The Kingstonian Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Rob Watkins is back with a new conversation.  As with many singer/songwriters during the pandemic, he spent a good chunk of his time writing songs.  When it came time to recording them, he chose to present the music in its simplest form, offering listeners the opportunity to hear the songs as he had written them.  In this episode, we speak about that, as well as his desire to seek...

Send us Fan Mail Peter Milliken served as the Member of Parliament for Kingston & the Islands for 23 years, and, during that time he sat in the big chair as Speaker of the House for 10 years.  Given the election of another minority government in September of 2021.  I thought it might be worthwhile to discuss the pros and cons of both majority & minority governments.  Do MP’s act any differ...

Send us Fan Mail John Price has been a successful realtor for over 30 years – and has seen some changes.  Along the way, he has developed relationships with the military community in Kingston – particularly with the Family Resource Centre.  His other passion involves a love of Corvettes and somewhere near 400 of them are expected to join him for a weekend in June – an event John and his wife, Heat...

Send us Fan Mail For those listening from outside the area, Kingston is home to a large military base.  Thousands of families have been posted in and out of this community.  Kingston is also where you’ll find the Royal Military College (RMC) – a degree-granting university whose primary purpose is training military officers.  Alex Landry is an officer in the Canadian Armed Forces.  He has been post...

Send us Fan Mail Morning news on radio has long been a staple of our work day.  We have long relied on local newscasters to get up in the middle of the night to write those stories to keep all of us informed.  Tony Orr moved to Kingston in 1977 to take up the morning shift at CKLC and Y98; 24 years later, he moved 'across the street' to a brand new operation that included KROCK and Count...

Send us Fan Mail Georgette Fry is a name familiar to music fans in Southeastern Ontario.  She has been singing her heart out for over 40 years.  Her vocal style has bridged the gap between jazz, soul, blues and gospel, with the power of Etta James and the rasp of Bonnie Raitt.  Her debut solo LP, back in 1996, “Rites of Passage”, was nominated for a Juno Award.  Georgette continues to perform with...

Send us Fan Mail Lubomyr Luciuk is a Professor at the Royal Military College in Kingston.  He was born and raised in this city in Southeastern Ontario, whose parents immigrated to Canada from Ukraine in the late 40’s.  He obviously has an emotional attachment to his ancestral home.  At the same time, his passion has been the study of Ukraine and the surrounding geography.   He is an author of many...

Send us Fan Mail You have to be a passionate volunteer to work through the ‘ups & downs’ the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes has had to deal with over the last few years.  Chris West   is our guest in this episode.  He is the Chair of the Board for the Museum.  Having established itself decades ago, the Museum found itself without a home when the landlord, the Government of Canada, sold the b...

Send us Fan Mail If you have lived in Kingston for any length of time, you’ll know the name Wally Viner.  You may be familiar with his volunteer work with many different organizations in the City; you may also be familiar with his work as a practicing lawyer, for over 50 years.  He may have retired from that profession, but he continues to be passionate about passing along information about – shal...

Send us Fan Mail Mark Potter has been a fixture on the Kingston sports scene for over 40 years.  Many remember him from his days as an anchor on CKWS-TV, covering all sorts of local sports activities.  But hockey seems to be #1 with Mark, and, right after signing up as a broadcaster, he became a volunteer with the Original Hockey Hall of Fame .  He has sat around that table for four decades.  Befo...

Send us Fan Mail Cliff Edwards has been a guest on the podcast before, but I thought it might be interesting to catch up.  For those who may not know Cliff, he was part of The Bells – a group that had a big hit back in the early seventies called Stay Awhile, a song that sold some three million copies worldwide.  Long based in Gananoque, Ontario, he continues to write and record his own material; t...

Send us Fan Mail In almost every community, there is some form of organized basketball.  School gyms echo with the sounds of children of all ages, learning the game and the skills.   Obviously, these leagues need volunteers to make things happen – coaches, referees, and administrators.  In this episode, we focus on one such league and one very dedicated volunteer.  His name is Roland Billings .  R...

Send us Fan Mail Working the Wolfe Islander for 35 years, Brian Johnson has had the opportunity to hear a lot of stories about the Island, the Ferry and the people who have travelled back and forth.  If you’re not familiar with the geography, Wolfe Island is the largest among the Thousand Islands, stuck right between Kingston, Ontario, and Cape Vincent, New York; and where Lake Ontario meets the S...

