2020 program looks to build on inaugural year that saw students log over 1,100 hours of reading in 2019

For Immediate Release

February 10, 2020

Victoria, BC – The Victoria HarbourCats and Bastion Books, the independent local bookstore, located in Victoria’s Bastion Square, are once again teaming up in 2020 to provide Victoria and area students with free game tickets for doing something beneficial and enjoyable — reading.

From March 6th to July 3rd, any student reading 30 hours or more in that time frame will receive two free game tickets, as part of HARVEY’S READING CLUB with Bastion Books.

Launched in 2019, Harvey’s Reading Club became a wonderful success, with over 300 reading logs distributed to students at a number of schools throughout School Districts 61 and 62.  Over 15% of the students (Grades K-8) returned their logs, which amounted to over 1,143 hours of
reading combined.  Students were rewarded for their efforts with free HarbourCats tickets and over 35% of these went to first time HarbourCats attendees.

“This was a fun way to encourage reading, and for kids to be rewarded for it,” said Alex Cruikshank, owner of Bastion Books. “I was very pleasantly surprised with the response to the program in 2019 and in 2020 we want to expand on that by giving students more opportunity to read and to be
rewarded for that reading.”

Bastion Books owner Alex Cruikshank (left) and Harvey at the launch of Harvey’s Reading Club at George Jay Elementary School in 2019.

For 2020, reading logs will be available beginning Friday March 6, 2020, with all reading to be completed by July 3, 2020. That provides kids 17 weeks (119 days) to complete 30 hours (1,800) of reading which equates to just 15 minutes a day.  All students completing 30 hours of reading and returning their logs to either Bastion Books or the HarbourCats, will then receive TWO free ticket vouchers that can be redeemed for any 2020 regular season HarbourCats game.

To register for Harvey’s Reading Club, contact Bastion Books (drop in at 14 Bastion Square in Victoria or call 250-385-8786) for reading logs. Once students have logged 30 hours they can bring their completed reading log into the store in exchange for tickets, or take a picture of the log and send
it to Bastion Books (E-Mail: alex@bastionbooks.ca) and then pick up their free tickets through the HarbourCats Office (101-1814 Vancouver Street).

About Bastion Books
Located in historic Bastion Square, tucked down Commercial Alley, Bastion Books is proud to be one of Victoria’s few remaining used bookstores. We stock both vintage and contemporary books, across a wide variety of genres. There are comfy chairs and a children’s nook for those with time to linger. We love uniting people with books so if you aren’t able to find what you’re looking for on our shelves we will try to assist you in your search. For more details, please visit our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/bastionbooks/ or contact Alex at (250) 385-8786 or by e-mail at alex@bastionbooks.ca.

Valentine’s Day Promo!
For a limited time only, buy your Valentine tickets to a 2020 HarbourCats’ game for just $14!  From now through midnight on Friday, February 14th, all Right Field Reserved and Premium Reserved seats can be purchased for just $14 each ($5 off the walk-up price) for any regular season 2020 game, including fireworks!

Head to selectyourtickets.com/promo and enter the code HCATSVALENTINE2020 or go directly to https://tinyurl.com/vqfyvgm to find a game and select your seats!

2020 Tickets Now on Sale

Season Tickets, 10-Game Flex-Packs and Single Game tickets are now on sale for the 2020 season. Visit the office at 101-1814 Vancouver Street or call 778-265-0327 to order. Single game tickets, with our new pick your own seat functionality, can also be purchased on-line at www.harbourcats.com/tickets or at SelectYourTickets.com

About The Victoria HarbourCats

The HarbourCats are Victoria’s entry in the West Coast League (WCL), a summer, collegiate, wood bat baseball league, featuring the top college-age players from across North America and the world. One of the elite teams in the league, the HarbourCats won a record 40 games in 2016 and followed that up in 2017 and 2019 as the WCL’s North Division Playoff Champions, coming one game short both times of their first ever WCL Championship.  In 2020, their eighth season, the team will play a 54-game regular season schedule, with 27 of those games and five additional non-league games, being played at historic Wilson’s Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park in Victoria. Games begin May 30, 2020 with games scheduled through mid-August.   See www.harbourcats.com for more details.

Office Hours:  January-March office hours:  MONDAY-FRIDAY – 9:30am-5:30pm  SATURDAY-SUNDAY – By appointment.