George Canales was gifted a rocking chair by the North End Athletic Association for his work on the baseball exchange.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — La Festa Baseball Exchange founder George Canales has been nominated as July's Community Hero of the Month.
The Community Hero of the Month series recognizes individuals and organizations that have significantly impacted their community.
The series is in partnership with Haddad Auto and will run for the next five months. Nominate a community hero here.
To Canales, baseball is more than just a sport — it is an opportunity to instill sportsmanship and unity, and teach youngsters important life lessons.
"I've coached Little League in Williamstown. I coached Little League in North Adams. I've coached Babe Ruth and I coach varsity baseball at McCann Technical High School for over 25 years," said Canales, also McCann School Committee member. "I've been into baseball a lot. I just enjoy working with kids. It's my life working with kids."
His La Festa Baseball Exchange has used baseball to connect North Adams with Boston for the past 33 years.
Canales has collaborated with his friend John Romano of the North End Athletic Association to provide North County ballplayers the opportunity to play against The Hub's squad and give the big city kids a chance to visit the rural Berkshires.
Each year, they play two games at Joe Wolfe Field in July and then prepare for their visit to the big city, where they will face off against Boston's North End for two games on the Dodgers' home field.
In 1991, Canales and Romano met to discuss how to get youth more involved and build a sense of community. They decided to try baseball. Canales had been a baseball coach since he was 18 and has always loved the sport.
After more than a hundred games and over 1,000 players spanning three decades, the organization has grown to include five communities. When the La Festa Baseball Exchange was established, it only accepted players from North Adams.
Now, coaches select players from North Adams, Adams, Lanesborough and Williamstown, and Pownal, Vt.
Canales loves working with kids and seeing how baseball brings everyone together and teaches them important life lessons, such as accepting your mistakes and moving past them.
His grandson Evan Canales, who also volunteers for the exchange, said the organization is about building a community with a team of young kids who all have a shared interest in baseball while getting a chance to travel and experience bigger things than they otherwise would be unable to do.
"There's a lot of inspiration that goes behind it. There's a lot of community behind it, there's friends, there's family, there are people that you would never get the chance to meet, and now suddenly you get the chance to meet all those people," Evan said.
"For a lot of kids, there's a lot of chances to get out of North Adams, especially when they get to go to Boston and play the games there."
The kids, both the Berkshire County and Boston team, participating in the exchange form lasting friendships, George Canales said, with some later becoming college roommates.
Canales smiles when describing the amazing sportsmanship of the La Festa players. Despite being on opposite sides, they clap and cheer on their opponents.
"That's what we need more of in the United States, the sportsmanship, the friendship, everybody has to lose, but everybody's got to win, too," Canales said.
"I think my grandpa is a great example of what a hero is. [A hero] is just someone that's always there, someone that's always willing to help out, someone that will never put themselves first," Evan said.
"They'll always be someone that's always willing to help out everyone else first, and that's exactly what he does."
The collaboration gives city youngsters a chance to get a taste of rural Massachusetts and provides Berkshire County players with what is, to many, their first experience in Boston.
"While I've not had the privilege to personally spend lots of time with them, I can tell you that I have benefited from their generosity and dedication to building a strong family with a community centric mindset," Amber Besaw, Northern Berkshire Community Coalition executive director, said.
"Their children and grandchildren's community service, kindness, and generosity has impacted our community in so many ways."
Some of the kids who have participated in La Festa have gone on to play college ball and have come back to coach, Canales said.
More than a dozen recognition certificates, plaques, and memorabilia showcasing his impact on not only the Berkshire County community but also the Boston community fill a room in his home.
The room holds some of the 66 baseballs he has signed by the Berkshire County and Boston teams annually. The display cases are stacked together, yet another way to showcase the two teams' unity.
During his interview, Canales proudly showed off some of his favorites that he received over the years, including a rocking chair from the Boston Exchange, the sign for a street named after him in Boston, and postage stamps showcasing the exchange.
The history of the exchange echoes in the room and the photo albums and scrapbooks, organized by the year, are filled with the lists of each season's players and scores, pictures, and more than 100 newspaper clippings and photos.
Within the pages of one of the albums were a couple of letters from former players.
Frank Rickus, who participated in the 2011 team, wrote, "I had a great time playing baseball in Boston for you. It is a wonderful thing you have created for the North Adams and North End teams. ...
"It was even better with the trip to Quincy Market and to the Street Destival. I didn't realize when I was asked to play in La Festa how much more it really was than just baseball."
Rickus went on to play baseball for the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts Trailblazers.
"[While participating in the La Festa Baseball Exchange] I got to have a blast with my friends from North Adams, and really meet some great people from Boston. I didn't think I would be stayng in such a classy hotel either. I can't imagine the planning you and Coach Card put its this trip," Rickus continued.
"It was a truly humbling experience for me. I got to play ball and see the city. I really appreciate what you do and I hope you keep on doing it because it means so much for the lucky few that get to go."
Rickus' wish has so far come true. Canales is turning 80 in November, but all three of his sons have assured him that they will continue the program when the time comes that he needs to step back.
The county and Boston residents were not the only ones impacted because of Canales' love of baseball. His kids and grandkids also volunteer for the organization and are active members of the community.
The Canales' were recognized as Northern Berkshire Heroes at NBCC's annual meeting last year for their efforts not only on the baseball exchange but within the community at large.
"Canales has always been passionate about La Festa Baseball Exchange as well as the SteepleCats. He and his wife have donated tons of time to help the tourism booth, welcoming people to our community and making sure that they have a friendly face to greet them when they get here," said Suzy Helme, NBCC's communications coordinator and the city's former tourism director.
"I would also say that something they've passed down to their children, their children are very active members of the community in the hockey and baseball groups around here. They've just made a huge impact and, I think, show what it means to care about your community to give back to it, which kind of permeates throughout the rest of their family."
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