Downtown Kingston has just taken the wraps off a Christmas tradition by releasing its annual list of pewter tree ornaments.
Every year, the downtown BIA releases five pewter ornaments in the shape of landmarks in and around the city.
This will be the 26th year for the collectible ornaments, which can be purchased for $10 each with receipts totaling $25 at downtown stores dated Nov. 1 or later.
One ornament will be released each week, starting Nov. 18. The schedule for their release is as follows:
- The Pilot House, which will be released Monday, Nov. 18.
- Newcourt House, which will be released Monday, Nov. 25.
- Douglas Library, which will be released Monday, Dec. 2.
- Fairfield House, which will be released Monday, Dec. 9.
- Royal Kingston, which will be released Monday Dec 16.
Jan MacDonald, the senior projects manager of marketing at the Downtown Kingston BIA, says the ornaments are special because they allow local stories to be told at Christmas time.
“Our first ornament this year is the Pilot House, which of course is an institution in Kingston, and a really interesting building when you start to look at this history of the building.”
According to the BIA, the now-popular restaurant was actually operated as a pilot house in the early 1900s for vessel operators travelling on the St. Lawrence River. The pilots would eat and sleep in the building while waiting for the next ship.
The Fairfield House ornament details the home owned by the Fairfield family, who first built it in 1793 and lived there for 180 years.
MacDonald says this is the first time the BIA has ventured outside of city limits for an ornament, but they felt the historic nature of the home made it fitting for their Christmas series.
“Lots of history there. It was a Loyalist family that settled that house, and it’s now a wonderful museum that was opened by Queen Elizabeth.”
The Royal Kingston Curling Club ornament celebrates the 200th anniversary of the club, which first began in 1820. According to the BIA, the Kingston club is the oldest curling club in Ontario and the second oldest curling club in Canada.
The BIA has commemorated the club’s bicentennial with an ornament of the club’s crest.
The other two ornaments feature Kingston’s Newcourt House, which was once home to the Women’s Medical College, and Queen’s University’s Douglas Library, the university’s oldest library.
The ornaments can be purchased at the Grand Theatre box office, the city’s Visitor Information Centre and the Leon’s Centre box office.
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