Oyster Bay Town Supervisor John Venditto and fellow town board members recently announced the winners of the third annual Town of Oyster Bay "Women of Distinction" awards.

"The 'Women of Distinction' Awards Committee selected eight exceptional women as our third annual designees in the town," Venditto said. "Once again, I must commend the Awards Committee for doing an excellent job, making the difficult choices among so many fine nominees."

Venditto and the town board honored this year's designees at the Tues., March 27 Town Board meeting.

"My fellow town board members and I invited the designees and their families to join us in publicly recognizing the Town's 'Women of Distinction,'" Venditto said. "As part of the program, each recipient was presented with a Town Citation and a special pin designed to commemorate the occasion."

Diane Engelhardt, a resident of Woodbury, was one of the eight women who were honored as she was named a Distinguished Woman in Business.

Friends and co-workers of Engelhardt nominated her for this distinction for her work and dedication as the president of the Katharine Gibbs School, which has two locations in Melville and Plainview.

The Katharine Gibbs School was originally thought of as a secretarial school and now, thanks to Engelhardt's idea of introducing new programs, there are 50 percent males and 50 percent females.

Engelhardt was the Dean of Katharine Gibbs school for five years and then became president about a year and a half ago. There are over 1,100 students at both facilities, compared to only 250 just three years ago. There are also over 150 employees at the two facilities, which, according to Engelhardt, is good for Long Island's economy.

Gibbs now offers associate degrees in computer network operations, which is predominately a male-oriented program and associate degrees in digital arts and animation, which is a new program, as well as an associate degree in graphic design.

"I was really excited when I heard I was named a women of distinction in business," said Engelhardt. "This is such a great honor."

Bonnie Lasinski, also a resident of Woodbury, was named a Distinguished Woman in Health Services by the Town of Oyster Bay.

Lasinski is the director of physical therapy at Lymphedema Therapy in Woodbury. She is also the clinical director of the Boris/Lasinski School, teaching the Casley-Smith Method of Lymphedema Therapy and has been working in the Town of Oyster Bay for almost nine years with Dr. Marvin Boris, who has worked in Syosset and Woodbury for 38 years as a pediatrician. The Lymphedema clinic was one of the first in the United States to be dedicated solely to patients with primary and secondary lymphedema.

Lymphedema is a chronic, progressive disease occurring when normal lymphatic flow is impaired or interrupted, causing swelling, usually of an extremity. Lasinski is a dedicated clinician who facilitates support groups, teaches in-service educational programs at community hospitals and breast cancer support groups.

"We have done a lot of in-service education, as not many people who don't have this condition know about it," said Lasinski. "I worked with Cancer Care and American Cancer Society as well as many local hospitals. We have a support group, which helps patients to get more information, more education and to really support one another."

Two years ago, Lasinski, along with Dr. Boris, opened up a school that trains therapists to do the method of lymphedema treatment that they do, which is actually brought from Australia. "To work with Dr. Boris, who is not only a brilliant physician, but also a wonderful healer, has been a wonderful experience for me," said Lasinski. "I have learned a lot from him. Anyone who works in the health care field really has to be a compassionate person. They need to be a good clinician, but they have to be a passionate person as well and I think I have learned a lot from him along those lines."

Lasinski was nominated by Sharon Betz, one of her therapists and in her letter to the Oyster Bay Town Board regarding Lasinski she wrote: "As my supervisor I find her fair and forthright. As a clinician I find her astute, observant and professional. As a mentor and teacher she has been encouraging and knowledgeable. But most importantly, as a person she is warm, compassionate, honest and selfless. Ms. Lasinski has held many a hand and cried many a tear with and for the patients that she has come to know... Anyone can become educated on a subject, but only special people can wrap all the knowledge in a blanket of kindness and concern and make it work as successfully as Bonnie does."

The Town of Oyster Bay named Plainview resident Mary E. McDonald a Distinguished Woman in Education. McDonald is the director of Genesis School, which is located in Plainview, serving children with autism. She has been working with autistic children for about 12 years and has been at the Plainview location for six years now.

While McDonald was getting her bachelor's degree as a psychology major, she saw a videotape that portrayed Dr. Lovaas, one of the pioneers in the field. "What I saw on the videotape, which was one of the first things that introduced me to autism, was so amazing," said McDonald. "Children were making progress that was just unreal. I approached the professor and that is how I got started."

She was still finishing her bachelor's degree in psychology and McDonald applied for a Ph.D. Program, which was a behavioral psychology program. McDonald is still enrolled in that program as she works full time as well as attend class.

The Genesis School was founded by a group of dedicated parents in September of 1995 who selected McDonald as their director because of her tireless dedication to the children and their families, her vast experience and exceptional skills. McDonald works to train parents of her students, as well as parents of children not attending her school. She supervises home training of her staff, enabling staff members to work with students and families in their own home environment.

McDonald was nominated by a parent who has his child in her school program. "I was surprised to learn that I was chosen as a Woman of Distinction," she said. "I had heard some mention of it, but no one told me and they wanted to keep it a secret. I was away and the letter was on my desk when I got back congratulating me. I was really honored."

"The recipients of the year 2001 'Women of Distinction' constitute the third group of designees in what is becoming a fine and lasting Town of Oyster Bay tradition," said Venditto. "The honorees have accomplished a great deal, having dedicated themselves to achieving lofty goals and continue to contribute to our fine quality of life in the Town of Oyster Bay. Their achievements will shed a positive light on our town for many years to come.

"I am honored to recognize such fine individuals as the Town's 'Women of Distinction' award winners in the year 2001."