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Movie Night On, Baseball Event Cancelled In Blue Wahoos Planned Weekend Of Events 

The Blue Wahoos will host first family movie night in seven months with April 16 Movie and Fireworks Night at Blue Wahoos Stadium. (Bill Vilona)
April 13, 2021

UPDATED: Friday, April 16, 12 p.m. Persistent rainy weather has altered the Blue Wahoos plans to stage three weekend events. Friday's movie night will go on as scheduled at 7 p.m, with fireworks to follow. Gates will open at 6 p.m. The Return To Baseball dinner/batting practice event Saturday has

UPDATED: Friday, April 16, 12 p.m.

Persistent rainy weather has altered the Blue Wahoos plans to stage three weekend events.

Friday's movie night will go on as scheduled at 7 p.m, with fireworks to follow. Gates will open at 6 p.m. The Return To Baseball dinner/batting practice event Saturday has been cancelled due to projected inclement weather. The Josh Sitton football camp on Sunday is still on.

The hesitation has seemed to wane and daily inquiries keeping filling an email inbox.

Maybe the surest sign of a near-return to normal can be realized in looking at the calendar Blue Wahoos events manager Shannon Reeves keeps in her office.

“We’re getting super-booked,” she said.

And that’s a good thing, of course, following 12 months of dealing with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Beginning this weekend when the Blue Wahoos had planned three community events on separate days, there is a busy run-up to the much-anticipated baseball schedule in May, then far beyond. One of the weekend events, the Return to Baseball Dinner, was cancelled due to expected inclement weather.

“I think we’re seeing that people aren’t as nervous in hosting events or attending events,” said Reeves, in her fourth year as the team’s events manager. “People have discovered the stadium is a great place to hold events and now we are busier than ever.”

The next several days are perfect example. After a couple private events, the Blue Wahoos are hosting their first public movie and fireworks night since September with Friday’s showing of the family comedy, “The Croods: A New Age.”

Admission is $5. Gates open at 6 p.m. The movie begins at 7 p.m. with fireworks to follow.

Masks will be required to enter the stadium and mingling with people, except when consuming food or beverages.

The Blue Wahoos had planned to partner with Pensacola’s Bread & Table Club with 10-percent of proceeds going to benefit the Feeding The Gulf Coast Backpack Program for school children.

On Sunday, former NFL player Josh Sitton, now Pensacola business owner, is hosting a football camp at the stadium for a small group of youths.

The events will be followed by several others in April, including Booker T. Washington High’s school prom.

“It has been really interesting, because we are getting events that we normally would not have been able to get if we started our baseball season in April,” said Reeves, referencing the fact the Blue Wahoos' 2021 season will begin on the road May 4, followed by the first home game on May 11. “We are booking more large events where people feel like it is safe to come out in the open air and have a fun experience.

“With our stadium, there is plenty of wide-open space. I sense that honestly we’re back to normal, if not even more so, as far as people looking at doing events in town.”

Without a Blue Wahoos baseball season in 2020, the organization made a transition into being an events place. The Blue Wahoos created disc golf, target golf, held movie nights, dinner events, special-theme dinner nights, graduations and even the Pensacola Beach Brawl CrossFit event.

The stadium became the only viable option for many events. In all, the Blue Wahoos had more than 200 nights where the stadium was open for some kind of event or dining option.

This year, the team will continue hosting events during the weeks the Blue Wahoos are playing on the road.

“I have definitely noticed a change now,” Reeves said. “I feel like last year was everyone trying to tip-toe around, trying do the right thing, and nobody really knew what that was.

“We had a lot of events. And many of those people didn’t care as much what it looked like. This time, it has transitioned into a lot more people getting comfortable about being out socially and being around people.”

WANT TO GO?

WHAT: Weekend Events At Ballpark

WHO: Friday (Family Movie, "The Croods: A New Age" and Fireworks Night), Sunday (Josh Sitton Football Camp, participation registration is filled, but spectators welcome).

WHERE: Blue Wahoos Stadium.

WHEN: Friday -- Gates open at 6 p.m., movie at 7 p.m., fireworks afterward. Saturday – 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday – 8:30 a.m. – noon.

TICKETS: Friday ($5 general admission, seating available on field and in chairback stadium seats). Sunday event is sold out, but parents, family can enter the stadium to watch the youth football players.

INFORMATION: Tickets for movie night can be purchased on www.bluewahoos.com or stadium box office. For further assistance call 850-934-8444.