TRAILBLAZING Jamaican-American attorney Alison Smith presided over her final meeting, the installation ceremony for her successor, bringing the curtain down on her reign as the first black woman president of the Broward County Bar Association (BCBA), Florida Saturday night.

It rained heavily but guests filled the speakeasy-themed installation dinner and gala packed the ballroom of the upscale Signature Grand in Davie, South Florida, with top judges, lawyers and other dignitaries, and said adieu in style to the woman who broke a near 100-year tradition when she was elected president a year ago.

Smith, who grew up in St Elizabeth and Manchester in Jamaica, mixed humour and business while accepting the multiple tributes for a great year during which she used every opportunity to promote her island country.

Her farewell speech was also emotional as she thanked the people who supported her throughout, telling them: “I could not have done any of it without you. There was a machine behind me and I needed that community. My year was one of the happiest seasons of my life.”

Smith was especially effusive in her praise for BCBA Executive Director Braulio N Rosa who pursued her relentlessly to stand for president, in fulfilment of his vision to bring diversity to the leadership of the association.

“I am grateful to him for standing by my side and walking hand-in-hand with me throughout my entire year,” she said, adding that the Caribbean Bar Association and the Diaspora too had shown up for her in ways she could not have expected.

She also singled out the Jamaica Observer for following her reign from the installation ceremony last June till Saturday night’s ceremony where she handed over to new president, attorney Michael A Rajtar. He jokingly thanked her for “setting the bar so high for me”.

The outgoing president gave a shout-out to Jamaica’s Consul General to Miami Oliver Mair, for the many ways in which he and the consulate supported her reign.