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Osceola County Historical Society Executive Director Kimberly Murray Recaps 2022 for Board and Society Members. PHOTO/TERRY LLOYD
The Osceola County Historical Society held its annual meeting last week at the Osceola County Welcome Center and History Museum in Kissimmee. Members marked the very recent passing of its president and former Kissimmee Mayor and County Commissioner Jim Swan. Past president Russell Anderson, who took over as acting president after Swan’s departure, remarked how Swan was, “A man of great dignity, reason and could always be counted upon.”
Then new officers and board members were introduced. Shelby Thiele is the new president; Reginald Hardee, president-elect (vice president); Misty Johantgen, secretary; and Connie Benca, treasurer. The long-serving Anderson will continue as the past president role in light of Swan’s passing.
New board members include Jozef Bladek, Mary Cooper, Felicia Edwards, Lisa Liu, Mark McMeley and Wilda Belisle. Robert Bass, Mike Sweeney and Carlos Cintron Garcia remain on the board.
Executive Director Kimberley Murray stated that the society was in good financial shape, with “the level of donations and corporate sponsorships approaching pre-COVID levels.”
Outgoing treasurer Bruce Van Meter and Murray we lauded by board and society members for their cost-cutting and crisis management efforts during the pandemic.
Director Murray also recapped some highlights from the previous year, which focused on the resumption of normal activities and financial recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic. New events introduced during the past year included a collaboration with Valencia College for Hola History and two Night at the Museum movie nights over the summer months. Both events are scheduled to continue in 2023. One unfortunate highlight was the cleanup operation at the Desert Inn in Yeehaw Junction. The Inn, which was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1994, but damaged beyond repair in 2019 in a tractor-trailer accident, was owned by the Society.
In the near term, Oct. 15 will be a movie night featuring “Coco,” and November will see a new display “Stitching through Time,” and the return of Pioneer Day. March 2023 will see the return of Dining with the Departed, at Rose Hill Cemetery, which had been suspended during the pandemic.
After the meeting, author Richard Lee Cronin, who has written numerous books detailing the history of Central Florida, gave a presentation on the early settlement of an area of Shingle Creek in Osceola County. He relayed some interesting facts about how Kissimmee and Shingle Creek came to be settled before Orlando. Lake Toho gave Kissimmee continuous availability of water for then steam-powered train locomotives, while cypress logging for roof shingles gave the creek its name.
For more information on the Osceola County Historical Society, see www.osceolahistory.org.
