Newsletter

Newsletter

Aug 10, 2026

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13 min read

🏖️ Beach Weather 🗺️ A Beloved Mural Saved 🏅 Kingston's Olympic Week 🐢 160 Kilometres and Turtles 🗓️ Events & More | 🔦 August 10, 2026

Peak summer at Gord Downie Pier | Local News: Nominations close Aug 21 • Martello Alley tests augmented reality • Wolfe Island's ferry mural saved | Community Champions: 1,800 backpacks for local kids • Domino's partners with BGC South East • Free exhibit space at City Hall | Events: Yann Martel and Iain Reid at The Spire • Ironwood Fantasy Fair • Free Indigenous workshop with Robert Spade • Kingston's 1976 Olympic week • Frontenac Challenge turtles • Teddy Bear Party

Les C. Cseh

Newsletter

Aug 10, 2026

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4 min read

📅 Kingston Events Calendar

What's on in and around Kingston, Ontario. Updated with every issue of Kingston Spotlight.

Newsletter

Aug 6, 2026

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12 min read

📵 Not the Only Parent Saying No to Phones 📚 Yann Martel at The Spire 🗓️ Events & More 🔦 August 6, 2026

Local Spotlight: Unplugged Kingston and the parents saying no to smartphones | Local News: New meters for every Kingston home • $320,245 in heritage grants • 92 homes coming to Verona | Community Champions: Rose of Hope raises $390,000 • Sentinels get one last shot at promotion, at home Aug 9 | Events: Yann Martel and Iain Reid at The Spire • TK Fringe opens with 17 shows • 1,500 geocaches hidden across L&A • Waterside's final concert on Amherst Island • TIWLT's Celebrate 4ever dinner

Les C. Cseh

Newsletter

Aug 3, 2026

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12 min read

🎻 Chamberfest at The Spire 💗 50 Mammogram Referrals a Day to 300 ⛴️ First All-Female Crew 🗓️ Events | 🔦 August 3, 2026

Local Spotlight: Chamber music meets Indigenous culture at the Cataraqui Festival | Local News: Blood donations down 20% since June • Six Farm to Flavours guides • Kingston pre-checks building permits with AI | Community Champions: A Napanee farmer's post took mammogram referrals from 50 a day to 300 • Island Queen's first all-female crew in 50 years • Shahnawaz Towheed on vitiligo and dermatology | Events: Floral Hug • Juvenis Festival • Sheep Dog Trials • LIVESTOCK • Women's Art Festival

Les C. Cseh

Newsletter

Jul 30, 2026

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11 min read

🌟 Everyone Belongs at Community Living 🏠 $15,000 for Repairs 🚤 Sea-Doo Rescue 🍺 Beer Ships East 🗓️ Events 🔦 July 30, 2026

Community Living Kingston and District, and the 600 who belong there since 1953 | Local News: Up to $15,000 for urgent home repairs • $302,000 to help businesses beat tariffs • MacKinnon Brothers can ship beer across Canada | Community Champions: Wolfe Island finishes a memorial promised in 1946 • a Sea-Doo rescue near Gananoque • $15,000 for the Great Lakes Museum | Events: the Cataraqui Chamber Music Festival • Emancipation Day • a rooftop startup social • the Monarch Blitz • free Molière

Les C. Cseh

Newsletter

Jul 27, 2026

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9 min read

🌼 Those Roadside Lilies 🛝 A Playground for All 🥕 Free Summer Veggies 🏊 More Room to Swim 🗓️ Events | 🔦 July 27, 2026

Those wild orange day lilies all over our roadsides | Local News: Bayridge Drive's new all-ages cycling route • the crowds pushing Kingston for more places to swim | Community Champions: Shannon Park's new Jumpstart inclusive playground • Mutual Aid Gardens' free veggie markets • a rural seniors strength program 300 strong | Events: a Venezuela benefit • Health Adventures camp • the United Way MEGABike • South Frontenac's do-over fireworks • Bad Influence comedy

Les C. Cseh

Newsletter

Jul 23, 2026

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9 min read

🗡️ Ironwood Fantasy Escape 🚑 Camp Saved His Life 🥁 Alex Young Joins NYO 🔬 Cancer Tests, Safer Food 🗓️ Events | 🔦 July 23, 2026

