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Blue Wahoos Provide Welcome Venue For Pensacola Chamber's Signature Event 

With daughter, Caroline, holding his award, D.C. Reeves, the director of The Spring Entrepreneur Hub At Studer Community Institute, was honored at 61st Annual PACE Awards Dinner March 3 at Blue Wahoos Stadium. (Bill Vilona)
March 5, 2021

After being dealt several challenges, one of Pensacola’s most celebratory business events became a photogenic night as a first time setting at Blue Wahoos Stadium. The 61st annual Pensacola Area Commitment To Excellence (PACE) Awards banquet, produced by the Greater Pensacola Chamber of Commerce, was held on the field March

After being dealt several challenges, one of Pensacola’s most celebratory business events became a photogenic night as a first time setting at Blue Wahoos Stadium.

The 61st annual Pensacola Area Commitment To Excellence (PACE) Awards banquet, produced by the Greater Pensacola Chamber of Commerce, was held on the field March 3, amid the backdrop of a clear sunset for dinner and the ambiance that kind of setting brings.

Fate smiled on this night.

“It is just so fun to think about things like this where the stadium can be used in a way no one thought possible,” said Shannon Reeves, the Blue Wahoos events sales manager, who has helped make the stadium into a multi-use events facility ranging from high school graduations to cross-fit competition.

“Because, honestly when people think of the stadium, they first think baseball,” said Reeves, in her fourth year with the Blue Wahoos. “So when they see things like this happening on the field, it just changes their mindset.

“Like, hey, I’m going to go to a baseball game in May and see the Blue Wahoos play, but look at what else we can do here. It’s cool to see an event like this happen.”

In this case, it happened when the stadium offered an alternative venue to safely host a dinner gathering of 331 people.

Back in July, the Pensacola Chamber was faced with a decision on how to hold the 2021 PACE Awards during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Knowing the bayfront stadium was available, the event date was set.

“If it was going to be possible to have this event, then this was really the only option and the most beautiful option, especially with how this day turned out,” said Natalie Ales, director of programs and special events for the Greater Pensacola Chamber of Commerce.

“This was really the only option for the amount of people we’ve had at this event,” she said. “It’s great to have everyone back together.”

The PACE Awards were established six decades ago to honor business leaders from the Pensacola area, who have made significant contributions to the community’s economic progress.

Two of the award winners March 3 are leaders in the Studer Family of Companies – a company founded by Blue Wahoos co-owners Quint and Rishy Studer.

D.C. Reeves received the Emerging Leader of Year Award for his work directing The Spring Entrepreneur Hub, located at the Studer Community Institute building on Garden Street. In addition to that effort, Reeves, a Pensacola Catholic High and Florida State graduate, is co-owner of Perfect Plain Brewery on Garden Street, as well as his involvement in various city government ventures.

Shannon Nickinson, director of the Early Learning program at Studer Community Institute, was awarded the 2021 Leader in Education Award.

A former news reporter and editor at the Pensacola News Journal, Nickinson joined the Studer Community Institute when it was founded in 2014. Since then, she has led the SCI Early Learning Program effort into renown success. The program has impacted more than 13,000 families in the Pensacola area.

Blue Wahoos executive chef Travis Wilson worked with Eric Kroll, food and beverage manager, to prepare a meal that included salad, braised short ribs, parmesan mashed potatoes, vegetables, a choice of desert.

Each of the award winners March 3 were introduced at Blue Wahoos Stadium with a video presentation. A podium for speakers was placed at home plate. The tables were strategically placed a distance apart in the infield area.

“This is our nicest, signature event we do,” Ales said. “I love the PACE Awards in the way we celebrate the leaders in our community.

“This year, we scaled back with the number of sponsor tables. We wanted everyone to feel comfortable and feel like they can enjoy the evening and enjoy the people seated near them.”

Last year’s PACE Awards were held March 5, 2020 at the Pensacola Beach Hilton, where the event has been held for years. The following week is when the first impact of COVID-19 was felt throughout the country, forcing a shutdown of sports, concerts and most events.

Compounding the adversity in Pensacola, the impact of Hurricane Sally in mid-September led to severe damage of the new Pensacola Bay Bridge and shutting its link to Gulf Breeze and Pensacola Beach.

The combination during the last 11 months has left the Pensacola Chamber and other entities wondering how and where they could still hold events.

“It has kind of been a gamble with all of our events that we’ve had,” Ales said. “We’ve been hit from all angles. It has pushed most of them we had to outside.. We had to just roll with it with everything we’ve gotten.”

What can’t be controlled, of course, with an outdoor venue like Blue Wahoos Stadium, is the weather. The first two days of the week were cold, gray and raining. That changed March 3.

“Yes, it does add an element of weather stress,” Ales said, laughing. “We have been checking our phones every morning for about two weeks. The location is great. With bridge being out, we were stuck in a situation where it is difficult to get out to the beach and have an event there. And you can’t beat this view (at Blue Wahoos Stadium) on a day like this.”

The PACE Awards became the largest dinner event at Blue Wahoos Stadium since an ARC Gateway event years ago. The experience continued the transition the stadium has made the past year from staging a baseball season into holding a variety of non-sports events and gatherings.

“We learn things all along the way,” Reeves said. “Everything from where is the best place to stage the plates and the food and get it ready behind the scenes and how quickly can we get it out to which door to come in.”