COATICOOK: It was a day of celebration at the Beaulne Museum in Coaticook – the launch of the museum’s newest exhibition ‘Elle est partie! Le baseball à son meilleur’(on display until November 10, 2013) and the launch of a new book ‘Coup sûr au Stade Julien-Morin’, written by Coaticook’s own Christian Caron. In the evening, a match was held between ‘Big Bill’ and the ‘Expos of Sherbrooke’, rival teams for many years – at the newly renovated Stade Julien-Morin.

The first person to step up to the mike was François Thierry Toé, Director of the Beaulne Museum, who looked quite dashing in his startling white Big Bill’s jersey. He explained that the two paintings, one on each side of him represented champion Big Bill teams from 1950 and 2011, painted by the group Coatic-Art 2013 from a photo – an amazing likeness. He spoke of Caron’s book and the latest exhibit at the Museum and their involvement with the Canada Games 2013 Sherbrooke as a marriage between culture and sports.

“I put a lot of heart and thought into this book, not only because I played baseball myself but because I felt the need to pay tribute to the people who have been involved in the sport over the last 100 years, players, coaches and organizers, including those who helped make Stade Julien-Morin into one of the best ball fields in Quebec and make baseball such an important part of Coaticook’s history. As I got older, I became more interested in the Museum and historical events in the area. I felt it was important to put these valuable memories on paper, to preserve these historical photos for future generations,” noted author/journalist Christian Caron.

Caron went on to say that such a project had been on his mind for a long time and when the opportunity came up, he decided that now was the perfect time. He expressed his appreciation to the Museum Board for giving him this opportunity to create such a valuable project (funding coming from a special grant from the Organizing Committee of the 2013 Canada Games Sherbrooke). 

Baseball is listed among the most popular sports in North America – baseball in Canada celebrating a very rich history. The “Canada Games 2013” which are to be held in Sherbrooke this summer offer a great opportunity for all to explore the history of this sport and many others. For the most part, this new exhibit at the Museum will be dedicated to the centennial history of baseball in Coaticook as well as a tribute to the local pioneers of the sport.

The exhibition ‘Elle est partie! Le baseball à son meilleur (Batter Up! Baseball at its Best)’ includes documents from the museum archives, photographs, uniforms, baseball bats, baseballs autographed by Claude Raymond, Guy Lafleur, Vladimir Guerrero, all carefully displayed in glass cases. There is also a ball signed by the Montreal Expos and General Manager Mouch. As for the section dedicated to Coaticook, many photographs, documents and equipment which belonged to local Coaticook baseball pioneers have been displayed on the third floor of the Museum.

Two moments of great pride, in particular, for Coaticook occurred as they hosted the National Bantam Championships (1974) and the National Junior Baseball Championships (2002). Baseball has been a part of life in Coaticook since the 1900’s.

This latest exhibit and book launch had been organized in collaboration with ‘Big Bill’ (Coaticook) and in conjunction with the Canada Games Sherbrooke 2013 during which time numerous provincial baseball competitions will be taking place at the Stade Julien-Morin (August 2-9). The presence of well-known dignitaries and former athletes should indeed prove to enhance these events.