Local Spotlight: A sword school booked a castle and gave Kingston a fantasy fair with a ball you vote in | Local News: Federal cash for biotechs mDetect and Spectra Plasmonics • Three new SLC nursing certificates | Community Champions: A teen survived anaphylaxis at Camp Iawah • Thousand Islands Association at 92 • Alex Young joins the NYO | Events: Free hep C testing • OFF SEASON dance fest • Police at 185 • Hobo Steve’s for Almost Home • One Ground One Sound last call

Les C. Cseh

Newsletter

Jul 20, 2026

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9 min read

🎵 Benefit Concert for Venezuela 🏘️ $1 Land, 20 Homes 🔬 Lab for Rent 🏃 Run the Pen 📅 Events | 🔦 July 20, 2026

Two earthquakes took the coast Gia Nahmens grew up on, so she asked Kingston's musicians to play | Local News: 367 Gore Road sells for $1, bringing 20 affordable homes • the Helix Wet Lab opens, a bench startups can rent | Community Champions: a neuro-inclusive game club wins Awesome Kingston's $1,000 • Sandy Riley resails his 1976 Olympic races | Events: One Ground One Sound • Run the Pen 10K • a scuba diver in Gananoque • downtown summer series • Historic Places Days • Sydenham Commons

Les C. Cseh

Newsletter

Jul 16, 2026

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11 min read

💜 Why 100 Feet? 🏊 $50,000 Swim ☎️ Rotary Phones Reborn 🌻 Sunflower Fest 📅 Events | 🔦 July 16, 2026

Eight people, a rope, 37,000 pounds, hauled 100 feet for the 1 in 100 living with epilepsy | Local News: Kingston beats its housing target, banks $3.2M • 33 transitional units at 315 Queen Mary • Jamie Emerton puts Bluetooth in a rotary phone | Community Champions: 130 swimmers raised $50,000 at the first Swim the Lake • Volunteers replaced tents after the Belle Park tornado | Events: Fire truck pull • Venezuela benefit • Peace Pole • Rural grants • Sprinkles of Hope • Wynn Farms sunflowers

Les C. Cseh

Newsletter

Jul 13, 2026

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8 min read

🔦 🏠 Second Chances 🎵 Kingston Plays for Venezuela 🦅 Bald Eagles Are Back 🎸 Guitars Hit Downtown 🏃 100km for the NICU 📅 Events | July 13, 2026

Ryandale opens first home for women, Patti Ridlon's 8-year promise kept • Featured: Venezuela benefit concert | Local News: Take-what-you-need food pantries at 3 sites • Steve Manders tracks Kingston's bald eagle comeback • 10 guitar sculptures downtown | Community Champions: Willem Sagriff runs 100km for KGH NICU • Cruise for a Cause raises $8,000 for survivors | Events: Beats & Bites • Skylla Festival, Wolfe Island • KFPL Summer Reading Party • Kids Take Over Murney Tower • Neighbourhood Parks

Les C. Cseh

Newsletter

Jul 9, 2026

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8 min read

🌞 Kingston's Quietest Patios 🩺 18-Minute Stroke Care 🎩 Gord Downie's Hat 🛶 Women Join Yakathon 📅 Events 🔦 July 9, 2026

Patio season is here, with our guide to the area’s quietest ones | Local News: Kingston’s 18-minute stroke care leads Ontario • Performance Plants’ climate-proof canola • $350K city fund for community safety | Community Champions: Awesome Kingston backs the Compton Park music fest • First women paddle the 200km Yakathon • Gord Downie’s hat up for auction | Events: Nicci Rea at Confederation Park • S’more Stories in Sydenham • Loyalist’s new aquatic centre opens • Delta Fair turns 196

Les C. Cseh

Newsletter

Jul 6, 2026

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9 min read

💜 Purple Clematis in Bloom 🩺 Doctor Waitlist Cleared 🏥 $392,776 Gift 🍺 $7,100 Beer Tent | 🔦 July 6, 2026

Cover: purple Jackmanii clematis, in bloom across Kingston | Local News: primary-care waitlist cleared, thousands get a doctor • NeeDoh squishy craze at The Rocking Horse • a Cape Vincent marina rebuild | Champions: Rotary beer tent raised $7,100 at the FIFA party • KGH Auxiliary gives KHSC $392,776 for NICU ventilators • Micaela Schmidt wins the Kevin Dunbar scholarship | Events: Injury Prevention Day • Napanee Block Party • Rock for Ryandale • a U16 schnitzel dinner • Mending Ways at the Tett

