At their annual Downtown Update, held on September 26th at the Kissimmee Civic Center, the Downtown Kissimmee Area Council awarded the first quarterly recipient of their Back the Blue Awards honoring KPD’s finest.
Corporal Charles Popp is assigned to the Major Crimes Unit of the Police Department. He is charged with investigating and supervising detectives who investigate crimes against children, home invasions, sex crimes, robberies, and homicides. Corporal Popp can be described as a problem solver. Corporal Popp took it upon himself to develop a new system of tracking sexual offenders and notifying the public of their whereabouts. This system allows for our Department to track the sexual offenders living in the City and readily ensure they are following their restrictions, and if they are found not to comply, are charged appropriately. Further, Corporal Popp ensures that the detectives speak to all the registered sexual offenders at back to school time as well as at Halloween when children are likely to be around. Taking on the task of protecting our most vulnerable residents is but one example of Corporal Popp’s dedication to the Department and to the City. Corporal Popp is a person that anyone in the Kissimmee Police Department can go to for guidance, advice, and coaching while investigating a difficult crime.
The Back the Blue initiative was instigated by 2019 Kissimmee Chamber Chairman Rob Rosen to honor the finest law enforcement individuals at both KPD and the Osceola County Sheriff’s Department.
Remember field day? That one day near the end of the school year when your sole focus was becoming champion at tug-of-war? Last Friday, the Young Professionals of Osceola County traveled back in time to field day – though this time in service of a greater goal – with their Barnyard Olympics & Non-Profit Fair. Now in its fourth year, the Barnyard Olympics remains Osceola County’s only opportunity to learn about the great work being done by non-profits in our area while also trying not to make a fool of yourself at Dizzy Bat.
Teams of four progressed around the arena at the KVLS Pavilion to hear from local non-profits and learn how they might get involved with those organizations. Each non-profit then facilitated a game and allowed the teams to get competitive for a chance to win raffle prizes donated by the non-profit participants and sponsors. The evening included dinner from Big John’s Rockin’ BBQ and a bar manned by the Osceola Cattlemen’s Association and Silver Spurs Club. The final match of the night was an epic tug-of-war battle involving the whole crowd.
This year’s participating non-profits were CAAIRE, Community Vision, The Education Foundation, The Florida Native Plant Society – Pine Lily Chapter, Guardian Ad Litem, Help Now, I Rise, The Opportunity Center, Osceola Arts, Osceola Healthy Families, New Beginnings, Relay for Life, The Sunshine Foundation Dream Village, and United Way.
Sponsorship from Edward Jones – Joel Ferguson, Kissimmee Utility Authority, Wild Florida, Street Outdoor, Headquarters Coworking, the Osceola Cattlemen’s Association, and the Silver Spurs Club made the event possible.
If you missed out, start getting your team together for next year’s event; you have afull year to practice your cornhole skills. Or, check out the participating non-profits, and other non-profits in our area, and learn how you can get involved as a volunteer or serve on their boards of directors. See you next year!
For more fun shots of the event, check out RTW Photography’s gallery.
May 4, 2018 (Lakeland, FL): Kissimmee/Osceola County Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President Cindy Lewis was recently recognized as the Florida Association of Chamber Professionals (FACP) 2017 Professional of the Year. The award was announced at the FACP Spring Conference, held May 3-4 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Lakeland, FL.
Cindy has served the Kissimmee/Osceola County Chamber of Commerce for almost three decades. She will celebrate 29 years in October. She started as an executive assistant in 1989 and “worked her way through the ranks” to become Executive Vice President in 2008. Ask any long-term member of the Osceola business community and they will tell you, in Osceola County, Cindy Lewis IS the Chamber\
“Cindy’s array of talents have proven to be invaluable for the Kissimmee Chamber. She does everything first class and owns the project from start to finish,” said John Newstreet, President/CEO of the Kissimmee/Osceola County Chamber of Commerce.
Cindy is a Florida native, loves spending time with her husband, and is active at her ranch filled with livestock.
Serving Osceola County since 1924, the Kissimmee/Osceola County Chamber of Commerce is an association of business people whose priority is improving the business and residential community, while improving and making their business more profitable.