Send us Fan Mail Spencer Evans is no stranger to the music scene here in Kingston.  He has played his clarinet, his piano, his accordion; he also sings, dances and prances, whenever the spirit moves him.  He’s toured with The Cowboy Junkies, even making an appearance on ‘ The Tonight Show with Jay Leno’ .  Spencer was also part of a band entertaining Canadian Military Forces at the North Pole and...

Send us Fan Mail Buzz Collins has been a radio personality for over three decades, and he’s worked the mic at stations from Saskatchewan to Ontario.  Currently, he does the morning show at Rock107 in Belleville, Ontario, starting his day at 3:25am; yes, 3:25am, Monday to Friday.  Even with that schedule, he finds time to devote to another passion – entertaining from the stage, when the pandemic wi...

Send us Fan Mail Many of us spent time in August watching athletes compete at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.  Yes, the Games were postponed a year, and, yes, restrictions were very intense; but the athletes were focused.  Canadian competitors made their fans back home very proud.  Ali ten Hove was one of them!  Ali raced, along with her team-mate, Mariah Millen, in the 49er FX sailing class (m...

Send us Fan Mail Flora MacDonald was a Canadian politician who represented Kingston and the Islands (Ontario) from 1972 to 1988.  She served as a Minister in the Cabinets of both Joe Clark & Brian Mulroney.  After politics, she became a highly-regarded humanitarian working in refugee camps in Africa and mountain villages in Afghanistan.  Geoffrey Stevens was an Ottawa reporter for the Globe &a...

Send us Fan Mail Spend any time trying to figure out online shopping, marketing on social media – trying to determine which medium is the best for you and your business … Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok?  How important is the ‘look’ of your presence on social media – fonts, shapes?  This episode might help you out.  Our guest is Sarah-Marie Doherty and she deals with most of these media every day – b...

Send us Fan Mail There is still a lot of misinformation out there about COVID-19.  The struggle continues to find the right answers from the right people.  Here’s one of those ‘right’ people.  Dr. Gerald Evans is Chair of the Division of Infectious Diseases, as well as a Professor at Queen’s University.  He is also an attending physician in Infectious Diseases & Internal Medicine at Kingston G...

Send us Fan Mail Kevin MacLean is part of three generations operating Ripplebrook Farm near Napanee, Ontario.  He works with his parents as well as his stepson.  Telling the story of family farming is his passion and he shares his story whenever he has the opportunity.  His is a dairy farm, milking 130 cows.  Farming has changed quite dramatically since I last visited a farm in the sixties!  In th...

Send us Fan Mail Hugh Segal has been a part of Canadian politics, in one way or another for over 50 years.  He has been a strategist, an author, a commentator, an academic and served as a senator.  Highlights would include time as the Chief of Staff to the late Premier of Ontario, William Davis.  He also had the same role at the federal level, working for former Prime Minister, Brian Mulroney.  In...

Send us Fan Mail There are many great organizations in the city that provide food for those among us who need it.    The pandemic has created many challenges for such organizations.  But they have adapted, become more efficient on their own, and, developed strategies to work together.  This episode is about one of them and the man who heads it.  DAN IRWIN is Executive Director of the Partners in M...

Send us Fan Mail In one of our previous episodes, we traced the ‘History of Bands’ in Kingston.  How about a look back at the City itself?  BILL STEVENSON has created a Facebook page, called ‘Vintage Kingston’.  It includes pictures and documents that reflect streets, buildings and people that are not around anymore and many that are.  If you have lived here before, or still do, this Page is well...

Send us Fan Mail For years scientists have been investigating the impact climate change has had on the environment.  Many of these changes are obvious; some are not.  John Smol is a highly-respected professor in the Biology Department at Queen’s University in Kingston.  He has helped pioneer a new course of study that samples the silt at the bottom of lakes, all of over the world.  Examining these...

Send us Fan Mail Fifteen years ago, a small group of individuals set up a radio station on Amherst Island (just west of Kingston) pushing out a variety of programs with a 250 watt transmitter.  Ten years ago, Eric Tremblay joined as a volunteer and developed a passion for promoting CJAI-FM.  Currently, as President of the Station’s Board of Directors, he directs that enthusiasm as one of 70 volunt...