On Saturday night January 29, the Kissimmee/Osceola County Chamber of Commerce gathered for its 97th Annual Meeting at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort. This year’s theme was “A Night for Champions,” and it certainly was that. COVID kept the Chamber from celebrating its accomplished as it normally does, in person, but this year there was no stopping it.
The night began in typical cocktail party fashion in the spacious beauty of the Coronado Springs Resort with plenty of social distance space, delicious hors d’oeuvre, beverages, and fellowship.
From there it was onto dinner, the passing of the gavel, and to the annual chamber awards. Past Chair Adrianna Sekula, who had held the title for two years amid the Covid-19 pandemic, officially passed the gavel to Kevin Crain, President of Osceola Printing and Press.
Crain, along with Chamber President/CEO John Newstreet, hosted the majority of the evening’s festivities, assisted by Past Chair Sekula.
As the dinner commenced so did the awards portion of the evening, beginning with the Kissimmee/Osceola County Chamber 2021 Ambassador of the Year, Wanda Curtis of the Sunshine Foundation Dream Village. The Ambassador of the Year Award goes to the individual who dedicates him or herself to selflessly volunteering to assist the chamber in celebrating the organization and its members.
From there it was onto the Eagle Award, which was given to the well deserved Small Business Council, and its Chairwoman, Kathy Kenney. The SBC stood out among the other 7 councils in the chamber, furthering its mission of being Champions for Business and Community, the vision of Leading a Prosperous Regional Economy, and its values of Creating Opportunity, Embracing Heritage, and building Unity!
The night was still young and the two biggest award winners were yet to be announced.
Next up was the 2022 Unity Award which went to Martin Levert of Florida Technical College!!! Martin had some big competition with Unity Award 2022 finalists Stella Siracuza of Tomato Express and Jeremy Lanier with the Osceola County Health Department, for their dedication to our diverse community.
Finally, the evening’s most prestigious award., The Linda Goodwin Award, named after Linda Goodwin-Nichols, two-time Chairman of the Kissimmee/Osceola County Chamber Board of Directors, came down to three very worthy finalists: Sue Ring, Kathy Frazier-Kenney, and Larry Walter. In the end, the award went to Larry Walter, who accepted the award via an inspiring prerecorded video message so he could care for his crops amid the Florida freeze.
During the event, Chairman Kevin Crain showed his passion and faith in the chamber as he shared the story of how he came to be a proud member of the chamber and now, the 2022 Chairman of the Kissimmee Chamber of Commerce! The 97th Annual Meeting was truly “A Night of Champions!”
