Aronberg, Conover are stars at Lehigh banquet
State Sen. David Aronberg told members of the Lehigh Acres Chamber of Commerce Saturday night that he didn’t vote for cutting state aid educational funds to local schools during the recent special session in Tallahassee when lawmakers worked on ways to balance the budget.
But as popular as Aronberg is in Lehigh Acres, the star of the night was Oliver B. Conover, the outgoing executive director. Conover, 78, ended a seven-year tenure at the Chamber on Dec. 31. The new director with a new title as president of the Chamber is Joe Whalen.
Some 140 people attended this year’s annual banquet held at the Pelican Preserve on Colonial Blvd. Due to the ailing economy, the attendance was down about 100, according to Chamber officials.
Aronberg said that during the special session in Tallahassee that $1.2 billion in cuts were made.
“You didn’t send me to Tallahassee to cut education for our schools,” Aronberg said. Last week Lee County Superintendent Dr. James Browder said there will be major job layoffs in the School District if more money is taken away from the system. He said programs and teachers might face layoffs.
Aronberg mentioned raising the tobacco tax but lawmakers rejected that proposal.
Some $1.2 billion in cuts were made during the special session. More cuts will have to be made to make the $2.3 billion budget shortfall. The state is mandated by law to come up with a balance budget. Aronberg said lawmakers transferred $700 million from the Lawton Chiles Trust Fund.
“They said they were borrowing it. I hope it will be returned,” he said.
Aronberg was received with a thunderous applause. He is a Democrat and has won every precinct in Lehigh when he has run for office. His term comes to an end in two years because of term limits.
He may be looking at the office of attorney general, but wouldn’t speculate about his future political plans.
Several people were given awards at the banquet.
But the person of the night was Conover, members agreed.
Right off, he was given a white rocking chair and told to sit down in it on the stage while several members, some prior presidents of the Chamber, roasted him. The jokes poked fun at Conover but then the speakers said how grateful the Chamber was to have the leadership of Conover.
The last time that Aronberg spoke to the Chamber, some seven years ago, when he first became a state legislator, the banquet was held in the former Matador Room of the Admiral Lehigh Resort. Laurie Jerriey remembers the night as she was sworn in office on the board while Aronberg held an umbrella over their heads.
Buckets were scattered throughout the historic social meeting room while it rained for hours outside. Rain was pouring in almost all over the room.
In honor of that night, both Aronberg and Conover were given umbrellas. In past years, following the banquet, there has been entertainment such as the one last year when a magician entertained the crowds.
This year, the entertainment turned out to be a roast of Conover and only a handful of people know about it.
“I sure didn’t know you were going to do this to me,” Conover kept saying while Chamber members joked about his time at the Chamber. At one point, a computer presentation was made on a giant screen showing Conover in funny situations. The work was done by Bo Turbeville, a past president, on his computer using a photo-imaging program.
Conover was given several gag gifts. He was also given a plaque for his service and a gold watch and he was made a lifetime member of the Chamber.
When the annual banquet ended, several people came to the front of the dining room to hug Conover and wish him well.
Julie Camp gave several gag gifts to Conover during the program.
“I just love Ollie. He has been so good for our Chamber. We are going to miss him,” she said.