This week’s challenge encourages you to:

Leave your quarter in a shopping cart. Every other time we go grocery shopping, it seems as though we forget to bring a quarter, which is required in order to unlock a shopping cart. More often than not, we come across a free cart, where the quarter was generously left for the next person to use. What better way to make someone’s day than to help them out with such a small act of kindness. It will only cost you a quarter, or paying it forward if you come across a free cart.

Sign up and commit to completing this week’s challenge by commenting below with an “I’m in“, “challenge accepted“, “en garde” or something along those lines. Further, help us spread the word via Twitter and Facebook by using the hashtag: #ygkchallenge. As you work towards completing this week’s task, please feel free to lend others a helping hand by providing tips on how you achieved success.

I write today in the interest of one thing: your online event calendar. How am I supposed to keep abreast of all upcoming events when, at first glance (the only glance that matters online), I only see a handful of articles about past events? So much is going on in this city every night, especially at this time of year.

If each event category is given a colour (much like Google calendar) a prospective visitor can peruse with unprecedented speed. The calendar can be manipulated so that only arts or sports events show at any given time based on their interests.

What do you think? Thank you for taking the time to read and consider my request!

While we have been continuously searching for better ways to integrate our event calendar, Jolene’s message motivated us to really focus in on this problem over the holiday. After hours of searching, testing and configuring, I’m pleased to announce that we’re moving towards better representation of all the fantastic things going on in Kingston. Our new and improved events calendar allows you to peruse upcoming events in both monthly calendar (pictured below left) and sequential list (pictured below right) formats. Additionally, we’ve added colour coded event types, which allow for easier identification of events based on our reader’s interests. As a start, our event categories feature: music, arts and culture, civic and community, as well sports and recreation, while these categories will likely expand and be refined as time marches on. Other fun features include venue maps, the ability to list ticket prices, organizer information and the list goes on.

In spite of these advances, we’re also aware that Kingstonist still has a ways to go before the events calendar is fully and truly representative of every little thing that’s going on in Kingston. In order to help us reach that goal, we’re investigating ways to provide local event organizers, promoters and other know-it-alls with a means to submit events directly to Kingstonist, rather that rely on dated press releases and other less timely means of updating.  Additionally, it’s also worth pointing out that there are still some stylistic tweaks that need to be made.

Testing and updating are ongoing, so please send us your feedback.  Tell us what you like, what you don’t like, and of course what appears to need a little TLC.  With your comments and help spreading the word about this ever-growing resource, we know that Kingstonist’s events calendar can continue to grow and serve as a real asset to the community.

This week’s challenge encourages you to:

(Re)use alternative holiday gift wrap. Growing up, one of the annual holiday traditions in our household involved creating gift wrap from recycled newspaper and magazines, as well as designing our very own cards and gift tags.  I’m sure this busy work was also designed to save Mom and Dad’s sanity for a few hours.  Nowadays, my wife and I prefer to use reusable gift bags, but we still wrap a few items that we send via snail mail.  Whether you want to save a few bucks, keep the kids busy, reduce the amount of time spent wrapping, or do something good for the environment, alternative gift wrap has it’s benefits.

Sign up and commit to completing this week’s challenge by commenting below with an “I’m in“, “challenge accepted“, “en garde” or something along those lines. Further, help us spread the word via Twitter and Facebook by using the hashtag: #ygkchallenge. As you work towards completing this week’s task, please feel free to lend others a helping hand by providing tips on how you achieved success.

Thanks to Heart for Japan for today’s photo.

This week’s challenge encourages you to:

Help someone in need this holiday season. The generosity of Kingstonian’s can be measured by our collective fund-raising efforts in support of the United Way, the amount of food donated to the Partner’s in Mission Food Bank, and the list goes on. As we approach the holiday season, it’s important for us all to ensure that those who may be less fortunate, have what they need. Whether you choose to donate a bit of your time, a few extra bucks, toys, snow suits or food, remember that every little bit helps.

Sign up and commit to completing this week’s challenge by commenting below with an “I’m in“, “challenge accepted“, “en garde” or something along those lines. Further, help us spread the word via Twitter and Facebook by using the hashtag: #ygkchallenge. As you work towards completing this week’s task, please feel free to lend others a helping hand by providing tips on how you achieved success.

Thanks to blacklord for today’s photo.

