This April the Osceola Bar hosted the Fifth Annual Osceola Bar Gala. We changed the format from a formal sit down dinner to a casino night. The evening saw Blackjack, Roulette, Craps, and lots of dancing for more monopoly money. Kissimmee Bay offered a wonderful setting for an evening of fellowship with our local attorneys. We were lucky to have a great showing from our local judiciary. The judges in attendance included Judge Blechman, Judge Marques, Judge Morgan, Judge Munyon, Judge Myers, Judge Strowbridge, Judge Underwood, and Judge Weiss. Also in attendance were School Board Member Kelvin Soto, School Board Chairman Clarence Thacker, and City Commissioner Sara Shaw. The evening was made possible by some very generous sponsors: Kissimmee Utility Authority, Mendoza & Fowinkle, Overstreet, Miles, Cumbie, and Finkenbinder, P.A., Ramjeawan Law Group, The Ticket Clinic, Perez Lasure Law, Burr & Forman, Llabona Law Group, Melendez Law Offices, and Soto Mack Law Group.
This year’s Silent Auction proceeds are going to benefit our new program STRONG. STRONG stands for Success, Time Management, Responsibility, Osceola County, Networking, and Growth. In a two-part process we will teach at risk youths about these six different concepts and then provide mentoring to these youths through the 2016-2017 school year. We raised close to $1,000.00 to benefit this program which almost doubles the $1,450.00 we received from the Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division this January for this program.
As is custom, the Osceola Bar named the annual recipient of the Murray W. Overstreet, Jr. President’s Award. This year the Osceola Bar recognized Steve Miles. Steve is celebrating his fiftieth year as a member of the Florida Bar. Throughout his career Steve has served as a Justice of the Peace and a municipal prosecutor for the City of Saint Cloud, represented the Osceola County Property Appraiser and the Osceola County Tax Collector, and is a named partner at Overstreet, Miles, Cumbie, and Finkenbinder, P.A.. Steve has contributed to Osceola County throughout the entirety of his legal career. He was instrumental in the creation of the Downtown Kissimmee Community Redevelopment Agency. He is a longtime member of Rotary and has helped organize the Kissimmee Air Show.
Every year the Gala evolves and grows. We cannot wait to see what next year holds for the Sixth Annual Osceola Bar Gala.