It was no easy task. Former legislators are scattered all over the place, and nobody was sure until the night of the reorganization that Bernardo would in fact be elected to lead the legislature.
Honored retirees from the 33-member legislature included (in no particular order), Alice Tipp, Kathleen Mihm, Anne Gordon, Marlene Dunn, Fawn Tantillo, Sue McConekey, Pat Tosi, Zimet and Cummings. Recognized in the new 23-member legislature were Mary Wawro, Mary Beth Maio, Jeanette Provenzano, Tracey Bartels and Bernardo. All but Wawro served in the old legislature.
As is her wont, Zimet took some of the bloom off the rose when she suggested men wouldn’t vote for a woman as leader in days gone by, adding that she herself didn’t vote for Provenzano when the latter’s name was placed in nomination for leader in 2006.
“I had my reasons,” Zimet said.
“The boys treated me pretty good,” Provenzano said afterward. “I was the first woman to be elected a leader [in 1993].” A number of men voted for her in her just-miss bid for the chair six years ago.
Overall, it was a nice gesture at a most appropriate occasion.