Les C. Cseh

Newsletter

Jul 2, 2026

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8 min read

🔦 How Leah Riddell's SignAble Vi5ion Is Making Kingston More Inclusive, Plus a Tragically Hip Ice Cream & Three New Order of Canada Members | July 2, 2026

Leah Riddell builds a more inclusive Kingston through sign language | Local News: Coun. McLaren builds the city its own app • Tsi Thonwatihsnye's Elder Care Home opens in Tyendinaga • the Tragically Chip, a Hip ice cream | Community Champions: Three Kingstonians join the Order of Canada • nine Limestone grads land scholarships • a town saves a Selby student's grad | Events: Wilburys at The Spire • Teddy Bear Hospital at KFPL • Miss Emily's In the Key of Blue • Aquaculture at Great Lakes Museum

Les C. Cseh

Newsletter

Jun 29, 2026

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9 min read

🔦 Maple Leaf On: Canada Day Takes Over Kingston, Plus 35,000 Pounds of Pasta and a Heart-Surgery First | June 29, 2026

Maple leaf on, Kingston, Canada Day is this week | Local News: a heart-surgery first at KHSC • Highway 401 speeds up to 110 | Community Champions: 35,000 lbs of Barilla pasta for the food bank • Lionhearts named Non-Profit of the Year • 7 Civic Award volunteers • Seniors Association turns 50 | Events: Canada Day across the region • Exploration Days • Macpherson House turns 200 • Eh! Game Expo • Buskers Rendezvous

Les C. Cseh

Newsletter

Jun 25, 2026

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6 min read

🔦 Local Strawberries! Kingston Eyes Two NHL-Sized Rinks, Alto's High-Speed Rail Hub, and Parking Fines Feed 110 Families | June 25, 2026

Kingston's 2026 strawberry season has finally arrived 🍓 Local News: Memorial Centre could get two NHL-sized rinks • Alto eyes Kingston as a high-speed rail hub | Community Champions: KSS grad earns a full Alabama scholarship • parking fines fund 110 families with fresh lettuce | Events: Startup Open Mic • Zoo Crew at KFPL • Lavender Crown Workshop • Summerfest Regatta • Summer Evening in the Islands

Les C. Cseh

Newsletter

Jun 22, 2026

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6 min read

🔦 Kingston's Music Story Gets Its Own Home at City Hall, Plus Youth Innovators, a Speed Record, and More | June 22, 2026

Kingston boating season is in full swing | Local News: A free year-long music exhibit opens at City Hall • NEO Clinic expands to a bigger home on Innovation Drive | Community Champions: Kingston youth pitch big at the Jr. Mayor's Innovation Challenge • Chantelle Lasher ships out with the Coast Guard • Wyatt Lee breaks a 31-year sprint record at the 42nd Amateur Sports Awards | Events: Neurodivergent Adults Group (today!) • Teen Art Night • Remembering by the River • Exploring Entrepreneurship • Puppies & Jazz

Les C. Cseh

Newsletter

Jun 18, 2026

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7 min read

🔦 Happy Father's Day, Kingston. Plus: KHSC Makes History + Events Supporting Families Fighting Brain Tumours | June 18, 2026

Happy Father's Day to Kingston's dads | Local News: KHSC sees tumour cells in real time, a Canadian first • Astronomer Attilla Danko's telescope finds a home at L&A Dark Sky | Community Champions: Two Kingston athletes sweep gold in Spain • BGC launches TruePhonics | Events: Dadapalooza • Giveaway Day • Daddy & Me Golf Tourney • Come Play by the Lake • Brain Tumour Walk • Dale Sands Memorial Game

Les C. Cseh

Newsletter

Jun 17, 2026

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3 min read

🔦 This week, Kingston rallies around one kid and one cause | June 17, 2026

A 12-year-old brain tumour survivor, the football club that made him captain, and three ways for Kingston to show up this week, June 18 to 21.

