitland St | July 4
🌅 A Summer Evening in the Islands | Rockport Barn, 28 Old River Rd, Rockport | July 16
It’s gotten too long to include here in the summary! Click Events Calendar to see so many great events!
🔦 The Cover
Kelly from Mensen Farm at Crosby Market 2024 proudly showing their quality local strawberries. Photo by Les Cseh, Kingston Spotlight
🍓 It's Finally Strawberry Season in the Kingston Area
After a cooler-than-usual spring that pushed strawberry season about 10 days behind, local growers say the wait is officially over.
There's a silver lining too: that same slow start may mean a longer picking window this year.
For a rundown of local farms, varieties, and where to pick near Kingston, head over to our Best Eats Ontario East strawberry guide.
Where's your favourite spot? Let us know at [email protected]
📰 Kingston & Area Local News
🏒 Kingston's Memorial Centre Could Get Two NHL-Sized Ice Rinks in a Major City-Queen's Proposal
Photo by Ken Hashizume via KingstonDaily.ca
Kingston's iconic Memorial Centre could be in for its biggest transformation yet. A joint proposal from the City of Kingston and Queen's University envisions two full NHL-sized ice rinks, new community spaces, and a long-term Queen's Athletics lease at the downtown facility. The plan goes before a City committee on June 25, the same day you're reading this. We'll be watching closely.
Read the full story at: Kingston Daily
🚄 Alto Eyes Kingston as High-Speed Rail Hub, and the Southern Route Is the 'Strong Preference'
Photo by Cris Vilela via Kingstonist
Kingston could be on Canada's high-speed rail map. At a Kingston press event on June 22, Transport Minister Steve McKinnon and Alto President and CEO Martin Imbleau confirmed that the southern corridor through eastern Ontario is Alto's “strong preference,” and that Kingston is being assessed as a hub station with Via Rail feeder connections. If Kingston gets the nod, roughly 80% of the population east of Peterborough would live within 25 minutes of a high-speed rail stop. A final route decision is expected in late fall 2026.
Read the full story at: Kingstonist
🏆 Community Champions
🎓 Two KSS Grads Make History: Athena Andrecyk Earns Full Alabama Scholarship, Nathan Kashira Confirmed as Loran Scholar
Nathan Kashira. Photo from limestone.on.ca
Athena Andrecyk (seated), with coaches Kim James, Morgann Rymall, Griffin Sawchuk, and Marc Carriere. Photo from limestone.on.ca
Kingston Secondary School had a landmark spring for student achievement. Athena Andrecyk, a multi-OFSAA champion and Team Canada U20 cross-country runner, earned a full four-year academic and athletic scholarship to the University of Alabama's Biochemistry Honours College. And Nathan Kashira was confirmed as a 2026 Loran Scholar, one of 36 chosen from over 5,400 applicants nationally, a remarkable recognition of character-driven leadership. The full Limestone District School Board Class of 2026 is filled with scholars and award winners. Congratulations to all!
Read the full story at: Limestone District School Board
🥬 'Unbelievably Fresh': Kingston's Vertical Garden Opens, Turning Parking Fines into Food for 110+ Families
Kingston's new Vertical Garden had its official opening at 945 Princess St., and the numbers are something to celebrate: 600 to 700 heads of lettuce grown per week, 3,900 lbs of produce in its first nine months, all distributed to 110+ families through Partners in Mission Food Bank. The container farm, designed by Growcer and built by Modern Niagara, is funded through the City's “Fines for Food” program, which directs roughly $80,000 a year in parking fine revenue to the project. As Executive Director Dan Irwin put it at the opening: “Unbelievably fresh.”
Read the full story at: Kingstonist
🆕 New Events In and Around Kingston
🎤 Kingston Startup Open Mic | Musiiki Cafe, 73 Brock St | June 26
Founders, students, investors, and curious Kingstonians: the quarterly Kingston Startup Open Mic is back on Friday, June 26 at Musiiki Cafe on Brock St. Bring a pitch, a question, or just show up and see what's brewing in the local startup scene. Free and open to all. Free registration at Invest Kingston.
