The Independent

The dream is now reality.

Staff and students at Lambton Centennial School officially opened their new ‘Field of Dreams’ ball diamond Monday.

In May 2025, the school was 15 across the country to be chosen for the Toronto Blue Jays Field of Dreams program and was awarded $150,000 for a new diamond. Sections of the original diamond had to be torn up as a new septic system was installed at the school. The Lambton-Kent District School Board also contributed $170,000 to the project.

The project was spearheaded by the school’s Phys Ed Teacher Steve McGrail. He thanked the Jays Care Foundation for “believing in kids and investing in the community.

“I am incredibly proud to have been a part of this process,” McGrail said adding, “Let’s take care of it, keep it in great shape, and make sure it remains a special place for kids to play on for generations to come.

“Today is a great day to be a Panther; it’s time to play some baseball!”

Principal Taryn Lessard thanked McGrail for his work. “You showed our kids that their dreams mattered,” she said.

The opening of the diamond also featured the rededication of the Kristy Hyatt bench beside the new diamond. Kristy a student at the school and a baseball lover, died in 1996.