Les C. Cseh

Newsletter

Jun 15, 2026

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8 min read

🔦 Pride, Pints, and a Picture-Perfect Day From Fort Henry. Plus a 15-Year-Old Sailing Champion and a Mayor for a Day | June 15, 2026

A perfect summer day from Fort Henry at the YGK Craft Beerfest on Pride day | Local News: Free sport gear in 30 Kingston parks • One Grade 5 student can be Mayor for a Day | Community Champions: Will Keilty, 15, first Canadian to win an Optimist sailing title • Great Lakes Museum named Ontario's top small museum • Police Community Volunteers mark 30 years | Events: Walter Fenlon's celebration of life • National Indigenous Peoples Day • Movies in the Square • Artfest • Epilepsy fire-truck pull

Les C. Cseh

Newsletter

Jun 11, 2026

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8 min read

🔦 LCBO's Ben Walmsley Turns Every Tasting Into a Story. Also: $1.25M for Kingston's ER and Soccer Gold | June 11, 2026

LCBO's Ben Walmsley turns every tasting into a story, and he sat down with us | Stephen Sorensen donates $1.25M to Kingston's ER, plus a Climate Summit tour through two remarkable gardens | Liam Desre wins Canada's top science prize for his dark energy theory, 120 nurses mark 130 years of KGH Nurses' Alumnae, and Holy Cross takes KASSAA gold | YGK Craft Beer Fest at Fort Henry June 13, Brain Tumour Walk with SuperKid Jackson Giddy June 21, plus Ironwood Fantasy Fair at The Spire in August

Les C. Cseh

Newsletter

Jun 8, 2026

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8 min read

🔦 Free AC for Kingston Seniors. Plus the Sisters of Providence Give Away History, Exercise Beats Cancer + Events | June 8, 2026

Free A/C units for low-income Kingston seniors, apply by June 10, and we just took Canada's #1 small-city startup crown for the 7th year straight | The Sisters of Providence gift historic Providence Manor for housing, a Queen's and KHSC study shows exercise fights colon cancer and cuts costs, and Lunch by George moves to St. Lawrence College | Market season is here, plus the Diversity Dinner, the first Mabuhay Festival, the Sandra Davison golf classic, free Rideau lockage, and Makers at the Mill

Les C. Cseh

Newsletter

Jun 4, 2026

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7 min read

🔦 The Blackout Was Worth It for the Stars. Plus Smile Cookies, School Food Heroes, and 19 Years of Play It Again Sports | June 4, 2026

Kingston went dark on May 16 and the stars came out — here's the photo to prove it | Linda and Warren Cavalier are retiring after 19 years at Play It Again Sports, and Kingston wants your vote on the city's best new spaces | A documentary about school food got a standing ovation, KHSC named its Exceptional Healers, and Smile Cookies raised a Kingston-record $232,286 for an inclusive playground | Day of Caring Friday, Red Canoefest and Italia Day Saturday and Sunday, Kingston Pride June 13, Skeleton Park June 19–21, and Princess Street Promenade June 20

Les C. Cseh

Newsletter

Jun 1, 2026

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7 min read

🔦 Why So Many Lilacs in Kingston? Plus Canada's First Robot-Built Neighbourhood and More | June 1, 2026

Why Kingston has so many lilacs, and they inspired Lucy DeSousa to paint them | Canada built its first robotic neighbourhood in Gananoque, and Kingston moves to protect a historic Pen-era house | Threads of Hope has quietly served 1,000 Kingstonians for five years, City Hall got hearing loops, and Ryandale wins the Awesome Kingston microgrant | Library reopening, butterfly release, Cantabile at the Isabel, Very Heaven, carwash for Martha's Table, waterfront giveaway closing June 3

Les C. Cseh

Newsletter

May 28, 2026

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6 min read

🔦 He Pulled Off a Miracle in Year One. Line Spike Year Two Is Here | Plus 2 News, 3 Community Wins, 5 Events | May 28, 2026

Line Spike Frontenac is back for Year Two: 18 all-Canadian acts, a natural amphitheatre in Harrowsmith, and a story worth reading | Kingston's $9M automotive tech hub just launched, and council backs an indoor sports dome | Limestone students swept Skills Ontario medals, a Kingston musician opened a pay-less grocery store, and OLS built an off-grid radio network for unhoused residents | Keewatin, Napanee Pride, Ten Thousand Villages, Sydenham Street Commons, and Katarokwi all open this weekend

Les C. Cseh

Newsletter

May 25, 2026

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5 min read

🔦 Turtles Are Nesting. 8,500 Kingstonians Could Be Getting a Family Doctor + More | May 25, 2026

A wild turkey showed up with full plumage and zero chill | 8,500 Kingstonians could soon have a family doctor, and Kingston's 911 just went fully digital | Keith and Dev are road-tripping Canada for Home Hardware, and Kingston's new Business Person of the Year works in AI | Every dollar from the Lviv Ukraine Folklore Festival goes directly to Ukraine. Kingston showing up matters more than you think. Plus Turtle Awareness Day, Kilometres for Kids, and a teachers' charity golf tournament

