The Oyster Bay Town Board hosted its fifth annual Women of Distinction awards ceremony on March 25 prior to the town board meeting. At the ceremony, Claire Millman, a resident of Plainview for 43 years, was named a Distinguished Woman in Government.

Eight women who live and/or work in the town were recognized for outstanding achievements in one of eight categories, including the arts, business, community and civic affairs, education, government, health services, humanitarian and volunteer.

The town bestows this honor upon local residents every March, which is Women's History Month. Residents had the opportunity to nominate someone they felt met the criteria and distinguished themselves in one of the eight categories until the end of December 2002.

Claire Millman was president of the Alliance for Smoke-Free Air and has served as an advocate for the enactment and strengthening of legislation to restrict smoking in public places. She has also worked to raise public awareness about the hazards of smoking and secondhand smoke.

Millman is a charter member of the Tobacco Action Coalition of Long Island and serves on the Policy Committee of New York City's Coalition for a Smoke-Free City. She is frequently featured on television news programs and talk shows and in radio newscasts and newspapers with regard to this issue. She has also been named Ms. Senior America Long Island and second runner-up in the Ms. Senior America New York State Pageant.

She has often been called the "Guardian Angel for a Smoke-Free Environment." She has worked for over 29 years to protect the health of the public from the hazards of smoking and second-hand smoke.

"I am a volunteer and I was honored because I pushed for a smoke-free environment in the Town of Oyster Bay and in Nassau County," said Millman. "I am never going to move out of this town. I love Plainview and I love the Town of Oyster Bay. I am truly honored by this recognition. We are very fortunate to have the town supervisor and the town board that we have."

Town of Oyster Bay Councilwoman Bonnie Eisler presented Millman with her award. "Because of you, we recently enacted a law to stop smoking in our parks," Eisler said to Millman. "You are a very tenacious woman."

At the ceremony, Venditto noted that soon after he became supervisor, he set up the Women of Distinction program. "The program is designed to recognize exceptional women who either live or work in the town for their contributions and achievements," Oyster Bay Town Supervisor John Venditto said. "By instituting the 'Women of Distinction' awards program, I hoped to begin a tradition that would continue for decades to come. I think I can safely say that a memorable tradition has been launched and that each woman so honored will stand as a role model for young women throughout the town."

All eight of the Women of Distinction were invited with their families to join the town in publicly recognizing them at the board meeting. Each recipient was presented with a town citation and a special pin designed to commemorate the occasion.

"We live in a world that thirsts for role models and to that end we go running to the movies, sporting events, rock concerts; we watch television and read books looking for heroes and this was a way of saying to all of us in the Town of Oyster Bay, especially to the younger women in the town, 'you don't have to do all those things.' There are role models right here in your own backyards," Venditto said. "This is our fifth year of designating Women of Distinction and it's been an incredible array of some very talented, community-minded people who really speak well of your town."