A South Canterbury farm worker’s tenure from seedling to senior was celebrated earlier this month as he clocked up 50 years working for Temuka-based Turley Farms.
Fred Goodall began working for the Turley family in 1974 when the company was known as A.G & M.A Turley, prior to becoming Turley Farms.
A fresh faced 22-year-old, he split his time between working on the farm and working at the freezing works.
Now 72 , Mr Goodall was joined by his family and Turley Farms staff past and present to celebrate and recognise the milestone.
Mr Goodall said it had been fun to reflect on his time working for the Turley family.
‘‘Fifty years seems like a long time when you are looking forward but when you look back 50 years has gone like that . . .
‘‘I suppose I’ve been thinking a lot more about the time I’ve been here and all these wee things pop up in your head. You think it wasn’t too long ago, but oh yes it was, it was quite a while ago.
‘‘I’ve got plenty of stories but I can’t actually tell any of them because they might just breach health and safety.’’
He said it had been interesting to observe the changes farming had gone through over time.
‘‘Back in the early days it was pretty hard work, a lot of manual work. We didn’t have the gear we’ve got today to make life a lot easier.
‘‘The biggest change I’ve observed though is the phone, having a phone has been huge. It keeps you in touch with whoever and if you need something or are stuck you can easily call up and get a hand.
‘‘Years ago when you’d get stuck out on another block you’d have to walk a few miles to get to a house to get someone to ring and most of the day would be gone by then.’’
Over the course of his employment Mr Goodall said he believed he had probably worked every job available on the farm.
‘‘When I started off as boy we used to work in the woolshed. I’ve done tractor work, cultivating, spreading, seeding and I don’t do any of them now.
‘‘A lot people ask ‘well what do you do now?’ Well, I keep out of the boss’s way.’’
He said it had been a pleasure being able to work in the same place for such a long time.
‘‘I just really enjoy working here, there is a good variety. I do irrigation, look after the stock, I look after the onions in the shed and that keeps me busy enough.
‘‘They’ve been a good family to work for, a really good family to work for actually. I’ve had a couple hiccups along the way, a few strokes but they’ve always been there looking after me.’’
Mr Goodall very much enjoyed the luncheon that was held for him despite initial reservations about it.
‘‘It was very nice and very generous of them but I’m not one for fuss you see, so I did say no to start off with but Margaret [Turley] had already started the organising. It was very good of them.
‘‘The cake was fantastic, it was incredible. It even had spanners on the back of the ute deck, it was a real focal point of the party I think.’’
There were no plans to hang up the boots just yet, he said.
‘‘The plan is just to carry on with it until I get sick of it I suppose.
‘‘I can’t see me getting sick of it just yet. I think as long as my body can cope with it I’ll carry on.
‘‘I do think a few people at the party thought it might have been my retirement party.’’
