The Downtown Kingston Association formed in November 2006 with the goal of becoming a Main Street community. The group liked the philosophy of the Main Street Program, “promoting economic development within the context of historic preservation in ways appropriate to today’s marketplace.” The group wanted to follow Main Street’s organized program and work plans to help shape Kingston’s future.
Kingston was not one of the four communities accepted into the Main Street Program in 2006, so our town remains an affiliate of the program. This enables the DKA to attend the Main Street conferences and seminars and network with other communities who are developing their downtowns.
Board members include Debbie Anderson, Deb Boardman, Karen Ross, Pete DeBoer, Laurie Larson, Tom Waggoner, Dave Wetter and Sonny Woodward. The mission statement of DKA is to “Promote downtown Kingston as an exciting and convenient place to live, shop, work, and play while preserving its small town charm.”
DKA is introducing some new community events and promotions in 2008 so that something will always be happening in Kingston. The association wants to add to the four major events that occur in Kingston each year – Kingston Town Meeting, Fourth of July, Heritage Day and Country Christmas.
Starting with a few new events this year, DKA hopes to eventually reach the goal of having at least one planned event each month. Right now, there are plans to make January a health and fitness month and the group is looking into making trail maps more available.
Future events include a kite festival in March and a community garage sale. The group also supports other traditional Kingston events such as EcoFest, Tiny Town, the Fourth of July parade, the Kingston Garden Club plant sale, while adding a few new twists of their own.
One of DKA’s main goals is to make Kingston a safe, walkable community with a viable downtown. To get more Kingstonites out and walking on sidewalks, the group will do a “Walk Kingston” night on June 22, the longest night of the year. Shops will be encouraged to stay open late and perhaps see if there is interest in an evening farmers’ market. Community beautification is also an ongoing goal of the group.
DKA is looking to expand its membership. All Kingston residents are encouraged to become involved by volunteering their time and resources on committees and projects that will creative positive changes and improvements.
Meetings are currently held at 4 p.m. on the first Tuesday of the month at American Marine Bank. All are welcome and participation is encouraged.