Les C. Cseh

🏖️ Beach Weather 🗺️ A Beloved Mural Saved 🏅 Kingston's Olympic Week 🐢 160 Kilometres and Turtles 🗓️ Events & More | 🔦 August 10, 2026

📅 Kingston Events Calendar

📵 Not the Only Parent Saying No to Phones 📚 Yann Martel at The Spire 🗓️ Events & More 🔦 August 6, 2026

🎻 Chamberfest at The Spire 💗 50 Mammogram Referrals a Day to 300 ⛴️ First All-Female Crew 🗓️ Events | 🔦 August 3, 2026

🌟 Everyone Belongs at Community Living 🏠 $15,000 for Repairs 🚤 Sea-Doo Rescue 🍺 Beer Ships East 🗓️ Events 🔦 July 30, 2026

🌼 Those Roadside Lilies 🛝 A Playground for All 🥕 Free Summer Veggies 🏊 More Room to Swim 🗓️ Events | 🔦 July 27, 2026

🗡️ Ironwood Fantasy Escape 🚑 Camp Saved His Life 🥁 Alex Young Joins NYO 🔬 Cancer Tests, Safer Food 🗓️ Events | 🔦 July 23, 2026

🎵 Benefit Concert for Venezuela 🏘️ $1 Land, 20 Homes 🔬 Lab for Rent 🏃 Run the Pen 📅 Events | 🔦 July 20, 2026

💜 Why 100 Feet? 🏊 $50,000 Swim ☎️ Rotary Phones Reborn 🌻 Sunflower Fest 📅 Events | 🔦 July 16, 2026

🔦 🏠 Second Chances 🎵 Kingston Plays for Venezuela 🦅 Bald Eagles Are Back 🎸 Guitars Hit Downtown 🏃 100km for the NICU 📅 Events | July 13, 2026

🌞 Kingston's Quietest Patios 🩺 18-Minute Stroke Care 🎩 Gord Downie's Hat 🛶 Women Join Yakathon 📅 Events 🔦 July 9, 2026

💜 Purple Clematis in Bloom 🩺 Doctor Waitlist Cleared 🏥 $392,776 Gift 🍺 $7,100 Beer Tent | 🔦 July 6, 2026

🔦 How Leah Riddell's SignAble Vi5ion Is Making Kingston More Inclusive, Plus a Tragically Hip Ice Cream & Three New Order of Canada Members | July 2, 2026

🔦 Maple Leaf On: Canada Day Takes Over Kingston, Plus 35,000 Pounds of Pasta and a Heart-Surgery First | June 29, 2026

🔦 Local Strawberries! Kingston Eyes Two NHL-Sized Rinks, Alto's High-Speed Rail Hub, and Parking Fines Feed 110 Families | June 25, 2026

🔦 Kingston's Music Story Gets Its Own Home at City Hall, Plus Youth Innovators, a Speed Record, and More | June 22, 2026

🔦 Happy Father's Day, Kingston. Plus: KHSC Makes History + Events Supporting Families Fighting Brain Tumours | June 18, 2026

🔦 This week, Kingston rallies around one kid and one cause | June 17, 2026

🔦 Pride, Pints, and a Picture-Perfect Day From Fort Henry. Plus a 15-Year-Old Sailing Champion and a Mayor for a Day | June 15, 2026

🔦 LCBO's Ben Walmsley Turns Every Tasting Into a Story. Also: $1.25M for Kingston's ER and Soccer Gold | June 11, 2026

🔦 Free AC for Kingston Seniors. Plus the Sisters of Providence Give Away History, Exercise Beats Cancer + Events | June 8, 2026

🔦 The Blackout Was Worth It for the Stars. Plus Smile Cookies, School Food Heroes, and 19 Years of Play It Again Sports | June 4, 2026

🔦 Why So Many Lilacs in Kingston? Plus Canada's First Robot-Built Neighbourhood and More | June 1, 2026

🔦 He Pulled Off a Miracle in Year One. Line Spike Year Two Is Here | Plus 2 News, 3 Community Wins, 5 Events | May 28, 2026

🔦 Turtles Are Nesting. 8,500 Kingstonians Could Be Getting a Family Doctor + More | May 25, 2026

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