The Lehigh Acres Chamber of Commerce gave a standing ovation for Cpl. Melissa Smith when she was named Deputy of the Month for August. The meeting was held Aug. 25 and the award was presented jointly by Capt. Jim Leavens, commander of Bravo District in Lehigh and John Graham, the Chamber’s emcee.

Leavens said Smith is a field training officer with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office assigned to the Lehigh Bravo District. She’s the one who trains new deputies to be officers.

“She constantly performs to a standard that can only be described as excellent.”

Then he proceeded to offer examples of the excellent work performed by Smith.

He said in the past month, Smith had demonstrated the ability to teach, perform and lead by example on three outstanding occasions and incidents.

He said in the first incident, Smith and her trainee, Jeff Morales, caught two suspects while burglarizing a home in progress. This case resulted in the individuals being charged with seven residential burglaries and a total of 14 felonies and closing 19 felony cases.

“The second incident was when Melissa and her trainee, A.J. Elschlager, caught two suspects while they were breaking into a home.

And the third incident, he said, was while processing a residential burglary crime scene and teaching her trainee, John Morgan, the proper way to process a crime scene, Smith was able to obtain fingerprints that lead to the arrest of the perpetrator.

“It should also be noted that this individual was not known to the Bravo Criminal Investigation Division (CID) detectives as a “player.”

The case resulted in the individual being charged with 10 residential burglaries and a total of 20 felonies and closing more than 40 felony cases.

Leavens said what he had just given as examples were just a few ways that Smith performs her duties every day.

“This gives me great comfort knowing she teaches her trainees knowledge and hands-on experience you can not get from a book,” he said.

Leavens also noted that Smith can tell very quickly if a trainee can’t make it as a deputy.

“She has had to tell a few that this is not their profession,” he said.

Wearing her uniform and standing proud before a group of around 50 Chamber members, Smith accepted her award during the luncheon which was held at the Majestic Golf Club on Homestead Rd.

Also during the luncheon, two other people were honored.

The Member of the Month was Dr. Frank Avey, who was unable to leave his medical practice to accept the award. However, Debra Schuman, another member of the Rotary Club of Lehigh Acres, accepted in his honor. Avey was praised for the recent Saturday morning session in which nearly 60,000 meals were prepared by several volunteers in Lehigh, including members of the sponsoring Rotary Club. The food was given to the Harry Chapin Food Bank and much of the food comes back to Lehigh food stations where the hungry can go and get food.

Also honored was David Myers as the Employee of the Month. Myers was praised for his outstanding work at the Chamber. He sells memberships for the Chamber and his accomplishments were noteworthy, said Graham.

This is the second luncheon in which the format of the Chamber program has changed. In the past, the Chamber president presided over the program. Now John Graham, a member of the board of directors, acts as the emcee. Helping him to pass out some of the awards was Elsa Petrick, another member of the Board.

The luncheons begin at 11 a.m. with plenty of time for members to meet and network, Graham said.

The next luncheon meeting will be Sept. 29. Members should call in for reservations at 369-3322. The cost is $12 if you call or $15 if you just show up. Members of the public may also attend the Chamber luncheons.