BY JOE SCOTCHIE
jscotchie@antonmediagroup.com
March is Women’s History Month and every year, the Town of North Hempstead honors local women who have made lasting and significant contributions to their communities. Needless to say, women from the Roslyn area are always tops on the list.
This year, the honorees of the 23rd Annual May W. Newburger Women’s Roll of Honor include both Heather Schwartz and Lauren Furst, both of Roslyn Heights. Both have volunteered their time to not just improving the town they live in, but also life in Long Island itself.
Schwartz and Furst, along with 11 other women, were honored earlier this month at a ceremony at the Town of North Hempstead.
“It was a tremendous honor to be included with such an interesting group of women who are so esteemed by their communities,” Schwartz told The Roslyn News.
“I was really honored to put in that league with those other women,” Furst added. “It was an honor. I’m very grateful. I lived here all my life. It is a great place to live and raise a family.”
Schwartz, town officials said, has been a resident of North Hempstead since 1997, where she lives in Roslyn Heights with her husband and two children. Schwartz has done volunteer work in both local schools and temples and with the town itself. She has chaired various committees for the East Williston School District, and served as co-president of the North Side PTO for two years. Also in Roslyn Heights, Schwartz has been a member of the board of directors of the North Shore Child and Family Guidance Center. Schwartz and her family are members of Temple Sinai of Roslyn, where she serves as co-chair of the temple’s Distinguished Lecturer Series. In the Town of North Hempstead, she is a member of the Arts Advisory Council. Finally, Schwartz has been active in the effort to reopen the Roslyn Country Club.
Another longtime resident of Roslyn Heights is Lauren Furst. A native of the village and a certified financial planner, Furst, after leaving Roslyn in her youth, moved back to Roslyn Heigths with her husband, Peter, in order to raise the couple’s children in the village’s bucolic surroundings.
As with Schwartz, Furst is active with her house of worship. A lifelong Unitarian Universalist, Furst has served the Unitarian Universalit Congregation at Shelter Rock in many leadership positions, including chair of the Investment Committee, founder of its Socially Responsible Investing Committee, term trustee, treasurer and president. For over a decade, she was a kindergarten teacher in the religious education program.
Furst’s volunteer work extends beyond Roslyn Heights. Committed to helping to alleviate the crisis of young people leaving Long Island, Furst has served as a board member, treasurer and executive vice president of Sustainable Long Island, whose goal is to keep young adults in their hometowns. Sustainable Long Island has been heavily involved in such Town of North Hempstead projects as the revitalization of New Cassel, the building of the Yes We Can Community Center and the Vision Plan for the Port Washington peninsula. Schwartz currently sits on the board and is treasurer of Meadville Lombard Theological School. The school, she said, is redefining ministerial formation for the 21st century world.
