Leonie Smith does not want to concentrate on making local history - she wants to talk about her plans for the Rotary Club of Milton-Ulladulla for the next 12-months.
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Leonie will soon become the first female president in the club's history and is looking forward to working hard for the local community.
She has many great ideas, but first, we do need to speak about her becoming the club's first female president in its 60-year history.
The well-known local resident said being the first woman president of this great community-based club was an honour.
'It's a big role and sometimes it's daunting when I think about it," she said.
She will bring her 'democratic style, passion and drive' to the role.
Leonie, as she watched the club increase its membership and embrace new ideas like social media, believes exciting times await Rotary.
The group's current president Stephen Hladio rang Leonie to sound her out about taking the leadership role a-year-and-a-half ago.
She declined at first and wanted to give the other female members of the club the chance to become president.
The other female members did not want to take on the role and Leonie decided she would accept the offer.
She does have one plan in mind when it comes to working for the community.
"What I want to focus on is local, local and local projects," she said.
"Rotary is an international organisation and normally our club makes 70 per cent local donations and 30 per cent international.
"In my year, I am going to do my best to bring the ratio to 80/20 per cent.
"Charity starts at home and we still do a lot of things internationally but our region needs us."
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Rotary will be working with Shoalhaven City Council and other local services clubs on some group projects.
Leonie said the bushfire crisis and COVID-19 hit the community hard, which is why she wants to focus on local projects.
She added the club, in the past 60 years, had done a great deal for the community.
With support from her fellow Rotarians, Leonie will still be the prime Blessing of the Fleet organiser.
"I have a big year ahead of me," she said.
Leonie will be president for 12 months and the changeover is on June 30 at the Dunn and Lewis Centre - depending on the COVID-19 situation.
She is very much a community-minded person.
"I love it [working for the community] and I love this community because it's my home area," she said.
Her first connection with the club was as a Friend of Rotary in 2013 which means you can attend meetings and get involved in the projects but you don't have any voting power.
It was due to her connection with the inaugural Milton Ulladulla Relay for Life that saw her first connect with Rotary.
She was invited along to a Rotary meeting to talk about the Relay for Life but she did not become a Rotarian immediately.
The group, however, did strike a chord.
"I thought they [Rotarians] were generous with their time and devoted to their community," she said.
The soon to be president has been a full member since June 17, 2014.
She was also excited the club ran the Blessing of the Fleet - an event close to her heart.
"I was a princess in 1985 and I grew up here [Ulladulla] area," she said.
"When I found they are responsible for the Blessing of the Fleet, that influenced my decision to want to join - I wanted to help to keep the festival alive."
Her graphic design and event management background meant she was the perfect person to coordinate the festival.
The former Ulladulla High student also ran some other successful events like the Harbour Fest Food and Wine Festival for the club.
She has been chairperson of the Blessing of the Fleet Festival since 2019, a recipient of the Paul Harris Fellowship Award in 2018 and was a Shoalhaven Citizen of the Year Finalist in 2017.