The team’s pregame workout had just concluded when Blue Wahoos manager Nelson Prada spotted a familiar guest in the home dugout.
A smile lit across Prada’s face and his arm extended to high-five Matthew Chestnutt, the 23-year-old son of Fox Sports-Pensacola radio broadcaster Paul Chestnutt.
“Howya doing Matty?” Prada said.
Matthew Chestnutt was born with the most severe form of cerebral palsy. He cannot walk, talk or eat by himself and is confined to a wheelchair.
But he can connect with people he knows, and he recognized Prada. Matthew reacted with excitement as he lifted his arm to high-five the manager.
“There’s the communication, right there,” said Paul Chestnutt, who hosts a week-day sports talk show (11 a.m.-Noon) and has been the radio play-by-play voice of the Pensacola Ice Pilots and Pensacola Ice Flyers since professional hockey arrived exactly 30 years ago in this community.
“Matty is someone who cannot walk or talk, but he knows what’s going on,” he said. “And what’s happening. He knows how to react.”
That reaction will be extra meaningful on Friday night when the Blue Wahoos are hosting Special Needs Night during the season’s final weekend homestand against the Biloxi Shuckers. The night will include a Paul and Matthew Chestnutt Bobblehead provided to the first 1,000 fans.
Never in his wildest imagination, of course, did Paul Chestnutt think an image of him and his son would be created into a unique bobblehead.
Also Friday night, there will be a pregame parade of special needs people and parents, a musical medley Chestnutt has chosen and other on-field happenings to conclude with a variety of ceremonial first pitches from the special needs community, including Blue Wahoos employees.
In addition, Cathedral of the Sacred Heart members and Rev. Steve Olson will be there from the Chestnutts’ church.
”Hey, God is good, right?’” said Chestnutt, laughing, while his voice crackled with emotion. “This is a huge night for the entire special needs community. This is something that really has not been done anywhere.
“I think people don’t understand the special needs community until they are there and will see what takes place,” said Chestnutt, a devout Catholic who attends church with his son multiple times a week. “It’s my world with my son Matty. And we’re living through it. The special needs community, we’re the forgotten community. And we thank the Blue Wahoos for doing something like this.”
The night was arranged and provided by Blue Wahoos co-owners Quint and Rishy Studer. This has a powerful connection with Quint Studer. He was a special education teacher for 10 years in Wisconsin, after graduating in 1975 from college.
In his book, Hardwiring Excellence, a national Business Week bestseller when published in 2003, Studer writes about a special-needs student who left a lasting impression on him when wearing her McDonald’s work uniform to school. She did it because of how it made her feel as a person, how important she felt and the pride of holding a job and doing meaningful work.
“He holds the special needs community close to his heart,” Chestnutt said. “And we are very thankful for it.”
The Blue Wahoos employ 10 special needs gameday staff members. They all perform a variety of fan-engagement roles from ticketing, greeting, informative and ushering. They are all known by season-ticket holders or first-time attendees to a game.
“When talking to our special needs employees, the number one thing I hear is that we make them feel normal,” said Blue Wahoos team president Jonathan Griffith. “We make it an environment where they know it’s not about their special needs, but rather a case where they have an important job and we have them on it.
“Quint and Rishy do a lot for our community, but it’s truly out of their heart the things they are doing and this is another one of those things,” Griffith said. “There is no sponsor on the bobblehead. It is really just us wanting to do something for the community.
“And the big thing is to get awareness. One of the things we hear from Paul is the difficulties of getting funding, getting schools, getting paired… that many people don’t realize.
“We hope this day will be able to promote that and really open eyes to people about what are the needs and what type of things they can be helpful.”
Pensacola’s two sports franchises have helped provide awareness. When owning The Studer Group, Quint helped Paul get started on his charity – MatthewChestnuttScores!Charities. The Ice Flyers help with a Power Play Pledge Drive for all Ice Flyers power play goals.
“Quint got the ball rolling. He funded the start of it. And it’s a small charity that we now have been doing it for over 15 years,” Chestnutt said. “What the Blue Wahoos and Ice Flyers do in the community is amazing. We are lucky to have these two organizations in a city our size.”
Ice Flyers head coach Jeremy Gates, who will attend Friday’s event, was formerly a towering, crunch-checking, enforcer defenseman who had a rifle shot from the blue line.
He was on the ice, setting up the Ice Flyers dramatic last-second goal in 2016 that decided their third of four SPHL championships.
“I’ll never forget that. Matty and I were on the ice during the celebration talking to Jeremy,” Chestnutt said. “And now we’re talking to him as the head coach. He’s always connected with Matty.
“With hockey, Matty is there right next to me as I broadcast the game. When the game starts, you can tell Matty is into it. He enjoys it.
“With the Blue Wahoos it’s for the social skills. It’s for us to connect. We walk along the concourse and you never know who are you going to meet, so it’s a great place to connect.
“Both teams are hugely important to us. They both offer a safe environment for special needs people. It’s a way to get Matty out, have him see people and be part of something.”
In 2014, Paul and Matthew were inducted into the Pensacola Sports Hall of Fame. They were honored as a father-son tandem because of how Paul has included his son in so much of his broadcast coverage of local sports.
During his induction speech, voice crackling and emotions flowing, thanked Quint and Rishy Studer for all they have done for him and what they’ve meant to him.
“Thank you, Quint and Rishy Studer, for Blue Wahoos Stadium,” said Chestnutt, his voice resonating with the large audience that night at Pensacola Sports Awards Dinner. “You have players who are developing to make the Major Leagues. And you have many players in the Major Leagues.
“But that ballpark has done more for Matty than any player that played for the Blue Wahoos. The ballpark has helped his quality of life, social skills, understanding of things and making him the person he is today. We love you Quint and Rishy. You are like family.”
That connection promises to ring true Friday night with the Blue Wahoos unique theme night.