This weekend, nearly 30,000 people from all across the country and the Caribbean are expected to head to Exploria stadium in Parramore Sunday for the opening ceremony of the 2022 Special Olympics USA games.

Dexter Sanders, who owns the restaurant Dexter’s Birdland, is excited about the event, given that his business is just a block from the stadium. He’s hoping to sell thousands of dollars of chicken wings, garbage plates and other menu items Sunday, as 5,600 Special Olympics athletes and coaches, and 25,000 spectators are set to descend on the neighborhood that day. 

Sanders said his hope is that the amount of business from the games will help quadruple his sales that day.

“Just to know that Special Olympics is going to be right down the street, we are anticipating a crowd for it," he said. "So yeah, we are going to stock up all of the things that we need to serve good food. We will have extra staff on just in case the mad rush comes — which is what we are hoping and praying for, so we are pretty excited about it."

This restaurant is a family affair, as Sander’s wife works the cash register and his son helps with food preparation.

But in the 10 months since Dexter's Birdland opened, Sanders said that he has found that getting people in the door on a regular day in Parramore can be hard. That is why events like this mean so much to the business' bottom line, and to the community as a whole.

“There are so many people that do not know that we exist, you know? Because, again, unless you are coming down for an event, it is not a place where you would really just kind of walk down the street," Sanders said. "So that is what events like Special Olympics does for us, people wouldn't normally be here, and so this is going to give them reason to walk by."

He hopes that hosting more events like this in the area will introduce more people to real Parramore and encourage them to come back for another visit, something Parramore’s new Main Street program has been pushing for.

“All that is great for both the history of Parramore and the things that are coming to this community," Sanders said. "So yeah, I think we are here a little ahead of the curve so I am really anxious to see what is going to happen in the next couple of years."

Road closures around Exploria will begin at 6 a.m. on Sunday — leaving many to park the Amway Center and walk by more than a dozen local businesses to get to and from the ceremony. ​