The Okaloosa County Commission on the Status of Women (OCCSW) hosted its annual Women of Honor event on Thursday, May 8, at Wright Baptist Church on Beal Parkway.

• Twenty-seven women were recognized during the 2:00 p.m. ceremony, which takes place each year in May around Mother’s Day.

The Women of Honor program, originally established as “Wall of Honor” in 1997, was created by OCCSW members as a way for community members to honor women whose works might be unknown to most others.

Each honoree’s name is added to a plaque that hangs on the Wall of Honor at the University of West Florida Emerald Coast campus library. A letter containing the honoree’s photo and nomination biography, along with the names of those who nominated her, is placed in the Book of Honor near the plaque.

This year’s honorees include:

• Kathy Alexander (nominated by Okaloosa Federated Republican Women)
• Dana Allen (nominated by Joy Makela)
• Tierra Barclay (nominated by Sports Clips)
• Annette Breton (nominated by Donna Pearson)
• Dr. Betsy Christianson (nominated by Joy Makela)
• Vanessa d’Aquin (nominated by Cindy Bray)
• Elizabeth “Libby” Hill (nominated by Charlotte Eschmann)
• Kiiya Hillsman (nominated by Ayajah Hillsman-Sprague)
• Maria Howell (nominated by Joy Makela)
• Theri Isaac (nominated by Joy Makela)
• Narissa Jenkins (nominated by Healing Hoofsteps)
• Carol Kelley (nominated by Kathy Miller)
• Carrie Knife (nominated by Kelley Fuller)
• Bonnie Nabors Pittock (represented by her son Jimmy Nabors, nominated by Integrious Solutions)
• Dr. Gail Shorter-Judson (nominated by Horace Judson)
• Dina Smith (nominated by Joy Makela)
• Lisa Smith (nominated by Diane Fraser)
• Ann Wallther Sprague (nominated by Annette Henderson Brown)
• Julia Gracela Webb (nominated by Barbara Britt)
• Karen Englert (nominated by Melinda Sousa)
• Trisha Graham (nominated by Megan Blanco)
• Helen Harris (nominated by Karen Lauer)
• Sharon Herbison (nominated by Tom Barefoot)
• Dr. Eleanor McCain (nominated by Bridgeway Center)
• Linda McCooey (nominated by Daughters of the American Revolution)
• Brianna O’Brien (nominated by Kelly Fuller)

The Okaloosa County Commission on the Status of Women was established by the Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners in Resolution 95-09 on February 1, 1995. According to the organization, the purpose of the OCCSW is “dedicated to the elimination of all barriers to a woman’s achievement of her fullest human potential” through research, education and communication.

For more information about the OCCSW, interested individuals can visit occsw.com or call 850-685-8027.