🦁 Live @ the Library: Zoo Crew | KFPL Sydenham Branch, 4432 George St | June 27
Part of KFPL's Summer Reading program launch, Zoo Crew brings a live, interactive wildlife experience to the Sydenham Branch on Saturday, June 27. Free, family-friendly, and already filling up. Reserve your spot on the Facebook event page.
💐 Fresh Lavender Crown Workshop | Yarker | June 28
Head out to Lavender Queen Lavender Farm in Yarker this Sunday for a fresh English lavender crown workshop on their 12-acre property at 3981 County Rd 1. Make your own crown from fresh-cut English lavender during peak bloom season — an outdoor afternoon experience on June 28, from 1:00 to 3:00 PM. Tickets available at lavenderqueen.ca. Register on the Facebook event page.
⛵ Summerfest Regatta + Swim the Lake | Kingston Yacht Club, 1 Maitland St | July 4
Kingston Yacht Club's annual Summerfest Regatta returns on Saturday, July 4, and this year it comes with a brand-new partner event: the first-ever Swim the Lake challenge, a 3 km or 1.5 km open-water swim in support of Easter Seals. Able Sail Kingston will also be on site. Register for the Regatta or Swim the Lake at Easter Seals.
🌅 A Summer Evening in the Islands | Rockport Barn, 28 Old River Rd, Rockport | July 16
An elegant fundraiser evening for the 1000 Islands History Museum, set inside the scenic Rockport Barn on Thursday, July 16. Music by Mike Guiney, Sarah McDermott and Hugh Christopher Brown; catering by Cindy Croteau. Live and silent auctions. Tickets are $150. Details on the museum's event page, with tickets on CanadaHelps.
📅 Events Calendar
What’s happening in and around Kingston, June 25, 2026 and beyond
💡 Exploring Entrepreneurship Workshop | KFPL Central Branch | June 25
🎤 Kingston Startup Open Mic | Musiiki Cafe, 73 Brock St | June 26
⚽ FIFA World Cup Fan Zone | Springer Market Square, Kingston | June 27
🎸 Line Spike Frontenac | Natural amphitheatre, Harrowsmith | June 27–28
🦁 Live @ the Library: Zoo Crew | KFPL Sydenham Branch, 4432 George St | June 27
💐 Fresh Lavender Crown Workshop | Yarker | June 28
🐾 Puppies & Jazz | The Caesar Co., 177 Princess St | June 28
🎭 Come Play by the Lake One-Act Play Festival | Domino Theatre, 52 Church St | July 3–4
⛵ Summerfest Regatta + Swim the Lake (2 different links) | Kingston Yacht Club, 1 Maitland St | July 4
🌅 A Summer Evening in the Islands | Rockport Barn, 28 Old River Rd, Rockport | July 16
🥩 Schnitzel Fundraiser Dinner | Golden Links Hall, Harrowsmith | July 18
🦋 Remembering by the River | Macpherson House, Napanee | July 18 (register by June 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
Ongoing Events
🚤 Rideau Canal Free Lockage | Rideau Canal | Season open (through Sept 7)
🚢 S.S. Keewatin Tours | Great Lakes Museum | Season open
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
BTW, if you don’t want to receive this anymore, please help all the subscribers by just using the Unsubscribe link at the bottom instead of marking this as SPAM… remember, you did subscribe ;-)
All feedback and suggestions are appreciated!
Too long? Too short? About right?
What would you like to see more of, and less of?
Email Les at [email protected]
📣 Your Turn: Share a Local Gem
Do you have a favourite local business, community champion or organization that deserves a moment in the spotlight? (You can nominate yourself too!)
Help us celebrate the people who make the Kingston area shine. Tell us who they are and why they’re great—or give us the "inside scoop" on your own mission or business!
🌊 This Newsletter is just the tip of the iceberg
Beyond the Inbox ➕
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