While we’ve shrunk photos to fit below, they’re all linked to their respective originals, and we strongly recommend clicking through to see each one. In no particular order, the finalists are:
A Cold Misty ‘Morn by Hung Q.M. (left). RMC Orb by Tom Rutledge (right).
LeMoine-Point Sunset by bjw_68 (left). High by NailaJ (right).
Kingston City Hall by jj8rock (left). Busted at the Drive Thru by Michel Soucy (right).
Footbridge by Urban Ear Photography (left). RED!!!!! by cjh44 (right).

Poll results will be revealed on December 13th.

Voting will be open until midnight on December 11th, while the photographer with the most votes will win a $50 gift certificate to either Kingston Frameworks or Camera Kingston. As an added bonus, we’re rewarding all of those whose images made it to the voting stage with one of our impossible to get Kingstonist tees. Thanks once again for all those who entered, and thanks for voting!

This week’s challenge encourages you to:

Purchase your holiday gifts from local, independent businesses.  Black Friday has come and gone, but if you’re anything like me, you still have way to many people to buy a little something for.  Sure it’s easy to sit back and let the Internet take care of business, but the competitive prices and local selection around Kingston are hard to ignore.  Combine local holiday sales with coupons such as Santa Bucks, and you can stand tall knowing that your holiday shopping supported Kingston’s small businesses.  Plus, there’s no better way to get into the spirit of the season than immersing yourself in all that festive, local cheer!

Sign up and commit to completing this week’s challenge by commenting below with an “I’m in“, “challenge accepted“, “en garde” or something along those lines. Further, help us spread the word via Twitter and Facebook by using the hashtag: #ygkchallenge. As you work towards completing this week’s task, please feel free to lend others a helping hand by providing tips on how you achieved success.

Thanks to frostis for today’s photo.

The rules are simple. Head on over to Kingstonist’s Flickr group and upload your best images that have been taken in and around Kingston, Ontario. It doesn’t matter if they were snapped today or 10 years ago, so long as they are truly local, and honestly yours. Contestants will have until midnight on Friday, December the 2nd Saturday, December the 3rd to submit entries until their heart’s content. From there, Kingstonist’s jury will comb through the submissions and come away with a small group of select images. Last but not least comes the fun part, where we’ll once again turn to our readers to vote for their favourite photo from December 5th until the 11th.

The photog responsible for snapping the best shot will be given a $50 gift certificate for either Camera Kingston, or Kingston Frameworks, bought and paid for by Kingstonist. And for good measure, we’ll also be throwing in one of our fantastic Kingstonist tees to all those whose photos are included in next week’s poll.  So, just what would you spend your winnings on? Will you put it towards a new lens, order a nice print or finally get something framed? The choice is yours, but you have to win first. Get snapping, and get uploading!

Thanks to Nathan Rupert for the original photo.

This week’s challenge encourages you to:

Support the Kingston Symphony.  If you were to ask me 20 years ago whether or not I would become an avid symphony concert-goer, I probably would have responded with an immature fart noise.  Aside from planning on attending their upcoming annual Christmas concert, I’m also keen on other future performances featuring music by Tchaikovsky, Bach, Beethoven and the list goes on.  Bottom line, if you’ve never been to one of their concerts, now’s the time!

Sign up and commit to completing this week’s challenge by commenting below with an “I’m in“, “challenge accepted“, “en garde” or something along those lines. Further, help us spread the word via Twitter and Facebook by using the hashtag: #ygkchallenge. As you work towards completing this week’s task, please feel free to lend others a helping hand by providing tips on how you achieved success.

Thanks to squeezebox_huf for today’s photo.

This week’s challenge encourages you to:

Write an OpEd for Kingstonist. Two year’s ago we started our Community Soapbox initiative as a means to accommodate random venting, and one-time contributions from our readers.  Submissions to the Community Soapbox don’t need to be long, but they do need to focused on something in the Limestone City.  If we publish yours, you’ll be rewarded with a free Kingstonist tee!

Sign up and commit to completing this week’s challenge by commenting below with an “I’m in“, “challenge accepted“, “en garde” or something along those lines. Further, help us spread the word via Twitter and Facebook by using the hashtag: #ygkchallenge. As you work towards completing this week’s task, please feel free to lend others a helping hand by providing tips on how you achieved success.