Tisch off to head Rotary district
Even though a disaster inspired Leonie Tisch to join Rotary, the club has given her roles she would never have dreamed off.
And now she’s accepted the role of Rotary District Governor after first getting involved with the service club in 2001.
‘‘It was an apple pie night, and a fundraiser for New York firefighters after 9/11, and I was invited to judge them,’’ she said.
MP Lindsay Tisch not to seek re-election
‘‘If that hadn’t happen who knows if I would have joined.’’
She officially became a Rotarian in May 2002 and went on to be the club’s first female president in 2009.
‘‘My theme was pink to rub it in,’’ she laughed.
The next president’s theme was the boys are back in town.
‘‘I’m not a feminist but women bring another dimension and there was never a ‘us and them’ aspect in the organisation.’’
Just as her husband Lindsay has decided to retire from politics to support her in her new role, Leonie has also decided not to re-stand in her political role.
After 12 years on the MatamataPiako District Council she won’t be standing at the election in October this year.
‘‘I didn’t go on to Council to achieve certain personal things or to push my own ideas but rather to represent the people of Matamata.’’
Leonie also was involved in the District Health Board for four years and followed her two children through their schooling by being on the Board of Trustees. In her second three-year term on the college BOT she became the first woman chair.
In January 2017 she will fly to San Diego to be trained for her new Rotary role, which she will hold from July 2017 to July 2018.
As District Governor of Rotary area 9930 she will be responsible for making sure the 55 clubs in the area, that stretches from Huntly in the North to Waipukurau in the South, run smoothly by growing membership and being a spokesperson for the district.
She will have a lot of travelling to do as it is expected she will visit each club.