ExposFest continues fundraising efforts with celebrity softball games

Former Montreal Expos reliever and broadcaster Claude Raymond (St. Jean, Que.) is one of the celebrities participating in a series of fundraising softball games organized by ExposFest. Photo: ExposFest/Twitter

August 7, 2022

By Danny Gallagher

Canadian Baseball Network

Exposfest, the fashionable, chic, charity-conscious entity operated by Perry Giannias and his family in Laval, Que., has been staging a series of softball games in Quebec in the last few days as it closes in on $1-million raised for the Kat D Foundation and the Montreal Children’s Hospital.

Exposfest has been in the minds of Expos fans since 2016 when two autograph events were held that year to get the ball rolling in honour of Giannias’ sweetheart niece Catherine Demes, who died very young of a very rare form of brain cancer.

The latest fundraiser has involved four exhibition contests featuring former Expos, other former pros such as Marc Griffin and local celebrities and media personalities. Games were played Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Sherbrooke, Granby and Quebec City and the final game of the four-game set was scheduled for Montreal’s Lasalle Park Aug. 7, beginning at 1:30 p.m.

Mel Rojas and Vance Law made their first appearance at an Exposfest event, committing for the four games, joining the likes of Bill Lee, Ross Grimsley, Jose Vidro, Denis Boucher (Lachine, Que.) and Claude Raymond (Verdun, Que.). Rojas travelled from his native Dominican Republic to take in the series.

“I’m glad to be here in Quebec, where I spent some great years with the Expos,’’ Rojas, a star reliever, told the Quebec newspaper Bobr Times.

“I threw a line in the water and I was pleasantly surprised that Mel agreed to make the trip,’’ Giannias told the newspaper. “It’s really good to have him with us. He’s part of Expos history. ‘’