When it comes to hyping up a crowd, mascot Roady the Roadrunner is often the star of the show at Harry Hurst Middle School.
But prior to Hurst’s recent volleyball game against R.K. Smith, nobody in attendance was quite ready for what Roady had in store – least of all Hurst assistant volleyball coach Kelsi Rutherford.
Roady waved to the crowd as he performed alongside the school’s cheerleaders, like any other pre-game appearance. Things quickly changed as the cheerleaders formed the traditional tunnel for players to run through. This time, before Roady did so, the mascot took his costume off – and Rutherford’s boyfriend, Chad Noel, emerged from his disguise and took a microphone in hand.
“I want to thank everyone for coming,” Noel said. “And I definitely want to thank this beautiful lady, Ms. Kelsi Rutherford. I just want to say, I’d love to spend the rest of my life with you … so, with that being said …”
Noel dropped down to one knee and popped the question that by now everyone was waiting for.
“Kelsi Rutherford, will you marry me?”
The cheers of the crowd supplied a loud exclamation point upon her answer – indeed, the one Noel was hoping for. As one would expect, it was a crowd-pleasing moment, and a momentum surge for the Roadrunners as it turned out. Rutherford helped guide Hurst as it defeated R.K. Smith that day.
Rutherford, 28 and of St. Rose, is an 8th grade math teacher at Hurst in addition to her volleyball coaching duties. She cried tears of joy as she realized what was unfolding.
“I had no idea,” Rutherford said. “He somehow planned everything with our coaches, our principal, our volleyball team … everyone was in on it except for me.
“It was just amazing.”
At first, once the Noel started taking off the costume, she thought maybe a student was playing the mascot role.
“I actually got a glimpse of the hair coming out of the mascot costume … when everyone got out the way, I finally saw him, and I cried,” Rutherford said. “In a way, I feel like I should have known something was up – why was that mascot so tall?”
But by this point, she knew.
“Yeah, after that I knew (the proposal was coming),” she said. “It means so much … he knows these people are my favorite people in the world. Hurst is like my second family, and for my real family and my second family to both be there and be a part of this, I couldn’t ask for anything better.”
Rutherford said Noel definitely had the right idea in terms of execution.
“I think he knew I’m not the type of person to want the proposal at a restaurant … I love that it was something so spontaneous and unique.”
The two will celebrate their four-year anniversary as a couple next month. Rutherford said the two were introduced via mutual friends.
“We kind of acted like we were engaged already, but it does feel really good to make it official and take the next step,” she said.
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