Find baseballs and explore downtown with Grand Slam Search
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
By Emily Stewart
St. Marys’ love of baseball continues to grow and now youth have a chance to win tickets to big-name baseball games after finding baseballs scattered around downtown.
Throughout the month of July, children and teens up to 17 years old are encouraged to find one of the Grand Slam baseballs hidden amongst 25 businesses in downtown St. Marys. Participants can pick up a Grand Slam Search Card at Betty’s Bookshelf and return it after finding at least 17 baseballs or more, with initials from each participating store, to be entered in a draw to win either the grand prize of Toronto Blue Jays tickets or the second and third prize of London Majors tickets.
Jan Scott, the owner of Betty’s Bookshelf, told the Independent that following 2024’s Where’s Waldo? Search, she wanted to do something baseball-related and reached out to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s Scott Crawford, director of operations, and Lindsay Earle, care of collections and public engagement supervisor. Earle said the hall of fame team also approached the Downtown St. Marys Business Improvement Area (BIA) as there were six scheduled baseball tournaments in St. Marys for 2026.
“We want to foster a welcoming environment for … not only players but their family members in town and we thought it was an awesome opportunity to get people from the ball diamonds to the downtown businesses in between games,” Earle said. “It’s a great way to engage our ball players and especially the parents and the little siblings in between games.”
After the Where’s Waldo? Search, Scott received consistently positive feedback on the free summertime activity for kids, which served to encourage more people to discover downtown St. Marys businesses.
“Events like this provide entertainment for residents, but they also introduce our businesses in an approachable manner,” Scott said.
Scott also wants to provide children with something to do for the summer.
“I think it’s really important to have something for the kids to do in town each summer that has no barrier to entry. A three-year-old can do these scavenger hunt events but so can a 15-year-old. They are free and keep kids connected to the community,” she said.
Two of the baseball tournaments have already occurred, with four more to go for divisions U9 to U18 up until the end of August. Earle said that the Grand Slam Search also gives those visiting St. Marys for baseball tournaments an opportunity to check out other places like the Quarry, Hearn’s Ice Cream and local restaurants.
“It’s a really awesome opportunity with all these people in town for baseball to show off our best, and our best is so good,” she said.
Scott is also pleased with the enthusiasm for baseball throughout the community.
“Seeing the baseball spirit grow in St. Marys is incredible,” she said. “Just this past weekend, the ball diamonds were full of kids in town for a tournament and it was so nice to see so many people outside. If our Grand Slam Search can contribute to the growth of enthusiasm for baseball and St. Marys, I’d be thrilled.”
Betty’s Bookshelf will be closed on July 1 for Canada Day, but anyone looking to be a part of the Grand Slam Search can pick up a card at 6 Water St. S, Unit 2, on July 2 and beyond to start their journey.
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