Osceola celebrates residents at Community Appreciation Day

On a regular day, Osceola County Sheriff’s Office deputies are usually the ones in charge of toning down an unruly crowd, but don’t let them fool you: when it comes to celebrating their residents, this group knows how to throw a party. For the second year in a row, Best Foot Forward joined OCSO for family fun, food and festivities at their annual Community Appreciation Day event.

The OCSO grounds were packed with vendors and organizations from all across Osceola County, including BFF partners from the City of Kissimmee and Kissimmee Police Department. OCSO Sheriff Russ Gibson and Kissimmee Mayor Jose Alvarez were there for all of the action, taking a quick moment to pause for a smile with our popular BFF “i Yield 4 Peds” magnets while chatting about the next enforcement action (heads up – it’s planned for the end of March).

BFF representatives talked to residents about the BFF program, pedestrian safety and areas in their neighborhood that they are concerned about. That information will be shared with partners during the monthly Steering Committee meetings. Kids who came by the table scored comic books, stickers and bookmarks if they shared their street smarts.

Our kid’s wheel caught the eye of Positively Osceola’s Cole Harvey, who stopped by to give it a go. The rules? Spin the wheel and answer a safety question for a prize. Cole knew that you have to stop for people crossing the street in marked crosswalks but learned that failing to do so will hurt your wallet: a $166 citation in Osceola and three points on your driver’s license. You can watch his Facebook Live video about it here.

From start to finish, there wasn’t a dull moment with this group. Luckily, those who filled up on hot dogs and candy were able to burn a few extra calories thanks to an impromptu end-of-event dance party – the perfect way to end an eventful day. Thank you to our partners at OCSO for allowing us to join and celebrate the wonderful residents of Osceola.