[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 11151]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             HONORING THE CAREER OF STEPHEN McKENNEY STECK

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM FEENEY

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Wednesday, May 2, 2007

  Mr. FEENEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr. Stephen McKenney 
Steck for his 40 years of service to the WMFE public broadcasting 
stations that serve the greater Orlando area.
  An Orlando native, Steve began his only career in 1959 at WFTV (then 
WLOF) as a television director and later as senior producer/director 
for news and public affairs programs.
  Steve started a 40-year run at WMFE in 1967 as production manager and 
was appointed operations manager in 1970. In 1972, Steve was elected 
President of WMFE and held that position with distinction for 34 years.
  Steve's major accomplishments during his tenure include moving WMFE's 
physical plant to a multi-million dollar broadcast center in East 
Orlando, the activation of public radio station 90.7 WMFE-FM, expanding 
both station's programming to a full 24-hour per day schedule, 
overseeing a program schedule viewed each week by more than 485,000 
Central Florida households and a radio schedule listened to each week 
by more than 194,000 Central Florida residents.
  Steve concluded a $4 million expansion of the Public Broadcasting 
Center in 1992, a $2 million reexpansion in 2003, and a $10 million 
Campaign for Program Excellence in 2002 generating funds directed to 
local programming that connected the community in a manner not 
duplicated by local electronic media.
  Steve recently concluded WMFE's $7 million Campaign for Digital 
Television that activated WMFE-DT/Channel 23 in 2003. He has launched 
the creation of a new $2.4 million program vision for these stations. A 
transition to digital radio broadcasting rests in the short-term 
future. Under his leadership, WMFE's annual budget has grown from 
$250,000 to more than $8 million.
  At age 63, Steve attained a 10-year goal: starting in and finishing a 
marathon in all of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and on 
all 7 continents--including Antarctica! Steve is married to Desta L. 
Homer, a former teacher at Winter Springs High School in Seminole 
County. They have three adult children and five grandchildren.
  Madam Speaker, in closing, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks 
to Steve for his years of service and dedication to his Orlando 
community. I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Mr. Steve 
on his retirement and wishing him the best of luck in all future 
endeavors.

                          ____________________