12The Kissimmee/Osceola County Chamber’s Young Professionals Area Council celebrated their 4th class of Tomorrow’s Leaders Today on Tuesday, December 7 with a reception at Windsor at Celebration. Tomorrow’s Leaders Today recognizes professionals and entrepreneurs under the age of 40 who live and/or work in Osceola County. Every year this award goes to a diverse group of individuals across a variety of professions. This year’s group of five was honored at a cocktail reception at Windsor at Celebration‘s SkyBar, which provided a picturesque indoor/outdoor setting to acknowledge the achievements of this group.
This year’s honorees were LaVell Monger with RTW Photography, Kendyl Bass with the Osceola County School District, Henry Thacker with Balfour Beatty Construction, Kari Ewalt with the Osceola County Supervisor of Elections, and Natasha Billyer. Each award recipient was presented with an engraved statue by 2021 Chairman of the Young Professionals Board of Directors, Melissa Thacker. The COVID-19 pandemic prevented the Young Professionals from holding a reception for the 2020 Tomorrow’s Leaders Today winners, so those recipients were acknowledged as well.
A big thank you goes to Windsor for their assistance with this event and to Lizzie’s Memphis-Style BBQ for catering. View some photos of our award winners in the gallery below. Click on an image to enlarge and scroll through.
The Osceola Resort Area Council loves to convene the movers and shakers in Osceola’s tourism industry. This holiday season they were excited to gather together at Melia Orlando Celebration Hotel for tasty drinks and appetizers and lots of excellent networking both within the hospitality industry and among other Chamber members.
As attendees arrived, they dropped a business card for a chance to win donated raffle prizes that ranged from bottles of wine to theme park tickets. Once gathered in Melia’s impressive courtyard area, they were serenaded by a glowing electric violin. Melia’s general manager Antonio Baez addressed the crowd and thanked them for coming out. As the evening went on, volunteers from the ORAC board raffled off items to 8 lucky attendees and wished everyone a good night.
To stay up to date on the Chamber’s events, programs, and activities, regularly check the events calendar at theosceolachamber.com; follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram; and keep an eye out for your Chamber events bulletin every other Tuesday.
As a benefit to our Unity, Visionary, and Champion level members, the Kissimmee/Osceola County Chamber puts together an annual Unity Day to help build relationships, strengthen connections, and facilitate unity between our members at these higher levels. Due to holdups related to the pandemic, we were just now able to host our first ever Unity Day event on Wednesday, December 1 at Osceola History‘s Pioneer Village. Attendees were invited to bring teams of their colleagues to use the day as a team building opportunity, as well as a chance to connect with the Chamber staff and fellow members.
The Unity Day serves one of the Chamber’s three primary goals, which is “Building Unity,” and our first ever Unity Day also supported a second goal of “Embracing Heritage.” With the historic Pioneer Village as our setting, the theme of day was old-fashioned picnic. In a setting decorated with burlap, baled hay, and classic red-checked picnic cloth, we all enjoyed sliders and sides from Lizzie’s Memphis Style BBQ and delicious cupcakes from Smallcakes Kissimmee as everyone got to know one another.
The Pioneer Village’s outdoor meeting and events pavilion provided the perfect location to eat and visit before moving outside for some outdoor fun. Osceola History gave us the opportunity to try our hands at some activities and games that Osceola County’s earliest settlers might have enjoyed. In teams of four, our group completed a relay that included sack racing, three-legged racing, and hoop trundling, and then battled it out with a final
tug-of-war. Proving they’re more than just desk jockeys, Team SouthState Bank proved to be victorious in the relay and tug-of-war. Some attendees played a few leisurely rounds of cornhole, while others took time to chat over beverages, cupcakes, and a second round of food. Everyone received a complimentary map of the Pioneer Village so they could visit the historic and historic replica buildings on their way out. The Chamber was also pleased to offer a $500 donation to Osceola History for the use of their facilities for the day’s event. All-in-all, everyone had a fun, relaxing day, unity was built, and heritage embraced! We look forward to the next Unity Day event!
Said Chamber President/CEO John Newstreet, “They used to call a beautiful, perfect-weather day a ‘Chamber of Commerce Day,’ and today we had exactly that. The weather was perfect, the sky was clear, and everyone had a wonderful time team building, spending time outdoors, and connecting with other high-level members.”
The Unity Day is a member benefit for Unity level members and higher. If you are interested in participating in a future Unity Day event, or want to know if it is included in your membership level, please contact the Chamber at 407-948-3174 or email us iresto@theosceolachamber.com.
